We spent 3 days with an Android phone that has a 10,000mAh battery and didn’t need to charge it once

Hadlee Simons / Android AuthorityAdd Android Authority on Google: Silicon-carbon batteries have resulted in Android phones with huge batteries. We’ve even seen a few phones with 10,000mAh batteries, but these devices have mostly been restricted to China.Now, Xiaomi sub-brand REDMI has announced the £499 Note 17 Pro Max, bringing with it a massive 10,000mAh battery in a mainstream phone to global markets. And I wasn’t prepared for the sheer amount of juice on offer.Flagship-beating battery lifeThe REDMI Note 17 Pro Max’s star feature is, of course, the 10,000mAh battery. That’s double the capacity of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and over 2,500mAh more than the already impressive OnePlus 15.What does this mean for actual battery life, then? REDMI says you can expect three days of endurance, but my colleague Rob Triggs put the phone through our battery benchmarking suite. Unsurprisingly, these tests yielded impressive results.The REDMI Note 17 Pro Max came out on top in all of our tests and absolutely destroyed the competition when browsing the web, using the camera, and filming in 4K. We recorded 27.5 hours of web browsing compared to the second-placed Galaxy S26 Ultra’s 11.5 hours. We also saw 15.8 hours of battery life when using the camera app, while the Galaxy A56 5G was in second place with 6.7 hours. REDMI’s advantage is reduced during the Zoom test, suggesting that the combo of the screen, speakers, chipset, and connectivity can be a major drain.The REDMI Note 17 Pro Max blows rival devices out of the water in our battery benchmarks, and real-world usage is tentatively impressive too.There is one small downer, though: the European model comes with a downgraded battery. However, Europeans are still getting an impressive 9,210mAh battery. I’ve been using this particular model, and based on my own experience, I can definitely say you can still expect insane battery life from the European model. I took the phone off charge on Friday afternoon, used it on Friday evening and over the weekend, and still had roughly 20% left by midday on Monday. This usage consisted of WhatsApp, browsing Reddit and the web, and several hours of YouTube viewing. I imagine that heavier usage, such as GPS navigation, video calls, and demanding games, will still yield an impressive two days of endurance.Robert Triggs / Android AuthorityA huge battery needs fast charging, as the last thing you want is to wait three hours for a full charge. Thankfully, REDMI offers 100W wired charging, which should give you a 100% charge in roughly 80 minutes. I can confirm that my own phone took just over 80 minutes to charge. The company even says you can expect a full day of juice in just 20 minutes. The biggest downside is that 100W speeds are sustained for mere seconds before the phone generally dips well below the 30W mark. Talk about a gimmick. There’s no reason why the company couldn’t have used 65W charging instead.Design and durabilityHadlee Simons / Android AuthorityREDMI is also talking a big game about the phone’s durability. For one, we’ve got IP68, IP69, and IP69K ratings. IP69 ratings are largely a gimmick, but all of this means your REDMI Note 17 Pro Max should survive a dunk in fresh water just fine. In fact, REDMI says the phone was certified to withstand immersion in two meters of water for 72 hours. That’s all well and good but, like most manufacturers, the phone warranty doesn’t actually cover liquid damage.Worried about drops? Well, the REDMI Note 17 Pro Max also has Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection and a “reinforced REDMI Titan structure.” In fact, the phone is certified by SGS to withstand drops of three meters (9.8 feet) onto a “smooth” granite surface.Don’t expect a premium design, as the phone has a plastic frame and back. I’m not sad to see a plastic back as it means the rear cover won’t spiderweb after a fall. The device is quite heavy, though, at ~229 grams. That’s significantly heavier than the REDMI Note 15 Pro Plus, Samsung Galaxy A57 5G, and OnePlus 15. The weight doesn’t bother me during everyday usage, but it’ll definitely leave a mark if you’ve ever fallen asleep and dropped your phone on your face (don’t judge me).Perhaps the most impressive thing about the REDMI Note 17 Pro Max design is that it’s still under 9mm thick. That’s in the same ballpark as phones like the Moto G Power 2026. It feels like a normal phone. That sounds like a pedestrian observation, but the first 10,000mAh phone I ever reviewed was the 14mm-thick Oukitel