Best long battery life laptops of 2023

PRICE
VERDICT
REASONS TO BUY
REASONS TO AVOID
VERDICT
REASONS TO BUY
REASONS TO AVOID
Smiling woman using a laptop
(Image credit: Dean Drobot / Shutterstock)

The best long battery life laptops are lifesavers if you have to travel a lot when working or have to put long hours away from any kind of outlet. Not only are today’s portables much more robust in terms of performance over their predecessors. But, they come with much better battery life thanks to the fact that their components are more powerful as well as more energy efficient. Of course, not all laptops are created equal and some last much longer than others without needing a charge.

What sets certain laptops apart, such as the 14-inch MacBook Pro and the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook, is that they don’t need to be charged up very often. And, while it might not affect your electricity bill by much, it does make life a little more convenient, since you won’t have to constantly be tethered to an outlet somewhere. Even if you’re not a digital nomad trying to respond to emails while on a plane, train, or car, you can take your laptop anywhere around the house to work without worrying  where the nearest power outlet is.

No one wants their laptop to suddenly shut down while they are in the middle of working, especially while traveling or commuting. The dream is to have one that will last you 24 hours, but we're not there yet. For now, one of the best long battery life laptops below are guaranteed to last you the whole workday - and should more than suffice. 

To help you make an educated choice, we've put together our list of the best long battery life laptops that offer all-day computing. To do so, we've compared key factors that could help sway your decision, evaluating CPU power, graphics capabilities, storage options, screen size, and - of course - battery life to compile our choices. 

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The best long battery life laptops of 2023 in full

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MacBook Pro 16-Inch (2021) against a white background

(Image credit: Apple)
Top pick for energy efficient but big performance

Specifications

Battery life: Over 18 hours
CPU: Apple M1 Pro 10-core - Apple M1 Max 10-core
Graphics: Integrated 16-core GPU - Integrated 32-core GPU
RAM: 16GB – 64GB unified memory
Screen: 16.2-inch 3456 x 2234 Liquid Retina XDR display
Storage: 512GB – 8TB SSD

Reasons to buy

+
Extremely long battery life
+
Fantastic performance

Reasons to avoid

-
Very expensive

With the redesign of the 16-inch MacBook Pro in 2021, Apple released a stellar if extremely pricy portable that sent waves through the computing world. That’s because this update to the largest model in the Pro line now comes with an even beefier SoC with either the Apple M1 Pro or Apple M1 Max, providing the kind of performance you would expect only from a laptop sporting a pretty robust GPU. 

One of the most welcome additions to the MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021) is the addition of extra ports, something many of us have been bugging Apple to include in its professional laptops for a while now.

More importantly, it’s extremely energy efficient, lasting over 18 hours on a single charge. For a laptop with a bright, beautiful display and a powerhouse under the hood, that’s incredibly impressive.

Read the full review: MacBook Pro 16-inch (M1, 2021) 

MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) against a white background

(Image credit: Apple)
Best small and lightweight choice

Specifications

Battery: Up to 12 hours
CPU: Intel Core m3 - Intel Core i7
Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 615
RAM: 8GB - 16GB
Screen: 13.3-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) or 4K LCD touchscreen
Storage: 128GB - 256GB eMMC
Battery life: Over 13 hours
CPU: Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU
Graphics: Integrated 8-core GPU
RAM: 8GB – 16GB unified memory
Screen: 13.3-inch 2560 x 1600 LED-backlit Retina display
Storage: 256GB – 2TB SSD

Reasons to buy

+
Huge battery life
+
Great performance

Reasons to avoid

-
Still lacks ports

Thanks to Apple’s groundbreaking M1 chip, what the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) lacks in improvements in the design department, it makes up for big time in performance and battery life. This laptop lasts you around 13 to 14 hours, and well past your full work day. 

By contrast with the fanless MacBook Air, the MacBook's hard-working fans mean that, if you’re going to have your machine working for hours on end on rendering tasks, for example, then the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) will be worth the extra outlay.

Plus, its performance is so impressive that it can easily handle 4K - and even 8K - videos. If you’re looking for a powerful MacBook that keeps things small and lightweight while robust and long lasting, this is among the best option money can buy.

