How long a laptop lasts on its internal battery is one of the most important considerations for PC shoppers. Business travelers and students are often at the mercy of their computer’s remaining juice, since so many conference rooms, aircraft, and lecture halls are woefully short on accessible power outlets. Not too long ago, it was necessary to buy and charge an external battery pack to get long battery life, or to insist on a machine with a removable, swappable battery. Today, though, swappable batteries are just a memory. Still, many thin ultraportables with sealed-shut chassis show impressive endurance away from an AC outlet.
A laptop that can last for more than eight hours without a trip to a power plug should be enough to get you through a day’s work, but that’s not nearly good enough to make it to the upper echelons today. Each of the laptops and 2-in-1s we’ve selected lasted for more than 15 hours on our tests, which means that they can survive a full day of work (whether that’s at home or in an office) and still offer plenty of juice for your commute or for watching videos on the couch. (Maybe both.)
Below are our picks for the longest-lasting laptops. While battery life is, of course, the chief measurement here, our selections still lean toward laptops that we can recommend overall, not just those with the longest possible runtimes. Read on for a breakdown of our favorite tested models, as well as a rundown of what to look for while shopping for a high-stamina system. Side-by-side specs for each of our top picks (including their tested battery life) are in a table at the bottom of this article.
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Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
Apple MacBook Air (M1, Late 2020)
Best for Mac Users Seeking Peak Value
Bottom Line:
The M1-equipped MacBook Air now packs far better performance than its predecessors, rivaling at times the M1-based MacBook Pro. At $999, it’s the best value among macOS laptops.
PROS
- Good value, especially for a MacBook
- Much-improved performance, thanks to Apple’s new M1 processor
- Exceptional battery life
- Sleek, portable metal design
- High-quality keyboard, touchpad, and display
- Multiple color options
CONS
- Port selection limited to two USB Type-C connections
- Still no touch-screen option
Apple MacBook Pro 16-Inch (2023, M2 Max)
Best for Creative Pros on macOS
Bottom Line:
Apple’s 2023 flagship, the MacBook Pro 16-Inch marries a proven, immaculate design with a fireball M2 Max CPU for fierce power in media creation, gaming, and high-end professional tasks. (Plus, it lasted nearly 27 hours on our battery test.)
PROS
- Unmatched laptop power
- Exceptional battery life
- Top-class mini LED display
- Apple’s best laptop design
CONS
- Expensive across the board
- Camera notch still takes getting used to
HP Elite Dragonfly G3
Best for Business Travelers
Bottom Line:
If you’ve got the cash, HP’s Elite Dragonfly G3 is a first-rate business laptop that weighs just 2.2 pounds but still packs all-day battery life.
PROS
- Terrifically thin and light
- Handsome 3:2 aspect ratio display
- HDMI and USB-A as well as Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Available 5G and OLED
- Great webcam and sound
- Long battery life
CONS
- Expensive
- No SD or microSD card slot
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 (SQ3)
Best for Extreme Portability
Bottom Line:
Offering Intel- and Arm-based versions of the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 widens both your options and caveats. The Arm-based SQ3 model delivers 5G support and a long-lasting battery at the expense of the overall Windows experience.
PROS
- SQ3 model delivers long battery life and 5G connectivity
- Premium metal build
- Best-in-class kickstand and keyboard cover design
- SQ3 supports advanced camera and voice call features
- Superior 1080p webcam
- User-accessible SSD
CONS
- SQ3 processor brings the usual Arm-based drawbacks: lackluster performance and compatibility
- Core feature differences between Intel and SQ3 models can be confusing
- No headphone jack
- Keyboard cover still sold separately
- New colors only available on Intel model
HP Envy 16
Best for Professional Power Users
Bottom Line:
HP’s OLED-screened Envy 16 is poised to upset some famous, four-lettered, 15.6-inch power-user portables.
PROS
- Gorgeous 4K OLED touch screen
- Fancy 5-megapixel webcam
- Great performance and battery life
- Robust GeForce RTX 3060 GPU
CONS
- A bit heavy
- 60Hz display won’t satisfy hardcore gamers
Lenovo Yoga 6 (13-Inch)
Best for Budget Buyers
Bottom Line:
The Lenovo Yoga 6 (13-Inch) is a slim and quick 2-in-1 convertible laptop that offers excellent value while avoiding any significant pitfalls.
PROS
- Unique fabric lid
- Solid keyboard and touchpad
- Useful port selection
- Long battery life
- Ryzen 7 delivers fast performance
CONS
- Fans sometimes rev up at odd moments
- Some keyboard flex
- Fabric lid may not be to everyone’s liking
Acer Swift 3 (2021)
Best for Affordable Portability
Bottom Line:
An unwelcome return to a wider display tempers our enthusiasm for the refreshed Acer Swift 3, an otherwise admirable ultraportable.
PROS
- Outstanding battery life
- Durable all-metal chassis
- Thunderbolt 4 support
CONS
- 16:9 display feels cramped
- Webcam is below par
HP Envy 14
Best for Mobile Users Seeking a Discrete GPU
Bottom Line:
One of the few 14-inch slimlines with gaming-class discrete graphics, HP’s Envy 14 is tempting (if a tad pricey) and delivers long battery life.
