Introduction

On 20th June 2025, new EU battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1669 for mobile phone batteries came into force which all manufacturers must comply with. A database of all the information is publicly available and can be queried manually or via an API.

Here, an analysis is shown on all data available from the API as of 2026-09-19. It will be updated periodically.

The main focus of the analysis is to understand the relationship between battery size and battery endurance as a function of the standard EU Energy Efficiency class range A-G used for assessing anything from TVs to houses.

Total number of phones in database: 1068

Breakdowns by Brands

Across all the data there are 123 manufacturers where most have between 1-4 models on the EU market. The maximum number of models is by OUKITEL with 161 models.

There are too many manufacturers (n = 123) so selecting some well-known brands to look at in more detail instead: Apple, Fairphone, Google, Honor, Motorola, Nothing, OnePlus, OPPO, Samsung, Vivo.

Of the common or well-known brands Motorola has the most with 43 and then Samsung with 21. Note that the database includes models that may no longer be available to buy from the manufacturer e.g. Apple’s 16 models don’t tally with the six currently for sale.

All manufacturers, except OPPO, have models rated in two or more classes. Samsung and Fairphone have models rated A-C whereas the rest have models rated A or B.

Comparison of Battery Size vs Endurance per Cycle

Comparing Classes for battery capacity and endurance didn’t really show much of a relationship. Looking at within classes is there a clearer relationship between capacity and endurance as one would expect.

In the plot below shows for each class a positive correlation where smaller batteries have shorter endurance and larger batteries have longer endurance from bottom-left to top-right.

The correlation appears consistent between classes, but if we plot classes A-D together - E-G are too few to be meaningful - and add a trendline we can see a few features. The dotted black line is the trend across all the models. Where the trendline is nearer to the bottom-right the black line then that class is more efficient that the overall trend.

Being the largest two Classes A & B naturally track with the overall trend very closely. Although, at larger battery capacities the individual data point don’t track the trend.

In Class C (Green line), the trend line seems to track as more efficient than overall, but is dominated by a single, very high endurance model (BLU G75).

In Class D (Blue line), the data points match the line well and the trend line shows a reduced efficiency compared the overall trend and the A-C Classes.

This trends seem to be dominated by some very large rated battery capacities and endurance per cycle. The majority of models clustered in the bottom left corner.

Focus on ‘Major’ Brands

The major brands may have a different market presence than the manufacturers flooding the market with dozens of models with vastly differing battery capacities. Selecting only the well-known, major brands, a similar plot can be presented, although the differences between classes are clearer.

The A Class phones show a clear separation in terms of efficiency compared to the B and C classes, although there are only three C class phones, here. The Class A gain over Class B reduces with battery size.

Two data points stand out in the plot for different reasons: the top left point showing low endurance despite a large battery, and the top right showing the opposite. Interestingly both models are from OnePlus: the Nord 6 and CPH2747 (OnePlus 15) model. The OnePlus 15 appears to show a significantly better efficiency than other models. However, upon closer inspection the ratedBatteryCapacity value is a very small 3575 mAh which does not match the 7300 mAh advertise on their website. The Nord 6 battery size is consistent with the advertised capacity.

Battery Efficiency

Going back to the overall data, the definition of battery efficiency can be formalised as the number minutes of battery life per 1,000 mAh (1 Ah).

Here, we can see that there is a clear trend; better class results in better efficiency. Classes F & G are more variable due to low numbers of models.

According to the data there is a model with over 5,085 minutes per Ah of battery capacity the “BLU G75”. Many other phone models show very high efficiencies when compared to the majority of their class, which seem too extreme to be believable.

We can now add another column to the average battery values table showing the difference in median battery efficiency between classes. The typical loss in battery efficiency is 12-16% when dropping down a class across classes A-E or over an hour per 1,000 mAh. For example, A Class B phone will be 1 hr 29 min per 1,000 mAh less efficient than a Class A one.

Class n Endurance (median, minutes) Capacity (median, mAh) Efficiency (median, min/Ah) Difference (min/Ah) Difference (%)
A 410 3803.5 5150 669 NA NA
B 401 3112.0 5150 580 -89 -13.3
C 128 3233.0 6250 508 -72 -12.4
D 63 2683.0 6150 428 -80 -15.7
E 33 2155.0 5800 359 -69 -16.1
F 14 3880.0 13000 312 -47 -13.1
G 19 1080.0 4850 224 -88 -28.2

5000 mAh Battery Capacity

There is a large number of phones with 5000 +/- 200 mAh. Seems to be a popular specification so let’s delve a bit deeper.

