Guilty as charged?
Tests show Apple’s claims of iPhone battery life are ‘up to 51% longer’ than the reality
THE battery life of iPhones falls significantly short of what maker Apple claims, according to research.
All nine models of the popular mobile failed to deliver the promised talk time in independent real-life tests by consumer group Which?.
It found a gap between claim and actual performance in the phones of only one other firm, HTC. Which? tested the average talk time for popular models from five brands and compared the results with the makers’ claims. Apple’s claims for battery life were between 18 and 51 per cent longer than achieved by the consumer group.
The biggest discrepancy was in the iPhone XR, which costs up to £900. The firm claims a talk time of 25 hours, but it achieved only 16 hours and 32 minutes in tests.
Two years ago Apple admitted it had secretly slowed the operation of some handsets to extend battery life through a software upgrade. The study’s findings will heap more pressure on the US tech giant after it revealed iPhone sales fell by 17 per cent in the three months to the end of March.
Which? also found battery life discrepancies with HTC devices. The company gave an average talk time of 20.5 hours but in the tests it was 5 per cent lower at 19.6 hours.
In contrast, claims by rivals Nokia, Samsung and Sony actually underestimated the talk time that could be achieved.
The most significant difference was in Sony devices, with a talk time typically 21 per cent longer than the manufacturer claimed – 16 hours rather than 12.6.
Sony’s Xperia Z5 Compact delivered nine hours of extra talk time. While the company claimed this model would last 17 hours, Which? recorded 25 hours and 52 minutes. Natalie Hitchins, from Which?, said: ‘We should be able to count on our handsets living up to the manufacturer’s claims.’
Apple said: ‘We rigorously test our products and stand behind our battery claims ... Which? haven’t shared their methodology with us so we can’t compare their results to ours.’ HTC said: ‘Differences in set-up and testing ... may result in some variation to stated figures.’