• 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 ex

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