Netflix is my new no-lie laptop computer battery take a look at

When you have been to take a laptop computer on a aircraft or away for a ski weekend, how lengthy would it not final streaming Netflix earlier than it ran out of battery? It’s a superb query, and one which deserves a solution.

I’ve examined Intel’s Core Extremely 200 (Lunar Lake) and Intel’s Core Extremely 300 (Panther Lake) whereas consultant laptops for work, not play. However the streaming query is one which’s nagged at me, for a while, and I used to be decided to reply it. I did, with what I’m calling the “One Piece” benchmark.

One Piece, an anime a few group of pirates on the lookout for a legendary treasure, has actually a whole lot of episodes streaming on Netflix. It was an ideal alternative to tug out the consultant laptops I’d used to check Intel’s Lunar Lake and Panther Lake chips, alongside Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and AMD’s Ryzen AI 300. Which laptop computer would stream it the longest earlier than conking out? It actually took days to perform, however we arrived at a transparent winner — particularly after we calculated which cellular platform was probably the most power-efficient.

I’m undecided that we’ll add the “One Piece benchmark” to our customary repertoire of testing, for causes that I’ll define, beneath. But it surely’s additionally true that I don’t suppose that the present crop of battery benchmarks precisely represents real-world battery life, both, and the “One Piece” benchmark tries to ascertain one thing nearer to a real baseline for battery testing. Plus it was sort of enjoyable, too!

Let’s speak about testing

When you don’t care why we take a look at, skip right down to the charts beneath. We’ll provide the particulars on which laptop computer platform has the very best battery life whereas streaming.

In any other case, let me nerd out for a bit on our testing philosophy, and why I carried out these exams.

For me, lengthy battery life is extra synonymous with a commerce present like CES, the place I’m at all times on the run between conferences, taking notes the place I can, and with nary a wall outlet in sight. That’s why my present exams embody the UL Procyon productiveness benchmark, which tries to simulate how a person would possibly use Microsoft 365 apps like Outlook, Phrase, PowerPoint, and Excel throughout a marathon work day.

The Procyon exams carry out numerous “work”-like duties; opening paperwork, performing Excel calculations, et cetera. The benchmark additionally pauses for some time, right here and there, to simulate you taking a break. It doesn’t push the laptop computer as exhausting as I’d like, but it surely nonetheless provides a good estimate of how lengthy the laptop computer will final for those who have been utilizing it to work.

Cribbing from my Core Extremely 200 (Lunar Lake) overview, I got here up with these battery-life outcomes when the Procyon productiveness take a look at was run. Apparently, Intel’s just-released Panther Lake platform produced a length of 13 hours 12 minutes earlier than expiring, which places it within the midrange of the the cellular platforms examined beneath.

• Intel Lunar Lake: 17 hours, 7 minutes
• Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite: 16 hours, 20 minutes
• AMD Ryzen AI 300: 10 hours, 42 minutes
• Intel Meteor Lake: 10 hours, 35 minutes

That’s productiveness. Our conventional battery-life video take a look at hearkens again to the times wherein individuals would possibly obtain a number of motion pictures on to their laptop computer, after which watch them throughout a transcontinental flight. Immediately, we’ve misplaced contact with that life-style: streaming is virtually ubiquitous, and plenty of planes embody energy plugs, too.

Our conventional video playback take a look at is each helpful and outdated. We loop a 4K video till the battery expires. That’s not unlife like, but it surely’s not the way in which shoppers devour video anymore. CPU designers have additionally begun isolating video decoding in sure areas of the CPU, after which turning off the opposite sections of the CPU. There’s nothing fallacious with this, clearly! However my intestine says that video decoding has change into “simpler” over time, whereas additionally changing into a extra synthetic take a look at than in years previous. So it was time to strive one thing new.

take a look at additionally tries to isolate the problem at hand, such because the CPU efficiency. However battery-life is clearly dependent upon what you’re doing, the processor, how vivid the show is, and so forth.

I can and did artificially set the backlight brightness at a hard and fast stage, although many laptops are set (by default) to regulate the brightness relying on content material. However there are numerous different variables: the kind of Wi-Fi adapter getting used, for instance, and the way congested the community is. I attempted to keep away from updates by turning updates off. A streaming service like Netflix or YouTube would possibly subtly modify the bandwidth and even the decision relying upon the community bandwidth, too. So it’s not an ideal take a look at; there are variables.

Nonetheless, streaming Netflix may be very a lot what customers do, and repeating the take a look at a number of occasions can common these points out — which I did, operating every take a look at thrice. I streamed at 1080p decision, as that’s the decision of the Netflix customary plan. Subtitles have been turned on.

In fact, the opposite drawback is simply the time such exams take! Each take a look at took properly over twelve hours to run, repeated thrice, and with every laptop computer. Even sitting within the nook of the workplace, the One Piece benchmark wasn’t one thing that you could possibly simply run on a weekend. I didn’t wish to run the exams in parallel, for danger of affecting the streams, and Netflix solely permits you to stream so many streams in parallel, anyway.

The contestants, and the winner

However we do have outcomes! For the needs of this take a look at, I hauled out our take a look at laptops representing all three main processor platforms, plus the older Intel Core Extremely 200 collection (Lunar Lake) for good measure. Observe that AMD’s Ryzen AI 400 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite Excessive chips are anticipated quickly; we simply don’t have any platforms to check these simply but.

I charged up every laptop computer to a full cost, then let the laptops preserve streaming episodes of One Piece, one segueing into the following, till the battery expired.

The outcomes have been fairly clear: Intel’s Core Extremely Collection 3 (Panther Lake) was nonetheless the king of streaming however Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite was shut on its heels. Put one other method, Panther Lake lasted 16 hours 33 minutes, adopted by the Snapdragon laptop computer at 15 hours 23 minutes. Intel’s older Lunar Lake platform lasted 14 hours 19 minutes, whereas the laptop computer powered by AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 chip lasted 11 hours 57 minutes.

Mark Hachman / Foundry

However wait! There’s one other variable: the battery. Plonking down a 99Wh battery inside a laptop computer will lengthen any laptop computer’s battery life by an infinite quantity. Happily, one other variable, the decision of the show, is uniform in three of the laptops. Qualcomm will get a slight benefit right here, nevertheless, because the Floor Laptop computer is pushing about 60 p.c of the pixels of the others.

Nonetheless, for those who divide the battery life in minutes by the battery capability in Watt-hours, you find yourself with a greater image of the particular effectivity of every cellular laptop computer processor platform. And the outcomes are definitive. Essentially the most environment friendly platform by way of battery life is clearly the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and its Arm structure.

Mark Hachman / Foundry

So what have we realized?

The conclusion units my thoughts relaxed: for now, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X1 Elite remains to be the clear winner by way of battery life, even in opposition to Intel’s latest-and best Panther Lake chip. It additionally suggests what would occur if for some cause a laptop computer maker selected to bundle the identical huge 99Wh battery Intel enjoys: you’d be capable to use it for a number of days. That’s the effectivity of Home windows on Arm at work.

For now, if you would like a laptop computer with the longest battery life, make certain it has a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip inside it. That, or tote round an additional pound of battery hooked up to an “Intel Inside” brand.