The tests carried out within the 01Lab are finished and are formal, the iPhone 14 Plus is a brute in autonomy. An exceptionally durable smartphone, which even has the luxury of doing better than the 14 Pro Max, which is nevertheless exceptional. This reinforces the appeal of the 14 Plus, undeniably.
During the last week, we published our test of theiPhone 14 Plus, but we lacked the result of its increasingly long autonomy tests, since these smartphones are more and more enduring. Good news, time still doing its thing, they fell and now validated by the 01Lab. Here they are.
A special case
The iPhone 14 Plus takes a slightly special place in this year’s lineup. It is an unusual large-format entry-level version, a conglomeration of more or less ancient legacies. It thus shares its screen size of 6.7 inches diagonally with the iPhone 12, 13 and 14 Pro Max, but is not entitled to the new features of the iPhone 13 Pro Max: the ProMotion, nor does it can’t claim Dynamic Island or screen always-on of the 14 Pros.
In addition, for the first time in the history of the iPhone, Apple is reselling a chip introduced the previous generation. We thus find, in the iPhone 14 Plus, the A15 Bionic, in the version that gave life to the Pro and Pro Max models last year (six CPU cores, five GPU cores, and 6 GB of RAM).
The slab of the iPhone 12 Pro Max, the chip of the iPhone 13 Pro Max, the dimensions of the Pro Max, the 14 Plus looks like iPhone Frankenstein, already proven against the iPhone SE. Add to that the Plus designation, brought back to life just for him, and Halloween won’t be far away. And its “Plus”, the iPhone 14 Plus deserves it: it is larger, more expensive, and, as we now know, more autonomous.
Not a marathon runner, an ironman king
Not just more enduring either. Not merely even good, even excellent. The iPhone 14 Plus is out of the ordinary, above the fray. Over our two tests, in versatile autonomy, which simulates and connects daily uses until the battery runs out, and in video streaming, the iPhone 14 Plus dominated the competition of the best Android smartphones. He also took the opportunity to teach his iPhone brothers a lesson…
It is in “versatile” that the performance is the most impressive. And it is in our opinion all the more interesting that this test approaches “real” uses by its variety. Unless you’re a video or social media junkie, of course. The iPhone 14 Plus thus lasts 27:35… Yes, a full day and three hours and 35 minutes more. It’s colossal, and above all even better than what the new king of the category, the iPhone 14 Pro Max, offered. His reign was short, but intense with his 27h21 of autonomy.
The cautious promises dropped by Apple representatives were therefore true, the iPhone 14 Plus is a monster of power and can do better than the great master in the field, the Pro Max model for two years. The 14 Pro Max had indeed just dethroned the 13 Pro Max at the top of our ranking – if we except an unlikely Ouikitel smartphone… but enduring, coming from nowhere.
Does the iPhone 14 Plus achieve a double by taking first place in our ranking in autonomy in video streaming? No. This time, it is content to follow the iPhone 14 Pro Max and its 22:57, with a remarkable autonomy fixed at 22:37. Twenty minutes less, on one side, for 14 minutes on the other, the two large iPhone 2022 really stand neck and neck.
But before going any further, let’s note two things. First of all, that these two tenors are only second and third in autonomy in video streaming. The unflappable king in this area is and remains the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which reminds everyone who’s the loudest at the moment with its 11:43 p.m. Then, that these two performances of the iPhone 14 Plus make it easier to forget the disappearance of the iPhone mini, which was always the least efficient – compact form factor obliges – in autonomy.
A sledgehammer argument against a sledgehammer
With such results in autonomy, much higher than those of the iPhone 14, which are nevertheless excellent, it is obvious that the 14 Plus is perceived completely differently. Equipped with a large screen, but light, very powerful and extremely autonomous, the iPhone 14 Plus only gives ground in photos, where its two modules severely handicap it against its big Pro brothers – and even compared to the Android competition at the same price.
Because, it is one of the faults of this generation: the prices of the iPhone have risen in 2022, and it was necessary to have a no less than remarkable autonomy to make people forget it, or in any case excuse it. The 128 GB iPhone 14 Plus is only 90 euros cheaper than the iPhone 13 Pro Max, with equivalent storage, last year. A comparison that shows how much the range has seen its prices rise in one year… It’s up to you now to see if, with such autonomy, the iPhone 14 Plus is the ersatz iPhone 14 Pro Max you’re looking for…