Apple’s latest smartphones still only claim to have batteries good for 1,000 charging cycles, while Samsung reports hitting 2,000.
EU energy labels offer a convenient way to see how many times you can charge your phone before losing capacity.
Samsung’s been a leader there, claiming 2,000 cycles for devices like its Galaxy S25 phones.
Apple only manages to hit 1,000 cycles, according to its iPhone 17 energy labels.
Shopping for a new smartphone can be seriously nerve-wracking, and while manufacturers throw plenty of specs at us, it can sometimes be really difficult to get objective numbers for making comparisons. That is a big reason why we’ve been so excited this year to see the debut of the EU’s new energy efficiency labels, providing important details about not just how power-efficient our phones are, but also how durable — and that includes the battery itself.
Beyond just reporting how long users can expect a fully charged battery to last, the labels give shoppers an indication as to how many charging cycles they might hope to get out of their phone over the course of its useful life.
