Smartphones  >  Apple iPhone 15  >  Battery Test Results
Apple iPhone 15
premium ?

Apple iPhone 15 Battery test

OTHER AVAILABLE TESTS FOR THIS DEVICE

We put the Apple iPhone 15 through our rigorous DXOMARK Battery test suite to measure its performance in autonomy, charging, and efficiency. In these test results, we will break down how it fared in a variety of tests and several common use cases.

Overview

Key specifications:

  • Battery capacity: 3367 mAh
  • 20W charger (not included)
  • 6.1-inch, 1179 x 2556, 60 Hz, OLED display
  • Apple A16 Bionic (4 nm)
  • Tested ROM / RAM combination: 128 GB + 6 GB

Scoring

Sub-scores and attributes included in the calculations of the global score.

Apple iPhone 15
Apple iPhone 15
113
battery
110
Autonomy
123

221

108

195

92

198

108
Charging
104

224

112

212

87

205

161

194

Key performances

Charging Time
2 days 3h
Battery life
Charging Time
1h02
80% Charging time
Charging Time
2h31
Full charging time
Quick Boost
3h12 autonomy
after 5-minute charge

Pros

  • Low discharge currents overall
  • Low residual consumption for both wired and wireless charges
  • Good adapter efficiency

Cons

  • Below-average autonomy in almost all calibrated tests
  • Very high consumption when gaming
  • Poor charge efficiency

The Apple iPhone 15 battery experience improved slightly over its predecessor, showing mostly similar overall behavior.

Although Apple iPhone batteries are known to have comparably less capacity than other current smartphones on the market, the iPhone 15 managed to maintain autonomy of more than two days (50 hours and 58 minutes) under moderate-use conditions, which is a good result, even if below average in our database. Nevertheless, autonomy showed some limitations when individual use cases were tested, such as gaming, music streaming, and outdoor calling, where the device was tested using mobile data (4G).

Equipped with 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 replenish its battery in wired charging, and 2 hours and 49 minutes in wireless charging, which is above average in our database. In a quick boost charging test, the iPhone 15 registered more than 3 hours of additional autonomy on average, which placed the device in the lower half of our database.

As seen in its predecessor, the charge efficiency was also poor at 65%, meaning that a third of the power drained by the charger is lost. However, the adapter efficiency was excellent, and the residual consumptions of both chargers were very low. Finally, the overall discharge currents were very low in both idle and active use, except for gaming. These results showed that the device was very well optimized, allowing it to have relatively decent autonomy despite its small battery capacity.

Compared with devices from the same Premium price range ($600 – $799), the iPhone 15 ranked in the middle thanks to its low discharge currents and decent autonomy, even though the charging experience was below average.

Test Summary

About DXOMARK Battery tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone battery reviews, DXOMARK engineers perform a variety of objective tests over a week-long period both indoors and outdoors. (See our introductory and how we test articles for more details about our smartphone Battery protocol.)

The following section gathers key elements of our exhaustive tests and analyses performed in DXOMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations under the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.

Battery Charger Wireless Display Processor
Apple iPhone 15 3367mAh 20W
(not included)
15W AMOLED Retina XDR
1179 x 2556
Apple A16 Bionic
Apple iPhone 14 3279mAh 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

Autonomy

110

Apple iPhone 15

197

Honor X9c
How Autonomy score is composed

Autonomy score is composed of three performance sub-scores: Home / Office, On the go, and Calibrated use cases. Each sub-score comprises the results of a comprehensive range of tests for measuring autonomy in all kinds of real-life scenarios.

Light Usage
75h
Light Usage
Active: 2h30/day
Moderate Usage
51h
Moderate Usage
Active: 4h/day
Intense Usage
31h
Intense Usage
Active: 7h/day

Home/Office

123

Apple iPhone 15

221

Honor X7b

A robot housed in a Faraday cage performs a set of touch-based user actions during what we call our “typical usage scenario” (TUS) — making calls, video streaming, etc. — 4 hours of active use over the course of a 16-hour period, plus 8 hours of “sleep.” The robot repeats this set of actions every day until the device runs out of power.

