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How the iPhone 13 Pro Max helped kill my low-battery anxiety

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Low-battery anxiety is real. The fear of running out of battery while I’m on my way home has bothered me for as long as I can remember using flagship smartphones. It was only two months back when I bought the most expensive slab phone that helped me end my battery anxiety.

Even almost a year since its release, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is still the battery champ in 2022. No flagship smartphone of the current year comes close to last year’s top-notch iPhone in terms of battery life. And with the way I use my phones, it’s been something of a game-changer.

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The iPhone 13 Pro Max is still the battery king in 2022

Galaxy Z Fold 3 and other flagships in the background.

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The basic purpose of the mobile phone is to allow people in two different places to communicate instantly — thus eliminating the human anxiety about loneliness. But if a phone dies, it can be an extra traumatic experience because these gadgets have created communication dependency, as per a study at Eskişehir Osmangazi University in Turkey.

If you are anything like me, you have probably offloaded various parts of your life on your smartphone. From my driving license, notes from meetings, cab-sharing apps and food apps, family photos, and banking apps — my smartphone has it all. And since the digital revolution, even access to my money is on my phone. If the battery dies or if I get a low-battery warning while I’m out socializing, my next step would be to reach home as soon as possible. After all, I can’t afford to be stranded without a cab or payment service — two of the most essential tools to take me home.

Since smartphones have become more than just communicator devices, it’s important for us to have them working all the time. But modern mobile phones have yet to solve the low-battery anxiety problem. I’ve used most of the 2022 Android flagship smartphones, including the Galaxy S22 Ultra, OnePlus 10 Pro, RedMagic 7 Pro, Black Shark 5 Pro, Xiaomi 12 Pro, and more. And all of them had one underlying issue. If I choose to use GPS navigation for an hour while doing all the other stuff mentioned above, the battery depletes like a pizza sitting in front of Joey Tribbiani.

iPhone 13 Pro Max back in hand.
Ajay Kumar/Digital Trends

That’s where the iPhone 13 Pro Max steps in and shines. You can do it all – play games, navigate around the city for an hour, FaceTime your friends, doomscroll on social media, etc. And yet, you will still have about 30% battery left when you get home. I have had days where I got about six hours of screen-on time with 40% battery left. I can’t imagine using any of the year’s best Android phones to this extent and getting anyway near that mark.

I mostly work from home, but there are times I choose to work out of my favorite cafes in Delhi. I carry a charging brick with me for my MacBook, but with the iPhone 13 Pro Max, I can miss packing my power bank and still have no problems. The other day, I ended up going to a 1 a.m. concert gig at a bar after a long work day. I had my phone for payments, cab booking, and showing the concert tickets at the entrance. I entered the bar with 40% battery, and by the time I reached home, I still had 20% battery left. The iPhone 13 Pro Max has truly ended my low-battery anxiety.

Where there’s room for improvement

Nothing is perfect. Despite all the bells and whistles on the battery life, the iPhone 13 Pro Max charges slowly. With Android manufacturers offering up to 150W fast charging and “a day’s battery life with a 15-minute charge,” the most-expensive iPhone falls behind.

If I forget to plug the iPhone 13 Pro Max in at night, I know that I don’t have the option to fast charge and get up to 50% battery in like 15 minutes, which is a bit unfair by 2022 standards. I really hope the 2022 iPhone 14 Pro Max has some sort of fast charging. If Apple can pair this excellent endurance with equally great charging, it will enable the battery champ to take an unshakeable lead in the battery department.

Person holding the Sierra Blue iPhone 13 Pro Max.
David Svihovec/Unsplash

We are halfway through 2022, and last year’s iPhone 13 Pro Max is still the battery champion. With all the Android flagships focusing on performance, battery life is becoming an afterthought. I hope companies pay more attention to their battery offerings and optimize their flagship smartphones to easily last an entire day. Otherwise, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has no competition.

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Prakhar Khanna
Prakhar Khanna
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Prakhar writes news, reviews and features for Digital Trends. He is an independent tech journalist who has been a part of the…
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