Laptops have always had one irrefutable advantage over desktop computers: portability. It just so happens that portability mostly depends on one factor, which is the laptop’s battery life. When it comes to taking the laptop out for some mobile work, battery life is always the most important specification.
Of course, you’d also want a laptop that maximizes its advantage over desktop computers, and a laptop that drains itself in just a few hours is quite embarrassing as far as portable devices go. As for standards, any laptop with a battery life above 10 hours is what we consider good or decent.
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Granted, you will need to accept some compromises when it comes to preferring laptops with good battery life. You can’t have power and performance combined with good battery life, sadly; hence, gaming laptops are usually off the table here.
Still, if a laptop’s battery life is the most important spec for you, then these options surely won’t disappoint when it comes to stamina.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro
PROS
- Good battery life
- Gaming specs
- Ryzen 7 CPU
- QHD display with gaming refresh rates
- 16-inch screen
- Also has a stylish white variant
CONS
- A bit heavy
- Default storage could be better
- CPU/Processor: AMD Ryzen 7-5800H
- GPU/Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
- RAM/Memory: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB
- Display: 16″ 165Hz QHD
- Battery Life: Around 10 Hours (non-gaming)
Yes, we did mention earlier that battery life for gaming laptops isn’t stellar, but some devices beg to differ. Brands like Lenovo do engineer their laptops well enough. If you don’t use the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro for gaming, you’ll get a lot out of it.
This 16-inch beast is also a good all-rounder in case you want to bring something that can still allow for some heavy gaming (provided gaming sessions are plugged-in). The Legion 5 Pro certainly won’t disappoint if you need to do work on it without charging it.
Be sure to pick just the Pro and not the Intel iPro variant. AMD CPUs are better for battery management compared to Intel.
ASUS ExpertBook B9450
PROS
- Thin and light
- Small form factor
- Excellent battery life
- Hinge counts as extra ventilation
CONS
- CPU is a bit weak
- Uninspired design
- Small screen
- Limited gaming
- CPU/Processor: Intel Core i7-10510U
- GPU/Graphics Card: Integrated
- RAM/Memory: 16GB
- Storage: 1TB
- Display: 14′ FHD
- Battery Life: Around 17 to 24 hours
For something worthy of meetings, presentations, and other professional matters, the Asus ExpertBook B9450 can and will last longer than most. It’s a thin and light office laptop that can also double as a business tool given how heavy-duty the battery is on default configurations and models.
Asus did promise a whopping 24 hours of battery life here for continuous usage though some estimates put it closer to 17 hours on average, which is still generous.
The laptop is also elegantly thin and light, allowing most users to carry it around like a notebook without strain. Don’t expect it to entertain you past internet videos, of course.
LG Gram 17Z90P
PROS
- 17-inch screen
- Thin and light
- Excellent battery life
- Has a dedicated numpad
- Good screen colors
- Good RAM speed
CONS
- Expensive for its specs
- Limited gaming
- CPU/Processor: Intel i7-1165G7
- GPU/Graphics Card: Intel Xe Graphics (integrated)
- RAM/Memory: 16GB
- Storage: 1TB
- Display: 17″ IPS Ultra-Lightweight, (2560 x 1600)
- Battery Life: Around 16 hours
Turns out LG does make good laptops and the LG Gram 17 (17Z90P) is a solid contender. It doesn’t exactly have the best specs but it does come with a 17-inch screen which is great for those that have extensive spreadsheets or presentations that don’t involve projectors.
In any case, a bigger screen is always better for productivity; to make good use of all the pixel real estate, this laptop sports a 2560 x 1600 resolution which is a cut above the rest. This does take its toll on the battery life a bit, but it’s worth it for more image clarity.
MacBook Pro M2
PROS
- Retina display
- Thin and light
- Excellent battery life
- Good webcam
- Operating system is easy to use
- Touch Bar
CONS
- Overpriced
- Base memory and storage could be better
- Limited gaming
- CPU/Processor: Apple M2 chip
- GPU/Graphics Card: Apple 10-core GPU
- RAM/Memory: 8/16 GB
- Storage: Up to 1TB
- Display: 13-inch Retina Display
- Battery Life: Around 20 hours
Of course, the MacBook just had to be here. Windows devices often find it hard to match the impressive battery life of the M2 chips. Apple does promise up to 20 hours, which is a big step up from the M1’s average of 14 hours.
A lot of MacBook users do swear by their device’s battery life and if you’re not going to game anyway, it’s better to perhaps just opt for something with this much operating stamina. It’s definitely one of the best options to take on a plane or train ride with limited charging capacities.
Samsung Notebook 9 Pro 2-in-1
PROS
- Touch screen
- 360-degree hinge
- Thin and light
- Good battery life
CONS
- Storage could be better
- RAM could be better
- CPU could be better
- Limited applications
- CPU/Processor: Core i7 8565U
- GPU/Graphics Card: Intel UHD Graphics 620 (integrated)
- RAM/Memory: 8 GB
- Storage: 256 GB
- Display: 13.3″ Touch Screen
- Battery Life: Around 12 hours
If you want something that can convert itself into a tablet and still last long enough to go back into a laptop after the digital drawing is finished, then the Samsung Notebook 9 Pro has plenty to offer.
This 2-in-1 device from Samsung has an impressive and responsive touchscreen, allowing digital artists to use just about most industry-standard stylus pens with no issue. In fact, the only issue is with the rather meager hardware inside this laptop/tablet but it’s pretty fair pricing for a convertible laptop.
Other Factors in Battery Life
Now, despite the impressive laptops here, you would still do well to practice some battery-saving guidelines. A lot of the advertised or promised battery life for the laptops in this list is based on certain battery-saving conditions, after all.
Here are some tips on how to save battery:
- Turn down the brightness as low as possible without hindering vision and productivity.
- Use earphones or headphones.
- Avoid opening too many tabs in your browser.
- Turn on the Power Saving options in Windows.
- Close the screen when it’s not in use.
Follow those simple tips above and you’ll surely reach the advertised battery life, probably even exceed it under certain circumstances.