What most of us look for when we want to buy a new device is a battery with good battery life.
However, according to a new study, "laptop battery life rarely lives up to what its manufacturers claim."
The study showed that almost all laptop manufacturers overstate battery life claims, while in reality the battery life in some cases was shorter than promised.
Over the past year, over 67 different laptop models were tested for battery life. The list includes some of the world's most popular laptop manufacturers, including Apple, HP, Asus, Lenovo, Acer, Dell, and Toshiba.
The tests found that in the case of MacBooks , the manufacturer's claimed battery life met or even exceeded reality. However, in the case of some other manufacturers, the battery of their laptops lasted hours less than the claimed time, while some batteries lasted only 50% of their stated endurance.
The test method used was active web browsing over Wi-Fi until the battery was completely drained, operating it at least three times its full capacity. However, factors such as brightness or browser software were not included in the tests. The number of laptops tested were: Acer (8), Apple (3), Asus (8), Dell (10), HP (12), Lenovo (20), Toshiba (6).
In some cases, the tests revealed differences in battery life with the manufacturer's claims. For example, the Lenovo Yoga 510 lasted only 2 hours, as opposed to the manufacturer's claimed 5 hours. Similarly, the HP Pavilion 14-al115na and the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 were only able to last 4 hours and 25 minutes and 3 hours and 58 minutes, respectively, as opposed to the 9 and 7 hours they are supposed to last.
In contact with some of the companies on the subject, Dell stated: "It is difficult to give a specific life expectancy that will directly correlate to all customer usage behaviors, because each person uses their PC differently."
On the other hand, HP said its own battery tests were accurate and were done using "real-life scenarios and running real-world applications like Microsoft Office."
