If you're looking to buy a new laptop, then battery life is likely going to be a big deciding factor on what notebook you go for. No one wants their laptop to suddenly shut down while they are in the middle of working, so we've put together this list of the best laptops for all-day computing.
The laptops in this list have large enough batteries that will last you the whole work day - and beyond. Laptops with batteries that last a full 24 hours are still some way off, but the laptops we have here will at least ensure you can go at least 8 hours on one charge.
Thanks to improvements in energy efficiency of components, modern laptops can still be mighty powerful while also boasting large batteries, so you don't have to sacrifice speed for longer times between charges.
Best laptops for long battery life - at a glance
- Google Pixelbook Go
- Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
- Acer Chromebook 314
- Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook
- Dell XPS 13 (2020)
- LG Gram 17 (2020)
- Asus TUF A15
- Acer Chromebook 15
- Acer Chromebook Spin 15
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 3
Google continues its tradition of making the best Chromebooks in the world. The Pixelbook Go proves that these devices can be just as stylish and powerful as traditional laptops, all while bringing a lot of the original Pixelbook's premium features to a more affordable device.
One of it's most impressive features is the fantastic battery life, which can outlast many traditional laptops with ease, and means you can go a full work or school day without needing to charge it. We also love the fact that you can close the lid, leave it for a few days, and when you pick it up again, it's still got plenty of battery life left - something Windows 10 laptops never achieve.
If you’re looking for one of the best long battery life laptops, this one’s a winner in the Chromebook category.
Read the full review: Google Pixelbook Go
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is not perfect, missing a webcam and a Thunderbolt 3 port. However, it’s damn near close to being one, garnering our coveted yet rarely given five-star rating. We couldn’t resist. This is an absolute beast of a gaming laptop, delivering an incredible performance with its AMD Ryzen 4000 processors and Nvidia RTX 2060 graphics card.
And, that’s while touting best-in-class battery life that will last you all day long – the best that we've ever seen in this category. As far as gaming laptops go, this is definitely among the best long battery life laptops out there, giving Ultrabooks a run for their money. Rounding those out is a fast display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a lightweight, ultrathin design and an affordable price tag.
Read the full review: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
If you’re looking for a Chromebook that really gives you excellent value for money, then the Acer Chromebook 314 is the best Chromebook for you. It’s easy to use, reliable, and has a 14-inch crisp, bright display that gives you more screen real estate for your productivity needs. It also has a keyboard that is satisfying and a joy to use, as well as a touchpad that interacts well with all your fingers' movements and commands.
More importantly, it has an impressive battery life. In fact, while Acer promises up to 10 hours of battery life, it actually lasted 12 hours and 55 minutes during our TechRadar movie test. Simply put, this Chromebook strikes a great balance between design, usability, features, battery life and performance, while being comfortable with its own limitations.
Read the full review: Acer Chromebook 314
True to its name, the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook delivers two form factors in one, while utilizing the versatility of the Chrome OS and setting you back much less than many of the top Windows tablets out there. For this price, sacrifices have to be made, naturally – the keyboard is tiny, the trackpad isn’t as reliable, and the charger and headphones share one port. However, those are definitely not deal-breakers.
Of course, like all the best Chromebooks, its battery packs a breathtakingly long life of almost 22 hours. That means that it beats all our other picks for the best long battery life laptops when it comes to longevity. During our review, the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook lasted 21 hours and 29 minutes in our TechRadar battery life test. So, you could pull an all-nighter, work through the day and mid-afternoon, and you’ll still pass out before it runs out of juice.
Read the full review: Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook
The Dell XPS 13 has been a regular on our best laptops list for years, and the 2020 model again earns a well-deserved spot. It keeps everything we've come to love from Dell's flagship 13-incher, from the gorgeous and light design, to the powerful modern components that power it. The Dell XPS 13 now rocks 10th-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processors and a bezel-less ‘Infinity Edge’ display, which means the Dell XPS 13 (2020) is a brilliant performer, while remaining thin and light.