K10000 series back in 2017.PerformanceHadlee Simons / Android AuthorityThe REDMI Note 17 Pro Max is powered by a Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 chipset paired with 8GB of RAM. That sounds like a step down from the REDMI Note 15 Pro Plus, which has a Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chipset.We weren’t able to run GPU stress tests at the time of writing, but Geekbench 6 tests reveal single-core scores that are barely ahead of the $500 Moto G Stylus 2026 and well behind the Pixel 10a. The phone delivers a healthy multi-core boost, undoubtedly due to the four powerful yet aging Cortex-A78 cores, but this is still well behind the Pixel 10a’s Tensor G4 chip.As for real-world performance? The phone delivered a smooth experience most of the time. Unfortunately, the camera app was prone to judder and bouts of unresponsiveness. I also experienced occasional lag when entering the recents menu. Fortunately, I was able to play demanding games like Wreckfest and War Thunder Mobile just fine out of the box without making any adjustments.Anything else? Don’t expect a great camera system here, as you’re getting a bog-standard 50MP+8MP pairing. This is technically a step down from the REDMI Note 15 Pro Plus and its 200MP+8MP setup. The 50MP camera can take good-quality shots in ideal conditions (thanks, golden hour), but heaven forbid your subject moves in mixed lighting. A sports mode would’ve helped in these situations. Meanwhile, the ultrawide camera takes pictures that seem noticeably softer than the primary shooter. Image quality also takes a dive at night, but ultrawide shots are much darker and splotchier than snaps from the main camera.The REDMI Note 17 Pro Max also offers a 6.83-inch 1.5K OLED screen, complete with a 120Hz refresh rate. I was happy with video playback via this panel, and it’s more than bright enough for outdoor viewing. I did feel like there was more fingerprint grease here than on flagship Android phones, though.REDMI also offers HyperOS 3 atop Android 16, and you can expect plenty of features as usual. This includes Bluetooth-based calls with other Xiaomi and REDMI devices, per-app volume controls, and heart rate measurement via your camera flash. We’ve got plenty of AI features too, such as AI conversation translation, speech transcription, dynamic wallpapers, and subtitles.It’s a shame that most of these AI features require an internet connection, but it’s also understandable given the phone’s mid-range nature. What’s more disappointing is the glut of bloatware out of the box, including nine games, Facebook (including uninstallable system apps), Booking.com, Temu, and more. At least you’re getting six years of security patches, but there’s no word on OS updates.Despite its flaws, I want to keep using this phoneHadlee Simons / Android AuthorityI’m a sucker for flagship Android phones with great cameras, lots of horsepower, and premium builds. As a mid-range phone, the REDMI Note 17 Pro Max quite obviously lacks these features, but I still want to keep using it thanks to that gigantic battery. There’s something liberating about knowing you can go two and a half or even three days without having to plug in. Throw in the fairly slim design, solid display, and rugged build, and you’ve got a pretty compelling option if you’re frequently away from your charger or if you’re simply sick and tired of battery anxiety.The Note 17 Pro Max isn’t without its flaws, though. The rear cameras are usually a waste of time in anything less than broad daylight, performance is inconsistent, and there’s the usual long-standing bloatware issue. But if you want a phone with a 10,000mAh battery, this might be the default option for most people due to its widespread availability. Unless you’re in the US, sadly, where your only option would be to import one.The OnePlus 15R ($699.99 at Amazon) might be the best REDMI Note 17 Pro Max alternative for many people. It’s more expensive than REDMI’s phone and doesn’t have a 10,000mAh battery, but you’re getting a 7,400mAh battery, a more powerful chipset, and a more impressive screen. The Samsung Galaxy A57 5G ($549.99 at Amazon) is also worth a look if you want a quality mid-range phone. It doesn’t have a huge battery, but it brings better camera hardware, Samsung’s feature-rich software, and robust durability.REDMI Note 17 Pro MaxREDMI Note 17 Pro MaxGigantic Battery • Super-fast ChargingMulti-day battery life for everyone.The REDMI Note 17 Pro Max offers flagship-besting battery life and fast charging at a fraction of the price.Thank you for being part of our community. Read our Comment Policy before posting.