The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra's Battery Life Performance Compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max

In this article, we will delve into the battery life performance of two popular smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra and the iPhone 11 Pro Max. We ran a series of tests to determine which phone lasts longer on a single charge.

Percent Down to 99 While the Galaxy Falls by Five Percent All the Way Down to 95

We started with a test that involved dropping the percentage of battery life from 100% down to 99%. The Galaxy S20 Ultra fell by five percent all the way down to 95, which was a significant drop. This is in contrast to the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which had a more stable performance and didn't experience a large drop in battery life.

Significant Drop with the New 5G Modem

It's not clear if the new 5G modem played a role in this drop, but it's possible that it did. We ran multiple trials to ensure that our results were consistent. In the messaging test, we had an automated chat bot send messages back and forth between the two phones. After one hour of texting, the iPhone was able to improve its performance honestly, pulling six percentage points ahead with its battery dropping by only seven percent compared to the nine percent drop on the Galaxy.

Improved Performance in Emails

In the email test, we simply opened up emails and scrolled through them a couple of times like you would in real life. After one hour, we got similar results as the last test, with the iPhone pulling another two percentage points ahead, bringing its total lead to 8 percentage points.

Early Lead in Battery Test

We then moved on to the battery test, where we recycled through the same set of web sites on each phone. The difference was at least a little bit smaller than in previous tests, but the iPhone still performed better, dropping by 9% compared to the 10% drop on the Galaxy.

Interesting Results in Instagram

In the Instagram test, we were doing exactly what you would do in real life, simply scrolling through the home feed. Due to the sheer amount of scrolling that was going on in this test, it's likely that the iPhone's 120 Hertz display had an effect on its battery life. However, after one hour, the Galaxy didn't do much worse, and the iPhone still led by only one percentage point.

Standby Test

In the standby test, which we called the "half time" test, both phones performed similarly well, dropping by just 6% over a period of 16 hours. The iPhone was still ahead, but it's worth noting that the Galaxy S20 Ultra did relatively well in this test given its larger screen and higher refresh rates.

Gaming Test

In the gaming test, we played "Altos Adventure" on both phones for one hour. Surprisingly, the Galaxy S20 Ultra was able to match the iPhone 11 Pro Max's performance, dropping by an equal 10%. This suggests that the differences in battery life may not be as significant as expected.

Maps Test

In the maps test, we simulated navigation by turning on each phone's GPS sensor and checking for traffic information. After one hour, the difference was a small one, but the iPhone still managed to do better with its lead increasing to yet another percentage point.

Spotify Test

In the Spotify test, both phones performed identically, dropping by 10%. This suggests that the differences in battery life may be less significant than expected when listening to music or other audio content.

Snapchat Test

The Snapchat test was one of the most intensive tests we ran. The Galaxy S20 Ultra's large selfie camera setup may have affected its performance, but unfortunately for the phone, it didn't do any better in this test. After 35 minutes, the Galaxy's battery was completely depleted, while the iPhone 11 Pro Max still had 17% left to go.

App Cycle Test

In the app cycle test, which is one of the most intensive tests we ran, the iPhone finally called it quits with its battery lasting for only an hour and thirty minutes. Despite having a smaller battery, the iPhone managed to outlast the Galaxy S20 Ultra by a significant margin.

