Laptops with the Longest Battery Life
By Avram Piltch
Laptops with the Longest Battery Life
By Avram Piltch
No matter how stacked its specs are, a laptop is useless if it can't hold a charge. Fortunately, there are plenty of notebooks that go the distance. Using our Laptop Mag Battery Test 2.0, which involves continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness, we've identified the longest-lasting notebooks on the market. We're talking more than 9 hours of endurance, which should more than suffice for that cross-country flight, a long day of meetings or multiple, back-to-back classes.
Note that, in February 2018, we switched from Laptop Battery Test 1.0, which surfed the web at a lower, 100 nits of brightness, so scores have gone down to reflect the more aggressive (and realistic) test.
No. 1 - Lenovo ThinkPad T470 (16:01 hrs)
If you want a truly fantastic keyboard, durable chassis and strong performance, look no further than the ThinkPad T470. The T470 makes room for an optional extended battery that gives this 14-inch laptop over 16 hours of endurance (with its optional, 6-cell battery). You can charge the laptop over a proprietary ThinkPad connector or via its Thunderbolt 3 port, which allows you to juice the laptop and output to multiple monitors over a single wire. A durable, MIL-SPEC-tested chassis helps this long-lasting business notebook stand up to the rigors of all-day business travel.
Pros: Best-in-class keyboard; Speedy PCIe SSD; Durable design; Thunderbolt 3 charging;
Cons: Relatively-dim screen; Tinny sound
Key Specs: 14.1-inch display; Up to 1920 x 1080 screen resolution; Up to Core i7 CPU; 3.48 pounds / 3.88 pounds (6-cell battery)
No. 2 - Dell XPS 13 9360 (15:14 hrs)
The Dell XPS 13 9360 uses a nearly-bezel-free Infinity display to pack a 13-inch panel into a chassis that might otherwise hold an 11-inch laptop. Despite its slim, 0.6-inch thick dimensions and 2.7-pound weight, Dell's laptop offers nearly 16 hours of battery life with its standard, 1080p screen.
Add to that an Intel 8th Gen Core i5 or i7 CPU, a speedy PCIe SSD and plenty of ports and you have the best consumer Ultrabook around. A Killer Wi-Fi card and Thunderbolt 3 charging round out this impressive package.
Pros: Very light; Great port selection; Gorgeous, nearly-bezel-free display/ Strong Wi-Fi
Cons: Awkward webcam placement
Key Specs: 13.3-inch screen; Up to 3200 x 1800 resolution; Up to Core i7 CPU; 2.78 pounds
No. 3 - Lenovo ThinkPad X270 (13:15 hrs)
Weighing 3 pounds (3.4 with extended battery), the 12.5-inch ThinkPad X270 is light enough to carry anywhere and small enough to fit easily on most airplane tray tables. Its 12.5-inch display outputs a vibrant 88 percent of the sRGB color gamut while a snappy keyboard and accurate pointing stick make editing documents a pleasure. Unlike many Ultrabooks, the X270 has plenty of ports, including a USB Type-C connector, multiple USB 3.0 connectors, an SD card reader and an Ethernet connector.
With its extended battery on board, this powerful laptop lasts more than 13 hours on a charge. If that's not enough endurance for you, you can carry a spare battery and swap it in, without even turning off the computer.
Pros: Great keyboard; Colorful screen; Hot-swappable battery; Light weight
Cons: No Thunderbolt 3 port; Mediocre battery life with 3-cell battery
Key Specs: 12.5-inch screen; Up to 1920 x 1080 resolution; Up to Core i7 CPU; 3 pounds / 3.4 pounds (with 6-cell battery)
No. 4 - Lenovo ThinkPad 25 (13:05 hrs)
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of ThinkPad, Lenovo has taken a T470, dialed up its components to 11 and added a few cool retro design elements. In place of the standard island-style keyboard, Lenovo has put the classic 7-row keyboard, which offers a superior user experience thanks to its dedicated media controls, enlarged Esc and Delete keys and page forward / page back buttons. A soft-touch palmrest is more comfortable against your wrists than the hard, coarse plastic of the T470.