PROS
- Handsome design
- Game-worthy graphics
- Eye-catching display
- Excellent battery life
CONS
- Half a pound overweight
- SSD a bit cramped for the money
- A couple of hundred bucks overpriced
LG Gram 17 (2022)
Best for a Big Screen at the Lightest Possible Weight
Bottom Line:
The 12th Gen Core model of the LG Gram 17 brings better performance, more premium features, and longer battery life to the best big-screen ultraportable laptop.
PROS
- Solid performance from 12th Gen Intel CPU
- Long battery life
- Super light at just under 3 pounds
- Full HD webcam
- Wi-Fi 6E
CONS
- No touch screen
- No discrete GPU for gaming
Panasonic Toughbook G2
Best for Ruggedized Computing
Bottom Line:
Panasonic’s Toughbook G2 detachable survives drops and splashes, and its expansion modules are a boon for field and factory workers, as well as first responders.
PROS
- Not technically indestructible, but not far from it
- A variety of expansion modules and vehicle docks available
- Great battery life
CONS
- Expensive and heavy
- Screen is squinty-small for its high resolution
- Balky touchpad
Buying Guide: The Best Battery Life Laptops for 2023
Modern improvements in laptop battery life are thanks to CPUs and other components that are more power-efficient than ever. (It’s not just battery technology that deserves the credit.) That’s especially true of Intel’s current Core processors, which power many of the longest-lasting models currently on our list. Many of the systems here still use the chip maker’s previous 11th Generation CPUs, which steadily took over laptops released in 2021, but most have been replaced by 12th Generation “Alder Lake” processors and soon 13th Generation Intel CPUs. CPU alternatives from Apple (the Apple M1 and M2 series) and Qualcomm’s Snapdragons are starting to make a showing, too, in today’s longest-lasting laptops.
(Credit: Molly Flores)
In addition to being a critical specification, battery life is one of the toughest to measure. If you’re watching movies all day long, you’ll get far more unplugged time than someone who’s editing images nonstop in Photoshop. We test battery life based on a very specific scenario: watching a specific test movie on a loop, stored locally, at 50% screen brightness and with airplane mode turned on. If you’re frequently performing more CPU-intensive or graphics-hammering tasks, you’ll want to shave an hour or two off of our results.
(Credit: Molly Flores)
What Designs of Laptops Have the Longest Battery Life?
Our top-laptops list is stacked with traditional laptops and convertible designs with 360-degree display hinges. Detachable Windows tablets tend to be underrepresented, and for good reason: There’s simply no room for a large battery in such a small enclosure. The best of these, like Microsoft’s Microsoft Surface Pro 8, tend to run around 12 hours.
“Traditional laptops” doesn’t always mean big laptops, though: You will find plenty of these laptop and convertible picks to be relatively thin and light. Advancements in chassis design, Windows settings, and processor architecture allow for thin-and-light laptops to squeeze more life out of their batteries than ever. A long-lasting battery absolutely doesn’t have to mean a big laptop.
Of course, no matter what kind of laptop you’re in the market for, you can always add a few minutes or a few hours to your unplugged time by changing your computing habits. It’s a bit like driving more conservatively to save gas. For some ideas, take a look at our tips for improving your laptop’s battery life.
Want the Best Battery Life? Also Consider a Mac
Apple’s MacBook and MacBook Pro lineups have a reputation for excellent battery endurance, and Cupertino’s current offerings are no exception. Most of the portable Macs we’ve tested recently can manage more than 18 hours away from an outlet, but the newest releases last even longer.
The 2020 MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, running on Apple’s own M1 processor, both lasted for more than 20 hours on our video rundown test. (The M1 MacBook Air ran for an incredible 29 hours.) Which one you should choose depends on your budget, your portability needs, and your usage patterns, but you can’t go wrong on the battery-life front with either Apple ultraportable. The 2021 bigger-screen M1 Pro and M1 Max models also hit similar marks, and Apple went from strength to strength. The 2022 13-inch MacBook Pro ran for 21 hours, and the 2023 16-Inch MacBook Pro with M2 Max ran for just under 27 hours.
(Credit: Molly Flores)
Other manufacturers are more hit-and-miss. The top honors for battery life among Intel-based Windows laptops in the last several years went to the first generation of the Asus ExpertBook B9450 (30 hours in our video rundown!), but many competing machines expire much more quickly. We’re also seeing an emerging class of “always on” machines based on low-power Qualcomm Snapdragon processors that have outlasted most Intel-based Windows and macOS laptops we have tested. (See for example our review of the Lenovo Flex 5G or the SQ3 version of the Microsoft Surface Pro 9.) But know that these laptops are meant more for lightweight mobile computing with a continuous internet connection, and are far from power-user models meant for CPU muscle work.
So, What Are the Laptops With the Longest Battery Life?
If you have a long plane flight (of course, that’s been way less common for lots of folks since the pandemic upended the world) or a spate of working outdoors ahead of you, or if you’re just too busy to linger around a power outlet for long enough, any of these laptops will keep you productive throughout the day and into the evening. For a look at the wider laptop landscape, check out our very latest laptop reviews, as well as our picks for the top business notebooks and the best budget laptops.
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