Conclusion

Based on our comprehensive series of tests, it's clear that the iPhone 11 Pro Max is still the winner in terms of battery life performance. While the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra did well in some tests, such as the email and standby tests, it struggled to keep up with the iPhone in others. The differences in battery life may be less significant than expected when listening to music or other audio content, but overall, the iPhone 11 Pro Max remains the champion of this test.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso the iPhone 11 pro max is the current fumble style battery test champ and when you take a look at the rankings on our websites no other phone right now comes close to it but today it's going up against its biggest competitor in the galaxy s 20 ultra a phone that not only has a more power efficient processor compared to last year's galaxy but it also has a massive 5,000 milliamp hour battery which is 25% larger than the 4000 million of our battery on the iPhone however the galaxy does have a more power hungry display with its high refresh rates which we decided to set at 120 Hertz considering that that is one of the standout features on this phone now don't worry we are gonna be doing the 60 Hertz first 120 Hertz battery test in an upcoming video so stay tuned for that but in the meantime I'm excited to see how these two phones stack up to each other these are two the best phones in the world right now so the question remains which one has the best battery life let's find out it's that time of year again we're doing another giveaway this time for a brand new Galaxy S 20 ultra and all you have to do to enter to win is follow us at foam buff on Instagram and that's literally it this giveaway is international and we'll be announcing the winner on April 30th with all the links and info that you need down below so we'll start things off in the phone app where each one is going on the same one our phone call both phones are in equal distance of the mini cell tower that we have installed in the lab and both phones have a consistent audio playing on the other end of the call to make sure that we're stressing those earpieces we're after one hour the iPhone drops by only one percent down to 99 while the galaxy falls by five percent all the way down to 95 which when you consider that the s20 ultra has a giant five thousand milliamp hour capacity it's a pretty significant drop I'm not sure if it has to do with that new 5g modem or if it was something else but we ran multiple trials and it these results were consistent here in the messaging test we've been going back and forth with our automated chat bot where after one hour of texting the iPhone is able to improve honestly the pulling six percentage points ahead with its battery dropping by only seven percent compared to the nine percent drop on the galaxy in this email test we're simply opening up emails and scrolling through them a couple of times like you would in real life or after 1 hour of email we get a similar result as the last test with the iPhone pulling another two percentage points ahead bringing its total lead to 8 percentage points very early on in this battery test we'll see if the s2000 truck can and cut into the iPhones lead here in the browser test we're recycling through the same set of web sites on each phone where after an hour this time the difference is at least a little bit smaller but the iPhone still did a better job dropping by 9% compared to the 10% drop on the galaxy here in insta we're doing exactly what you would do in real life simply is scrolling through the home feed where due to the sheer amount of scrolling that's going on in this test it's gonna be interesting to see how that 120 Hertz display has an effect on the galaxy's battery life but after one hour it actually doesn't do much worse with the galaxy only behind by one percentage point so as we head into a half time here with the standby test obviously the iPhone is outperforming but given the bigger screen and the higher refresh rates the s20 ultra is at least hanging in there and after the 16 hours standby it it's actually able to match the iPhones performance with both bones doing really well dropping by just 6% as we move on to YouTube it's worth noting that we've calibrated the speakers on each phones at the same decibel counts and of course the screen brightness has also been calibrated to the same level as well and after one hour of binge watching bomba on YouTube the iPhone improves its ten-point lead up to 12 points with it at 54% compared to just 42 on the Galaxy and unfortunately for the Galaxy S 20 autre things might just get even worse here in the gaming test considering it has a larger screen and again that higher refresh rates and after one hour of playing in Altos adventure actually somewhat surprisingly the Galaxy was able to match the iPhones performance with both phones dropping by an equal 10% so we've seen the Galaxy do worse in some areas and match the iPhone in others but what it has yet to do is beat the iPhone in any one of these tests we'll see if that changes here in maps where we're simulating navigation by having each phone's GPS sensor turned on and both phones actively checking for traffic information we're after one hour the difference is a small one but dye phone is still managed to do better with it adding yet another percentage point to its lead here in Spotify we have a robot listening to its favorite pattern of sounds again with both phones having their speaker's calibrated to the same decibel count we're after one hour like we saw in some of the previous tests the two phones perform identically with each phone dropping by 10% but as we head into snapchats the iPhones advantage is likely going to be a factor here considering that snapchats is one of the most intensive tests in this entire battery test and considering that the Galaxy has a 40 megapixel selfie camera setup I'm not sure if it's gonna do any better in this test and in others and after just 35 minutes all five thousand milliamp hours of the galaxy's battery are completely depleted with it only managing to beat the smaller iphone 11pro by 10 minutes while this iphone 11 pro max here still has 17% left to go which allows it to finish the snapchat test with an impressive 12 percent of battery remaining allowing it to move on to the app cycle test which by the way the iPhone still the only phone that's been able to do that we're after one hour and five minutes of this extremely intensive test the iPhone finally calls it quits with it managing the last a full one hour and thirty minutes of screen time