Read the full review: MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020)

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 against a white background

(Image credit: Asus)
Best battery life in a gaming laptop

Specifications

Battery life: Up to 11 hours
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 4800HS – 9 4900HS
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
RAM: up to 32GB
Screen: 14-inch Non-glare Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS-level panel, 120Hz – 14-inch Non-glare WQHD (2560 x 1440) IPS-level panel, 60Hz
Storage: 512GB / 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0

Reasons to buy

+
Excellent performance
+
Thin and light

Reasons to avoid

-
No webcam
-
Fans can get loud

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 

MacBook Air (M1, 2020) against a white background

(Image credit: Apple)
The best Apple laptop

Specifications

Battery life: Over 11 hours
CPU: Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU
Graphics: Integrated 7-core – 8-core GPU
RAM: 8GB – 16GB unified memory
Screen: 13.3-inch 2560 x 1600 Retina display
Storage: 256GB – 2TB SSD

Reasons to buy

+
macOS Big Sur is fast and responsive
+
Silent in use

Reasons to avoid

-
Fanless design could impact performance

The MacBook Air (M1, 2020) is hands down one of the most exciting Apple laptops of recent years, as the company's thinnest and slimmest model gets a boost under the hood that provides a giant leap forward in performance.

This is largely courtesy of Apple's M1 silicon chip, which has proved to be a real game-changer. The manufacturer’s highly-acclaimed, impressively powerful ARM-based chip offers upgraded internals without any additional cost.

It gave the laptop the much needed boost it deserved, giving it excellent performance alongside a brilliant battery life that lasts well past 11 hours – without raising the price to keep it fairly affordable still, certainly in comparison to some of its Windows 10 rivals. This is the best long battery life MacBook for pretty much everyone, even the creative users.

Read the full review: MacBook Air (M1, 2020)

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook against a white background

(Image credit: Lenovo)
Best choice for battery longevity

Specifications

Battery life: Up to 22 hours
CPU: MediaTek Helio P60T Processor
Graphics: ARM G72 MP3 800GHz
RAM: 4 GB LPDDR4X
Screen: 10.1" FHD (1920 x 1200) IPS, glossy, touchscreen, 400 nits
Storage: 64 GB eMMC

Reasons to buy

+
Lightweight and portable
+
Very affordable

Reasons to avoid

-
Tiny keyboard and finicky trackpad
-
Charger and headphones share a single port

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 

Dell XPS 13 (Late 2020) against a white background

(Image credit: Dell)
Ideal for users wanting a stunning display

Specifications

Battery life: Over 11 hours
CPU: Up to 11th Generation Intel Core i7-1165G7
Graphics: Up to Intel Iris Xe Graphics
RAM: Up to 32GB 4267MHz LPDDR4x
Screen: 13.4" FHD+ (1920 x 1200) InfinityEdge Non-Touch Anti-Glare 500-Nit – 13.4" UHD+ (3840 x 2400) InfinityEdge Touch Anti-Reflective 500-Nit Display
Storage: Up to 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe

Reasons to buy

+
Stunning design
+
Gorgeous 16:10 display

Reasons to avoid

-
Sound quality is just OK

Touting a battery life of over 11 hours, the Dell XPS 13 (Late 2020) is an obvious shoo-in on this list, even if there are laptops that last longer. The Dell XPS line has consistently made it into our best laptops list, and they’re only getting better, combining longevity with breathtaking performance, a stunning display, and a whole lot of features. 

Aside from the downward-firing speakers that can be guilty of muffling the sound, Dell has once again produced an incredibly accomplished thin and light notebook that's a joy to use, and well worth investing in. 

Much like its predecessor, it’s a pricey investment – but that is barely reason enough for us to discourage Ultrabook fans, especially as this new entry raises the bar with Intel Evo certification, something that only a small number of high-performing laptops have. 