Despite all that power, you’re getting an impressively long battery life as well. The Dell XPS 13 lasted 9 hours and 40 minutes in our movie test, though Dell says that it’s capable of lasting up to 18 hours. So, you could carry the laptop around for a long time without worrying about carrying around a charger, making it more portable than ever and among the best long battery life laptops in the Ultrabook category.
Read the full review: Dell XPS 13
Usually, when you're going for a 17-inch laptop, you have to give up any notion of portability. Typically laptops of this size are these gigantic bulky things, packed with the most powerful components to attract creative professionals. However, the LG Gram 17 abandons the full-fat H-series processors for Intel Ice Lake Ultrabook-class chips, which gives it that light as a 13-inch weight. This all means you can get a gorgeous 17-inch 1600p display in a laptop that weighs just 2.98 lbs (1.35kg).
Couple that lightweight design with the fact that the battery lasted more than 14 hours in our testing, and you have the recipe for the perfect laptop for anyone that needs to get work done while travelling. In fact, this is the longest-lasting full-fat Windows 10 laptop we've ever tested – not to mention, among the most travel-friendly laptops out there, 17-inch and otherwise.
Read the full review: LG Gram 17
Give us a laptop that touts one of AMD’s stellar Ryzen 400 mobile processors, and we’d be more than happy to try it on for size. What we found in the Asus TUF A15 is not just fantastic gaming performance, but a great value gaming rig with military-grade durability and impressively long battery life.
It’s in part thanks to the energy-efficient AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, which doesn’t deplete the battery as fast as the more power-hungry Intel CPUs. The battery is also a huge 90Wh one, which explains the excellent 11 hours, 44 minutes, uptime we recorded in our looped 1080p video benchmark. With the help of Nvidia’s most powerful 1080p graphics cards, this Ryzen 4000-powered laptop – among the best long battery life laptops we’ve tested – will see you through all your 1080p gaming demands without burning a hole in your pocket.
Read the full review: Asus TUF A15
With a solid build quality that rivals a MacBook, it’s easy to excuse the Acer Chromebook 15’s aversion to 2-in-1 form factors. Still, given that the best Chromebooks rolling out are fully convertible, thanks to the wide adoption of Android app support, the Acer Chromebook 15 had to prove itself with more than great style.
Beyond its aptitude for laying flat using a 180-degree hinge, this beautiful 15-inch Chromebook also makes a great impression with its battery life. It lasted nearly 17 hours in our battery test. And, what’s more impressive here is that the manufacturer actually promises 12 hours of battery life. It's rare to see actual numbers come close to manufacturer claims, let alone exceed them by such a large margin.
Read the full review: Acer Chromebook 15
We can easily forgive the Acer Chromebook Spin 15’s shortcomings – namely, its subpar trackpad and the fact that doesn’t take full advantage of the space it has – as it more than makes up for them with enough power for formidable multitasking, a beautiful touch display that’s surprisingly premium for the price, and a price tag that’s will make a convert out of you.
That’s without mentioning its battery life that will outlast yours. This one boasts enough battery life in a single charge that you’ll either give up or pass out before it even begins to die on you. It lasted a whopping 13 hours and 45 minutes in our movie test, which means that it’ll give you a full workday as well as let you catch up on your favorite show or two after work, and might still outlast you.
Read the full review: Acer Chromebook Spin 15
While it's not a huge leap over its predecessor, the Surface Laptop 3 does improve on almost every aspect. Best of all, its 15-inch version now gets you a choice of either Intel or AMD hardware. Elsewhere, the Surface Laptop 3 continues the line’s reputation for being a stunningly designed laptop. These are some of the most desirable laptops in the world that don't have a logo of an apple on them, with a new aluminum body that gives it a premium feel, while protecting it from knocks and drops.
This is also one of the top 15-inch laptops to look at if your concern is battery life, with very few rivals in that department. The Surface Laptop 3 lasted nearly a whole work day running PCMark 8 and more than two hours beyond that running local video playback, seriously giving the bigger MacBook Pro a run for its money in battery life.
Read the full review: Microsoft Surface Laptop 3
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