With its optional 6-cell battery on-board, the ThinkPad 25 lasted a strong 13 hours and 5 minutes on our battery test. However, that time is 3 hours less than the T470 we tested, because the ThinkPad 25 comes standard with a touch screen and an Nvidia GPU, both of which use more power than the parts in our T470.
Pros: Attractive retro design; Superior typing experience; Strong performance
Cons: Only one configuration; Expensive
Key Specs: 14-inch, 1920 x 1080 screen; Core i7-7500U CPU; Nvidia 940MX GPU; 16GB of RAM; 512GB SSD; 4G Modem
No. 5 - Dell XPS 13 9370 (11:59 hrs)
The latest version of Dell's flagship laptop comes in an attractive rose gold and white color scheme and is a bit thinner than its predecessor, the still-for-sale XPS 13 9360. Because Dell shaved 0.14 inches off of the thickness and 0.13 pounds off the weight, the XPS 13 9370 has smaller battery and three hours less endurance. However, this sleek and sexy ultrabook still lasts nearly 12 hours on a charge and offers stronger performance and a more attractive screen than the 9360. You can also get the Dell XPS 13 9370 with an eye-popping 4K display.
Pros: Attractive design; Colorful display; Strong sustained performance; Very light
Cons: No USB Type-A port; Webcam looks up your nose
Key Specs: 13.3-inch screen; Up to 4K resolution; Up to Core i7 CPU; 2.65 pounds; Thunderbolt ports; 2.65 pounds; 0.46 inches thick.
No. 6 - Dell Latitude 7380 (10:15 hrs)
With its extended battery on board, the Dell Latitude 7380 lasts for 10 hours and 15 minutes on a charge. This 13-inch laptop has a really light starting weight of 2.75 pounds and a durable MIL-SPEC-tested chassis that can survive extreme temperatures and pressure.
A luxurious soft-touch deck and deep key travel provide an excellent typing experience while an optional infrared camera lets you log into Windows 10 using facial recognition.
Pros: Colorful display; Durable chassis; Strong typing experience
Cons: Plain design; Expensive
Key Specs: 13-inch, 1920 x 1080 screen; Up to Core i7-7600U CPU; 2.75 pounds
No. 7 - Lenovo Yoga 920 (10:14 hrs)
Lenovo's flagship consumer 2-in-1 has great performance and even better aesthetics. Thanks to a quad-core, 8th Gen Core i7 CPU and a speedy PCIe SSD, the Yoga 920 can handle productivity tasks with aplomb. However, you may be distracted from your tasks when you spend time staring at its gorgeous bronze-colored chassis, super-thin bezel and colorful display. Best of all, it lasts over 10 hours on a charge.
Pros: Attractive bronze chassis; Powerful 8th Gen Core i7 performance; Rich audio playback
Cons: Somewhat shallow keyboard
Key Specs: 13.9-inch, up to 4K display; NVMe PCIe SSD; 16GB of RAM; 3 pounds
No. 8 - Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575-57D4 (9:35 hrs)
One of the best bargains in tech, the Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575-57D4 (say that three times fast) has really strong specs for the money and even stronger battery life. For just $579, this 15.6-inch laptop gives you a 1080p screen, a Core i5 processor, a 256GB SSD and Nvidia 940M graphics.
At 4.97 pounds and 1.2-inches thick, the E 15 isn't a laptop you'll want to lug around in a bag all day, but its 10 hours and 59 minutes of battery life make it a great choice for carrying around the house. A built-in DVD burner and a wide selection of ports, including a USB Type-C connector, make this a very versatile computer.
Pros: Colorful display; Plenty of ports; Great value
Cons: Heavy; Dim screen
Key Specs: 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 screen; Core i5-7200U CPU; 8GB of RAM; 256GB SSD; Nvidia 940M graphics; 4.97 pounds