Read the full review: Dell XPS 13 (Late 2020)

LG Gram 17 (2021) against a white background

(Image credit: LG)
Best big screen pick

Specifications

Battery life: More than 13 hours
CPU: 11th-generation Intel Core i7
Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
RAM: 16GB LPDDR4X
Screen: 17-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS LCD
Storage: up to 2TB NVMe SSD

Reasons to buy

+
Excellent battery life
+
Large, high quality display

Reasons to avoid

-
Subject to screen glare

Laptops for work are rejoining the 17-inch fray and leading them is the much-lauded LG Gram 17. This gravity-defying laptop has won awards for its thin and light form factor. It’s back and better than ever, with more powerful internals such as the 11th-generation Intel chips and the Iris Xe graphics, as well as two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports. The even better news is that its stunner of a screen has also made a welcome return. 

More importantly, as has its long battery life that gives you more than 13 hours on a full charge. If you are looking for a laptop with as much screen real estate and juice as you can get, it’s a winner. As long as you’re willing to pay the steep price.

Read the full review: LG Gram 17 (2021) 

Asus TUF A15 against a white background

(Image credit: Asus)
Top value for money gamer's choice

Specifications

Battery life: Up to 12.3 hours
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 4600H – 7 4800H
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660TI – RTX 2060
RAM: up to 32 GB SDRAM
Screen: 15.6" (16:9) FHD (1920x1080) 60Hz Anti-Glare IPS-level Panel – 15.6" (16:9) FHD (1920x1080) 144Hz Anti-Glare IPS-level Panel
Storage: 1TB 5400 rpm SATA HDD – 256GB/512GB/1TB PCIe Gen3 SSD

Reasons to buy

+
Great 1080p performance
+
New AMD processors

Reasons to avoid

-
Noisy fans
-
Not the most powerful gaming laptop

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

Acer Chromebook 15 against a white background

(Image credit: Acer)
Top style pick

Specifications

Battery life: Up to 12 hours
CPU: Intel Pentium N4200
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 505
RAM: 4GB
Screen: 15.6-inch, FHD (1,920 x 1,080)
Storage: 32GB eMMC

Reasons to buy

+
1080p touch display
+
Attractive, fanless design

Reasons to avoid

-
Trackpad feels clunky
-
Easy to weigh down with tabs

With a solid build quality that can rival the best MacBook, it’s easy to excuse the Acer Chromebook 15’s apparent 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 has had to prove itself with more than just 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

Acer Chromebook Spin 15 against a white background

(Image credit: Acer)
The ultimate choice for the multitasker

Specifications

Battery life: Up to 13 hours
CPU: Intel Core i5 – i7
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 615
RAM: 8 – 16GB
Screen: 12.3-inch, QHD (2,400 x 1,600) touchscreen
Storage: 128GB – 512GB

Reasons to buy

+
Plenty of power
+
Beautifully responsive touchscreen

Reasons to avoid

-
Lots of wasted real estate
-
Trackpad could be better

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

How to choose the best long battery life laptops for you

Unsurprisingly, when it comes to any decision on buying laptop computers, most of the initial decision-making will be based on personal, subjective choices. Of course, there is the age-old Mac or PC debate, added to which there is now a third dynamic in the shape of Chromebooks. 

That decision will immediately whittle you down to a smaller selection, after which you'll need to base your choice on key factors like budget, style, and size of laptop that best suits your needs. But given the theme of this article, you should also consider why it is you're after a laptop with long battery life. For example, if it's because you're always on the move, you should also consider each model's robustness and resilience, and how long it's likely to last being constantly bundled into bags and on and off trains. 

The best long battery life laptops: How we test

There's no stone left unturned in our bid to sort out the top laptops from the also-rans, as we endeavour to underpin each review with a detailed analysis of each contender listed on this page. 

For that we take into account everything from subjective factors such as style and looks, to objectively measurable performance parameters like battery life, storage capacity, and screen size. 

We also make sure to test out key physical traits too, such as hinges and display colours, to ensure that all our recommendations have been thoroughly put to the test.

Read here for more on how we test every product we review on TechRadar

Matt Hanson
Managing Editor, Core Tech

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. Ever since he got an Amiga A500+ for Christmas in 1991, he's loved using (and playing on) computers, and will talk endlessly about how The Secret of Monkey Island is the best game ever made.