Which? Magazine Claims iPhone 7 Has 'Poor Battery Life' Compared to Rival Smartphones

[MacRumors]

U.K. Consumers' Association magazine Which? has concluded that the iPhone 7 offers the worst battery life when compared against the current crop of rival flagship smartphones.

Using a series of tests designed to account for everyday usage variables, the subscriber-only magazine compared Apple's 4.7-inch phone against the Samsung Galaxy S7, HTC 10, and LG 5, and called the results "staggering".

Whilst the iPhone 7's 712 minutes of call time (nearly 12 hours) may sound acceptable, the rival Samsung Galaxy S7 lasted twice as long - and it doesn't even have the longest lasting battery. The HTC 10 lasted an incredible 1,859 minutes (that's almost 31 hours).

Internet browsing time measurements were less contrasting, nevertheless the iPhone 7 still came last.

The 615 minutes of battery life offered by the iPhone 7 is 25 minutes less than its nearest rival, the LG G5, and 175 minutes less than the top performing HTC 10. In fact, the HTC 10's 3G internet browsing time was even longer than the iPhone 7's 3G call time. It doesn't make for pretty reading for Apple.

The new iPhone's poor results in the battery test shouldn't come as a surprise, given the limitations of the 4.7-inch handset's battery cell compared to its larger rivals (5.1-5.3 inches). Measured in milliampere hours, the iPhone 7 has a 1,960mAh battery, compared to the HTC 10's 3,000mAh cell, for instance, yet Which? describes this as a 'fault' of the phone.

The larger iPhone 7 Plus, on the other hand, features a 2,900 mAh battery, but wasn't mentioned in the test, perhaps because it was perceived as belonging in the 5.5-inch handset bracket populated by devices like the Galaxy S7 Edge (3600mAh) and the HTC 10 Desire (2700 mAh).

The test doesn't mention that Apple's own product specifications show that the iPhone 7 has a higher-capacity battery than the iPhone 6s (1,810mAh), and seems to continue a recent negative trend where media reports have criticized Apple's new flagship phone on the basis of its battery life. For example, last month, The Guardian ran an iPhone 7 story titled "How good can a phone be if the battery doesn't last even a day?" and claimed that its holding charge was worse than the iPhone 6s.

Article Link: Which? Magazine Claims iPhone 7 Has 'Poor Battery Life' Compared to Rival Smartphones

 

[Quu]

Shouldn't have used that Intel modem.

I bet that's the culprit.

 

[xnu]

A smaller battery in the iPhone 7, but it explodes less. Sooooo, feature, not 'fault'?

 

[SSD-GUY]

Apple feeling the pain of dat quad core processor and added RAM.

 

[iapplelove]

My iPhone 6 Plus still gets epic battery life. It's probably one of the main reasons I'm still holding onto this relic.

 

[smacrumon]

iPhone 7, a total compromise in every way. Hissing, poor battery, scratchable (on select models). Dud device +.

Get this year over with and bring on 2017 and an all new ceramic glass iPhone!

 

[itsmilo]

No surprise. The battery capacity is tiny and their "iOS is optimized for improved battery life" is marketing bs as everyone uses different apps throughout the day.

first thing i do when i get to work is put it on the charger and two powerbanks on the go

 

[RagingBrosGaming]

This article should be about the iPhone 7 Plus and it's battery life which is terrible. The phone only lasts about 6 hours with little web browsing and app usage. Everything is turned off, background app refresh, location services.

 

[bbeagle]

Who makes phone calls any more? The iPhone 7 only loses badly on battery life while making phone calls. Using Wifi for internet use, it's neck and neck, and something people wouldn't notice.

It's an article with a misleading headline to get the anti-Apple people riled up and feeling superior. It means nothing in real life.

 

[diddl14]

Sounds like there's room for improvement...

 

[gingaman]

Wow,people actually use their iPhone to make calls!

 

[WannaGoMac]

Strange how Ars did a test and found iPhone 7 outlasted all these others... http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/0...at-annual-upgrades-with-one-major-catch/5/#h6

 

[Loge]

The Guardian makes some real nit-picking points in the review. Fluff caught in the antenna bands? What does this guy keep in his pockets? One almost might think they resented the Telegraph getting a review unit, whereas the Guardian did not.

 

[Schwyz]

you're testing it wrong.

 

[Small White Car]

Every single iPhone I've owned since 2008 has had roughly the same battery life: "It will be dead around dinnertime if you don't charge it at work."

Apple has been amazingly consistent on that.

That being said, is anyone else bothered and confused by the color ratings this magazine uses? 712 to 1492 is a red to yellow jump but 615 to 640 is ALSO a red to yellow jump? Shouldn't they both be red in that case? (Or both yellow, if you're calibrating voice and data differently.)

 

[Peepo]

Apple feeling the pain of dat quad core processor and added RAM.

The A10 has two power efficient cores which is designed to help battery so it is not like they just added a quad-core, and the regular iPhone 7 (which was tested in this article) still only has 2GB RAM.

 

[Davelfc]

Doesn't the battery improve after a series of charges? Forgive me if I'm wrong there.

Shorter battery life but it doesn't explode, hmmmm I think I could live with that.

 

[alandanziger]

you're testing it wrong.

I'd actually agree with that - 3G? Doesn't everyone measure using LTE these days?

 

[prowlmedia]

Strange how Ars did a test and found iPhone 7 outlasted all these others... http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/0...at-annual-upgrades-with-one-major-catch/5/#h6

This is way more technical compariso.

Which's tests are an utterly insane comparison. You can only compare to 4.7" phones.

 

[axp4654]

Apple should register the name battery. It would be the best.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Measured in milliampere hours, the iPhone 7 has a 1,960mAh battery, compared to the HTC 10's 3,000mAh cell, for instance, yet Which? describes this as a 'fault' of the phone.

Throwing in a significantly larger mAh battery doesn't really address the fundemental issue of power consumption and has the potential to be a lot more dangerous too.

But Which? magazine historically don't know their arses from their elbows when it comes to stuff like this. They grasp the most basic facts and base an entire argument around that.

 

[Schwyz]

A smaller battery in the iPhone 7, but it explodes less. Sooooo, feature, not 'fault'?

The Galaxy Note 7 is not part of this test.

 

[JosephAW]

I'm sure if Apple conducted these same tests, magically the iPhone would win (in its class)

 

[tirk]

Not a big surprise, iPhones have had terrible battery life for the last few generations at least. It depends how you use them I guess, but it annoys me that I have to carry an external battery pack if I'm away from mains points for a day.

 

[Schwyz]

I'd actually agree with that - 3G? Doesn't everyone measure using LTE these days?

I am never wrong.