We subjected the Apple iPhone 15 to our rigorous SBMARK Battery test suite to measure its performance in terms of battery life, charging and efficiency. In the results of these tests, we will analyze how it performed in a series of tests and in several common use cases.
Overview
Key Specifications:
- Battery capacity: 3367 mAh
- 20W charger (not included)
- 6.1-inch OLED display, 1179 x 2556, 60 Hz
- Apple A16 Bionic (4nm)
- Tested ROM/RAM combination: 128GB + 6GB
Pros
- Overall low discharge currents
- Low residual consumption for both wired and wireless charging
- Good adapter efficiency
Against
- Below average battery life in almost all calibrated tests
- Very high consumption during gaming
- Poor charging efficiency
The battery experience of the Apple iPhone 15 is slightly improved over its predecessor, displaying mostly similar overall behavior.
Although it is known that Apple iPhone batteries have a relatively lower capacity than other current smartphones on the market, the iPhone 15 managed to maintain a battery life of more than two days (50 hours and 58 minutes) in conditions of moderate use, which is a good result, although lower than average in our database. However, battery life showed some limitations when testing individual use cases, such as gaming, music streaming and calling outdoors, where the device was tested using mobile data (4G).
Featuring a new USB-C charging port, the iPhone 15’s charging experience was mixed. We measured a maximum charging power limit of 20W. The device took 2 hours and 31 minutes to fully recharge the battery with wired charging and 2 hours and 49 minutes with wireless charging, which is above our average. databases. In a fast charging test, the iPhone 15 averaged more than 3 hours of additional battery life, placing the device in the bottom half of our database.
As seen in its predecessor, the charging efficiency was also poor at 65%, meaning that a third of the power drawn by the charger is wasted. However, the adapter’s efficiency was excellent, and the residual power consumption of both chargers was very low. Finally, overall discharge currents were very low in both idle and active use, with the exception of gaming. These results showed that the device has been optimized very well, allowing it to have relatively decent battery life despite the small battery capacity.
Compared to devices in the same Premium price range ($600 – $799), the iPhone 15 ranked in the middle thanks to its low discharge currents and decent battery life, although the charging experience was below average.
Test summary
Information on SBMARK battery tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone battery reviews, SBMARK engineers perform a series of objective tests over a period of one week both indoors and outdoors. (See our introduction and how we test articles for more details on our smartphone battery protocol.)
The following section brings together key elements of our comprehensive testing and analysis performed in SBMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations in the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.
| Drums | Battery charger | wireless | Screen | Processor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple iPhone 15 | 3367 mAh | 20W (not included) |
15W | AMOLED Retina XDR 1179 x 2556 |
Apple A16 Bionic |
| Apple iPhone 14 | 3279 mAh | 20W (not included) |
15W | OLED 1170 x 2532 |
Apple A15 Bionic |
| Samsung Galaxy S23 | 3900mAh | 25W (not included) |
15W | AMOLED 1080 x 2340 |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
How the autonomy score is composed
The battery life score is made up of three performance subscores: Home/Office, On the Go, and Calibrated Use Cases. Each subscore includes the results of a full range of tests to measure battery life in all types of real-life scenarios.
75 hours
Light usage
Active: 2h30/day
51h
Moderate use
Active: 4 hours a day
31h
Intense use
Active: 7 hours a day
Home office
A robot housed in a Faraday cage performs a series of touch-based user actions during what we call our “Typical Usage Scenario” (TUS) (making calls, streaming video, etc.) – 4 hours of active use over the course of 16 hours. -a period of one hour, plus 8 hours of “sleep”. The robot repeats this series of actions every day until the device runs out of power.
In movement
108
Samsung Galaxy M51
Samsung Galaxy M51
Using a smartphone on the move puts a strain on battery life due to additional “hidden” needs, such as the continuous signaling associated with cellular network selection. SBMARK Battery experts take the phone outdoors and perform a series of well-defined activities following the same three-hour travel itinerary (walking, taking the bus, subway…) for each device
Calibrated
ninety two
Samsung Galaxy M51
Samsung Galaxy M51
For this series of tests the smartphone returns to the Faraday cage and our bots repeatedly perform actions related to a specific use case (such as gaming, video streaming, etc.) at a time. Starting from an 80% charge, all devices are tested until they have consumed at least 5% of their battery charge.
In charge
108
Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)
Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)
How the charging score is made up
Charging is a full part of the overall battery experience. In some situations where battery life is at its lowest, knowing how fast you can charge becomes a concern. The SBMARK Battery Charging Score is made up of two sub-scores, (1) Full Charge and (2) Quick Boost.
Full charge
104
Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)
Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)
Full charge tests evaluate the reliability of the battery charge indicator; measure how long and how much energy the battery takes to charge from zero to 80% capacity, from 80 to 100% as shown by the user interface, and until actually fully charged.
The charging curves, in wired and wireless mode (if available) show the evolution of the battery level indicator as well as the energy consumption in watts during the charging phases towards full capacity.
The charging curves, in wired and wireless mode (if available) show the evolution of the battery level indicator as well as the energy consumption in watts during the charging phases towards full capacity.
Quick push
112
Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)
Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)
With the phone at different charge levels (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%), the Quick Boost tests measure how much charge the battery receives after being plugged in for 5 minutes. The graph here compares the average battery life gain with a 5 minute fast charge.
Efficiency
131
Oppo Reno6 5G
Oppo Reno6 5G
How the efficiency score is composed
The SBMARK Energy Efficiency Score is composed of two sub-scores, charging speed and discharging speed, which combine both data obtained during a typical robot-based usage scenario, calibrated tests and charging evaluation, taking into account battery capacity of the device. SBMARK calculates the annual energy consumption of the product, shown in the graph below, which is representative of the overall efficiency during a charge and when in use.
Charge Up
87
Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
The charging subscore is a combination of four factors: the overall efficiency of a full charge, related to the amount of energy needed to fill the battery compared to the energy the battery can provide; the efficiency of the travel adapter when it comes to transferring power from an outlet to your phone; the residual consumption when the phone is fully charged and still connected to the charger; and the residual consumption of the charger itself, when the smartphone is disconnected from it. The graph below shows the overall efficiency of a full charge in %.
Discharge
161
Apple iPhone 14 Pro
Apple iPhone 14 Pro
The discharge subscore evaluates how quickly a battery discharges during a test, which is independent of the battery’s capacity. It is the ratio between the capacity of a battery divided by its autonomy. A small capacity battery may have the same battery life as a large capacity battery, indicating that the device is well optimized, with a low discharge rate.
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