Manufacturers’ battery life claims are based on ideal conditions, not actual use. 24 Channels manufacturers explain what they mean and how your laptop will actually work.

Why do manufacturers “make commitments?” [певної кількості годин]”

“Up to” is one of the most common characteristics that describe battery life. Manufacturers use this to indicate the device’s maximum operating time in ideal conditions; This isn’t necessarily the conditions users encounter every day.

During testing, manufacturers create optimal conditions to improve battery performance. This usually involves dimming the screen, turning off Wi-Fi, and only doing light tasks like playing videos or viewing documents.

These conditions rarely correspond to actual laptop usage, but they do allow manufacturers to show off impressive “up to” figures in marketing materials.

While these numbers aren’t necessarily inaccurate, they often misrepresent buyers’ perception of actual battery life. In practice, the autonomy of a laptop is rarely as long as the declared maximum.

Manufacturers do not load laptops when testing

When testing battery life, manufacturers don’t use the same apps, websites, or workflows as regular users. Instead, they typically perform tasks that require minimal power consumption, such as playing videos with Wi-Fi turned off and screen brightness set to 50%.

Video playback is especially economical when using a laptop battery, as modern graphics processors and media decoders are well optimized for this task. Other components that consume a lot of power, such as the processor, often remain in standby mode during playback. This method allows manufacturers to claim impressive battery life.

However, actual usage is much more intense. Opening multiple browser tabs, running cloud apps for syncing, or connecting to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth puts much more strain on the battery.

So the promised “up to 16 hours” battery life may turn into 6 hours during actual use of the device in operation.

Users demand much more from laptops

Daily laptop use is far from ideal conditions for battery testing. For example, browsing the modern web is much more difficult than playing a simple offline video. Websites are full of scripts, autoplay ads, and dynamic content, all of which put extra strain on your CPU and battery.

Video calls have an even worse impact on battery consumption. Platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet require constant CPU, GPU, webcam, microphone, and speaker usage. Each of these components drains the battery and together can significantly reduce battery life.

Wi-Fi also contributes. Although it may seem like a minor background process, maintaining a network connection, especially in weak signal areas, will make your laptop work harder. Because brighter screens require significantly more power, even something as simple as increasing screen brightness can have a significant impact on battery life.

With so many components consuming power at once, it’s no surprise that actual battery life often falls short of advertised.

Battery deteriorates over time

Even if your laptop’s battery works as advertised on day one, it won’t last long. Over time, lithium-ion batteries lose their ability to fully charge. This is a natural process known as battery corrosion.

Laptop batteries are designed for a certain number of charging cycles (usually between 300 and 500).

Heating is another major factor in battery degradation. Intensive tasks like video editing, gaming, or running high-performance apps generate more heat, which accelerates battery wear. Even plugging the laptop in constantly can contribute to wear and tear, as continuous charging produces heat in the battery.

As the battery wears out, its capacity decreases and the “100% charge” displayed on the screen no longer corresponds to a full battery charge. That’s why old laptops often wear out much faster than new ones.

While manufacturers don’t lie about battery life, testing conditions rarely reflect everyday use. The “to” statement gives them a loophole to advertise maximum runtime under ideal conditions, but actual usage is far from ideal.

To get the most out of your battery, you can follow tips like dimming the screen, closing unused apps, and avoiding overcharging. But in the end it is necessary to understand that in reality the actual result may differ significantly from the desired result.