25 best battery life laptops for 2017
These are the current laptops, tablets and two-in-one hybrids we've tested with the longest battery life.
- Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
There's nothing worse than having your laptop shut down in the middle of a big meeting, while writing an important email or halfway through streaming the latest binge-worthy Netflix series. Fortunately, battery life for laptops , tablets and hybrids continues to show steady improvement, with systems regularly hitting the 10-hour mark and beyond.
Improvements to Intel's Core i-series CPUs, as well as power-management improvements in both Windows 10 and MacOS get much of the credit, although systems running Google 's simpler Chrome OS also perform well, largely on account of their limited features.
An updated version of Samsung's Notebook 9 is a new addition to the list.
Based on the extensive battery testing conducted in the CNET Labs, these are the 25 PCs with the longest battery life scores over the previous 12 months. This list includes Windows and MacOS laptops, Windows 2-in-1 hybrids and tablets, and Chromebooks running Google's Chrome OS. Not included are Android or iOS tablets.
A revamped 2017 version of Samsung's 15-inch Notebook 9 laptop was the highest new entry since our last roundup, while Apple 's recently updated 12-inch MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro also join the list. Microsoft 's new Surface Laptop earns a spot, but the latest version of the Surface Pro tablet does not.
How we test
We call on our laptops to do a lot of things, from playing videos to office work to web surfing to games. As middle ground task that's not too easy and not too intense, the the specific test used here streams a private video over Wi-Fi on an endless loop. Note that these scores reflect the specific configurations we tested, and that screen resolution and CPU choice are some of the major factors that affect battery life.
The raw scores are presented below, while the related gallery includes context for each system and a link to its full review.
We'll update this list regularly, adding new high-level performers as we find them.
Top 25 Battery Life PCs
| Rank | System name | Battery life in hours:minutes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Acer Chromebook R 13 | 13:02 |
| 2 | Samsung Notebook 9 | 12:16 |
| 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 | 11:50 |
| 4 | Microsoft Surface Book (2016) | 11:49 |
| 5 | Apple MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016) | 11:36 |
| 6 | HP EliteBook x360 (13-inch, 2017) | 11:34 |
| 7 | LG Gram 13 | 11:30 |
| 8 | Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch, 2017 | 10:43 |
| 9 | Dell XPS 13 (late 2016, non-touch) | 10:36 |
| 10 | Apple MacBook (12-inch, 2016) | 10:33 |
| 11 | Apple MacBook (Retina 12-inch, 2017) | 10:26 |
| 12 | Microsoft Surface Laptop | 10:21 |
| 13 | Toshiba Portege X20W-D | 10:10 |
| 14 | Apple MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (15-inch, 2016) | 10:08 |
| 15 | Apple MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (13-inch, 2016 ) | 10:07 |
| 16 | Asus C302C | 9:55 |
| 17 | HP Spectre x360 (15-inch, 2017) | 9:54 |
| 18 | LG gram 15 | 9:42 |
| 19 | Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming | 9:38 |
| 20 | HP Spectre x360 (13-inch, 2016) | 9:21 |
| 21 | Lenovo ThinkPad X270 | 9:15 |
| 22 | Samsung Chomebook Pro | 8:57 |
| 23 | Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 | 8:56 |
| 24 | Dell Latitude 12 5000 Series 2-in-1 (5285) | 8:50 |
| 25 | LenovoLenovo IdeaPad Yoga 720 | 8:46 |