longer despite having a battery that's over a thousand milliamp hours smaller making the winner and still the fumble style battery test champ the iPhone 11 pro max anyways that is it for me in this video thank you guys for watching and as always I'll see you in the very next episodeso the iPhone 11 pro max is the current fumble style battery test champ and when you take a look at the rankings on our websites no other phone right now comes close to it but today it's going up against its biggest competitor in the galaxy s 20 ultra a phone that not only has a more power efficient processor compared to last year's galaxy but it also has a massive 5,000 milliamp hour battery which is 25% larger than the 4000 million of our battery on the iPhone however the galaxy does have a more power hungry display with its high refresh rates which we decided to set at 120 Hertz considering that that is one of the standout features on this phone now don't worry we are gonna be doing the 60 Hertz first 120 Hertz battery test in an upcoming video so stay tuned for that but in the meantime I'm excited to see how these two phones stack up to each other these are two the best phones in the world right now so the question remains which one has the best battery life let's find out it's that time of year again we're doing another giveaway this time for a brand new Galaxy S 20 ultra and all you have to do to enter to win is follow us at foam buff on Instagram and that's literally it this giveaway is international and we'll be announcing the winner on April 30th with all the links and info that you need down below so we'll start things off in the phone app where each one is going on the same one our phone call both phones are in equal distance of the mini cell tower that we have installed in the lab and both phones have a consistent audio playing on the other end of the call to make sure that we're stressing those earpieces we're after one hour the iPhone drops by only one percent down to 99 while the galaxy falls by five percent all the way down to 95 which when you consider that the s20 ultra has a giant five thousand milliamp hour capacity it's a pretty significant drop I'm not sure if it has to do with that new 5g modem or if it was something else but we ran multiple trials and it these results were consistent here in the messaging test we've been going back and forth with our automated chat bot where after one hour of texting the iPhone is able to improve honestly the pulling six percentage points ahead with its battery dropping by only seven percent compared to the nine percent drop on the galaxy in this email test we're simply opening up emails and scrolling through them a couple of times like you would in real life or after 1 hour of email we get a similar result as the last test with the iPhone pulling another two percentage points ahead bringing its total lead to 8 percentage points very early on in this battery test we'll see if the s2000 truck can and cut into the iPhones lead here in the browser test we're recycling through the same set of web sites on each phone where after an hour this time the difference is at least a little bit smaller but the iPhone still did a better job dropping by 9% compared to the 10% drop on the galaxy here in insta we're doing exactly what you would do in real life simply is scrolling through the home feed where due to the sheer amount of scrolling that's going on in this test it's gonna be interesting to see how that 120 Hertz display has an effect on the galaxy's battery life but after one hour it actually doesn't do much worse with the galaxy only behind by one percentage point so as we head into a half time here with the standby test obviously the iPhone is outperforming but given the bigger screen and the higher refresh rates the s20 ultra is at least hanging in there and after the 16 hours standby it it's actually able to match the iPhones performance with both bones doing really well dropping by just 6% as we move on to YouTube it's worth noting that we've calibrated the speakers on each phones at the same decibel counts and of course the screen brightness has also been calibrated to the same level as well and after one hour of binge watching bomba on YouTube the iPhone improves its ten-point lead up to 12 points with it at 54% compared to just 42 on the Galaxy and unfortunately for the Galaxy S 20 autre things might just get even worse here in the gaming test considering it has a larger screen and again that higher refresh rates and after one hour of playing in Altos adventure actually somewhat surprisingly the Galaxy was able to match the iPhones performance with both phones dropping by an equal 10% so we've seen the Galaxy do worse in some areas and match the iPhone in others but what it has yet to do is beat the iPhone in any one of these tests we'll see if that changes here in maps where we're simulating navigation by having each phone's GPS sensor turned on and both phones actively checking for traffic information we're after one hour the difference is a small one but dye phone is still managed to do better with it adding yet another percentage point to its lead here in Spotify we have a robot listening to its favorite pattern of sounds again with both phones having their speaker's calibrated to the same decibel count we're after one hour like we saw in some of the previous tests the two phones perform identically with each phone dropping by 10% but as we head into snapchats the iPhones advantage is likely going to be a factor here considering that snapchats is one of the most intensive tests in this entire battery test and considering that the Galaxy has a 40 megapixel selfie camera setup I'm not sure if it's gonna do any better in this test and in others and after just 35 minutes all five thousand milliamp hours of the galaxy's battery are completely depleted with it only managing to beat the smaller iphone 11pro by 10 minutes while this iphone 11 pro max here still has 17% left to go which allows it to finish the snapchat test with an impressive 12 percent of battery remaining allowing it to move on to the app cycle test which by the way the iPhone still the only phone that's been able to do that we're after one hour and five minutes of this extremely intensive test the iPhone finally calls it quits with it managing the last a full one hour and thirty minutes of screen time longer despite having a battery that's over a thousand milliamp hours smaller making the winner and still the fumble style battery test champ the iPhone 11 pro max anyways that is it for me in this video thank you guys for watching and as always I'll see you in the very next episode\n"