Xiaomi 17 Pro Max Boasts 7,500mAh Battery — So Why Is It Still Losing to the iPhone 17 Pro Max?

The new Xiaomi 17 Pro Max has landed, packing a colossal 7,500mAh battery. This figure should, on paper, leave the competition in the dust, yet, when pitted against the benchmark-setting iPhone 17 Pro Max, the results aren't what you might expect.

What secret sauce is Apple using that allows its flagship to pull ahead, even with significantly less power capacity? The answer lies beyond raw numbers.

Cramming Cells: The Chinese Phone Strategy

Thanks to the widespread use of Silicon-Carbon batteries, manufacturers like Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and OnePlus have been continually fitting massive power packs inside their Chinese-made phones.

The current wave of flagship handsets emerging from China certainly upholds this pattern. Take the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max, for example, which arrives sporting a massive 7,500 mAh Silicon-Carbon power cell.

Capacity vs. Reality: The Shocking Results

Given that huge 7,500 mAh cell, it stands to reason the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max ought to outperform competitors such as the Galaxy S25 Ultra (5,000 mAh) and the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max (4,823 mAh) with a comfortable lead.

Nonetheless, performance tests carried out by TechDroider reveal a surprising outcome, showing the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max to be less impressive than its cell size suggests. TechDroider subjected the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max to a battery drain test, putting it up against the iPhone 17 Pro Max, Galaxy S25 Ultra, Pixel 10 Pro XL, Xiaomi 15 Pro, and OnePlus 13.

The trial consisted of several intensive tasks: three hours spent playing PUBG at the highest graphics settings, another three hours of YouTube video streaming, ninety minutes of Chrome/Safari web browsing, ninety minutes of Instagram scrolling, and finally, recording continuous 4K video until the power depleted.

Once the rigorous cycle concluded, the resulting runtimes for the competing phones were as follows:

The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max achieved thirteen hours and thirty-six minutes, the iPhone 17 Pro Max managed thirteen hours and thirty-one minutes, the Xiaomi 15 Pro hit twelve hours and thirty-one minutes, the OnePlus 13 reached eleven hours and fifty-six minutes, the Pixel 10 Pro XL got eleven hours and twenty-eight minutes, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra finished with eleven hours and twenty minutes.

Apple's Efficiency Edge: The A19 Pro Secret

Analysing these figures, Notebook Check argues one point is obvious: The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max doesn't live up to the promise of its massive 7,500 mAh power pack. It only edged out the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max by approximately five minutes, despite the Apple device having a cell that's 36% smaller. Apple manages to equal the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max largely because of the highly efficient A19 Pro SoC and crucial software optimisations within iOS.

Ultimately, while the exact reason for the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max's underwhelming performance remains unclear, it strongly suggests that Xiaomi still has significant work to do in power management and efficiency tuning.

Taking the Results with a Grain of Salt

We should, however, point out that TechDroider's battery trial contains many factors the tester cannot fully regulate. Consequently, this kind of benchmark can introduce some errors. It's best to view these outcomes cautiously, especially since the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max has previously shown strong results over the iPhone 17 Pro Max in both overall gaming speed and power management.