Total number of phones = 323 (30% of all phones)

Despite this group being tightly defined in terms of battery capacity, the difference in endurance between best and worst is substantial: 184.6 hours

The best model is the XPLORE X1 PRO by Blackview.

The worst model is the 2409BRN2CL2409BRN2CA by Xiaomi Communications Co., Ltd..

Within the 5,000 mAh phones over 80% are class A or B and ~7% are class D-G. In contrast to the all model analysis above, there is a very clear relationship between class and endurance per cycle. Class A phones have the longest average endurance and D-G the shortest.

Samsung is the largest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world so how do they rate on average vs the rest of the market within this popular segment of 5,000 mAh phones. 9 out their 21 phones sit in this group.

Below, in red are all phones excluding Samsung and in green are the Samsung phones. Across the board their within-class performance is poor compared to the other manufacturers where the green boxes are much lower than red ones.

Compared to Motorola - the well-known manufacturer with the most models - with 27 out of their 43 models in the 5,000 mAh class. The green boxes representing the Motorola models line up with the red ones meaning they are more comparable to the other models.

Note: Motorola supplies very different models in the EU/Europe compared to the US (and other countries?) meaning that this result may not translate across the pond.

Note: an Apple comparison would have been useful here, but Apple only have one model in the 5,000 mAh class (iPhone 17 Pro Max) with the majority having smaller batteries and te 18 Pro Max has a 5,391 mAh battery which is bigger than this class.

Apple Progress

It was notable when the EU ratings first came out the current iPhone models were all rated as Class B. With the release of the iPhone 17 series and iPhone Air all the new models are rated Class A. So what changed?

With Apple now splitting their annual releases the historical comparison there’s a mix of generations in each series we can start looking at trends for the models: Base, e, Plus, Pro and Pro Max. NB: weirdly the 16 Pro Max appears twice and the 16 Pro has been removed.

Firstly, in terms of endurance per cycle there is a linear uptick for the base model, e, and Plus. The iPhone Pro and Max models, however, show a significant improvement over previous generations. This will be down to the ~700 mAh increase in the battery size. The 17 Pro Max has also received a larger battery over the 16 Pro Max but is more modest at ~400 mAh. The 18 Pro has had a small battery capacity bump over the 17 Pro, but the 18 Pro Max is 568 mAh larger than the 17 Pro Max.

When it comes to efficiencies, the changes between the 15 & 16 models were relatively small, but the 17 has made a big improvement across the board with the 18 Pro/Pro Max models contrinuing the trend. Particularly the base and e models. The median improvement in efficiency gain between the 16-series and 17-series is 59 mAh/min (9.5%) and 17-series and 18-series is 54 mAh/min (7.4%). The improvement could be down to hardware or software or both.

Samsung S-class Progress

In a similar way to the Apple models, an analysis of the Samsung flagships can be made.

Only the S25 and S26 series have been assessed against the new EU regulations meaning there are only two sets of data points which limits interpretation.

In terms of endurance, the S26 series shows a big jump in endurance ranging from 18% (Ultra) to 27% (Base). The Base model improvement will be coupled with a 290 mAh increase in capacity.

In terms of efficiency, a very similar jump in efficiency can be seen. The gains between models are more similar to each other than the raw endurance figures with the improvement ranging from 18% (Ultra) to 26% (FE).

The S26 series all, except the FE, come with the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor over theGen 3 version in the S25 series. The FE models are powered by their own Exynos processor. This may be the cause of the improved efficiency or more likely a combination of hardware and software improvements across the board.

Whatever the implementation, it is good to see a focus on better use of resources and an increase in usable battery life.

Conclusions

The EU regulatory data is a mine information and allows an agnostic view across models through controlled and objective tests which was not previously possible through the ad hoc tests performed by enthusiasts.

There is a very large and diverse market for mobile phones which is not observed by simply looking at the popular or market leaders only. The popular manufacturers represent only a seventh of the market in terms of models available.

The large diversity masks some of the utility of the Energy Markings, but in looking at the popular 5,000 mAh rated battery capacity there is a really clear difference between classes. If battery efficiency matters to you, then aiming for the best class will make a difference.

Whether it is a direct response to these regulations or not, it is nonetheless good to see two of the big players (Samsung and Apple) significantly improve on the battery endurance and efficiencies in their most recent models.

A caveat is that there are some examples where the rated battery capacities are significantly smaller than those reported in manufacturer specifications, resulting in some excessively high efficiency ratings.