Typical Usage Scenario discharge curves

On the go

108

Apple iPhone 15

195

Samsung Galaxy M51

Using a smartphone on the go takes a toll on autonomy because of extra “hidden” demands, such as the continuous signaling associated with cellphone network selection, for example. DXOMARK Battery experts take the phone outdoors and perform a precisely defined set of activities while following the same three-hour travel itinerary (walking, taking the bus, the subway…) for each device

Autonomy for on the go use cases (full charge)

Calibrated

92

Apple iPhone 15

198

Samsung Galaxy M51

For this series of tests, the smartphone returns to the Faraday cage and our robots repeatedly perform actions linked to one specific use case (such as gaming, video streaming, etc.) at a time. Starting from an 80% charge, all devices are tested until they have expended at least 5% of their battery power.

Autonomy for calibrated use cases (full charge)

Charging

108

Apple iPhone 15

218

Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)
How Charging score is composed

Charging is fully part of the overall battery experience. In some situations where autonomy is at a minimum, knowing how fast you can charge becomes a concern. The DXOMARK Battery charging score is composed of two sub-scores, (1) Full charge and (2) Quick boost.

Wired
Wired
51%
in 30 min
1h02
0 - 80%
2h31
Full charge
Wireless
Wireless
32%
in 30 min
1h39
0 - 80%
2h49
Full charge

Full charge

104

Apple iPhone 15

224

Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)

Full charge tests assess the reliability of the battery power gauge; measure how long and how much power the battery takes to charge from zero to 80% capacity, from 80 to 100% as shown by the UI, and until an actual full charge.

Power consumption and battery level during full charge
The charging curves, in wired and wireless (if available) showing the evolution of the battery level indicator as well as the power consumption in watts during the stages of charging toward full capacity.
Power consumption and battery level during wireless full charge
The charging curves, in wired and wireless (if available) showing the evolution of the battery level indicator as well as the power consumption in watts during the stages of charging toward full capacity.
Time to full charge
Time to full charge

Quick boost

112

Apple iPhone 15

212

Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)

With the phone at different charge levels (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%), Quick boost tests measure the amount of charge the battery receives after being plugged in for 5 minutes. The chart here compares the average autonomy gain from a quick 5-minute charge.

Average autonomy gain for a 5 minute charge (wired)

Efficiency

131

Apple iPhone 15

154

Oppo Reno6 5G
How Efficiency score is composed

The DXOMARK power efficiency score consists of two sub-scores, Charge up and Discharge rate, both of which combine data obtained during robot-based typical usage scenario, calibrated tests and charging evaluation, taking into consideration the device’s battery capacity. DXOMARK calculate the annual power consumption of the product, shown on below graph, which is representative of the overall efficiency during a charge and when in use.

Annual Consumption Apple iPhone 15
3.7 kWh
Efficient
Good
Bad
Inefficient

Charge up

87

Apple iPhone 15

205

Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro

The charge up sub-score is a combination of four factors: the overall efficiency of a full charge, related to how much energy you need to fill up the battery compared to the energy that 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 your phone is fully charged and still plugged into the charger; and the residual consumption of the charger itself, when the smartphone is disconnected from it. The chart here below shows the overall efficiency of a full charge in %.

Overall charge efficiency

Discharge

161

Apple iPhone 15

194

Apple iPhone 14 Pro

The discharge subscore rates the speed of a battery’s discharge during a test, which is independent of the battery’s capacity. It is the ratio of a battery’s capacity divided by its autonomy. A small-capacity battery could have the same autonomy as a large-capacity battery, indicating that the device is well-optimized, with a low discharge rate.

Average discharge current

DXOMARK encourages its readers to share comments on the articles. To read or post comments, Disqus cookies are required. Change your Cookies Preferences and read more about our Comment Policy.