1. The list in brief ↴
2. Best overall
3. Best budget
4. Longest battery
5. Best MacBook value
6. Best business
7. Best gaming
8. Benchmark comparisons
9. Recently reviewed
10. FAQs
11. How we test
12. Why trust Laptop Mag
Long-lasting batteries are necessary for all types of users, and thanks to our lab testers, we have the laptops with the best battery life right here.
The battery in your laptop drains at a different rate depending on what you're doing, but at the end of the day, we all want our laptops to last as long as possible. Our carefully cultivated list of laptops with best battery life not only offer longevity, but qualities that take them at or above 4 out of 5 stars. This includes laptops like the MacBook Pro 16-inch M3, which is the rare combination of a high-performance laptop with one of the longest battery times we've recorded. Alternatively, we have the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED, which is the most affordable laptop you can grab with a 15+ hour battery.
For transparency, you should know that our tests may not perfectly align with the battery life you see, as your usage may differ from our test. Our Laptop Mag Battery Test 2.0 does get as close as we could manage to real-world usage and offers a much more realistic view than the typical video rundown test. It involves continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. On average, that's less than 50 percent brightness on your laptop. So keep in mind that dimming your laptop display will significantly impact your battery life.
Regardless of the variance per use case, our tests have been consistent across all recent laptops, which means the following laptops have the best battery life.
The Quick List
Best overall
Faster and more powerful, Apple has once again lived up to its hype and created a system that outpaces everything else on the market with the MacBook Pro 16.
Best budget
The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) features impressive battery life, snappy performance, quality audio, and a comfortable keyboard.
Longest battery
The Dell XPS 13 features the longest lasting battery that we've ever tested. Not only is it long lasting but it also features strong performance and a bright display.
Best MacBook value
The MacBook Air 13-inch M3 doesn't tweak the formula, but it manages to level up performance and battery life to a degree that will remain difficult for others to match.
Best business
The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is a true champ when it comes to business and workstation-level performance. It costs a pretty penny, but the power to battery life ratio is wild.
Best gaming
The Asus TUF Gaming A14 features the longest lasting battery life we've tested in years. It not only lasts a long time but it's also affordable and a strong performer.
Rami has been swimming in laptops for most of his adult life, which is wild to think about, but excellent for you, those of which that need a new rig in their life. Rami knows that a long battery life can come from the cheapest and most expensive laptops. But it's not just about battery life, is it? The laptop has to be good as well. Rami knows which are the laptops with best battery life to choose.
The laptops with best battery life in 2024
Why you can trust Laptop Mag Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Best overall
MacBook Pro 16-inch is the longest-lasting high-performing laptop that you can buy right now. Not only is it blazingly fast but it also offers a bright colorful display and clicky keyboard.
✔️ You want the best performance to battery life ratio: With Apple's M3 Max, the MacBook Pro 16 delivers break-neck speeds and still manages to maintain a battery life over 18 hours. You won't find anything else like it.
✔️ You want a stunning display: You're likely going to be doing something with all of that power, so it's only natural you have a gorgeous display to support you. Whether you're gaming or creating, this panel will lure you in.
✖️ You need Windows apps: Unfortunately, a lot of gamers and creatives will be disappointed if they're coming to the MacBook for certain games and apps. Your favorite programs might not be here.
✖️ You're on a budget: You can buy a number of MacBook Pros, but this specific model is among the most expensive. In order to get that best performance to battery life ratio, you need the M3 Max. And for that you need a big wallet.
Even with the latest 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro rocking the company's most powerful CPU, the M3 Max, the laptop blew us away with just over 18 hours of battery life. It just goes to show that high performance and a sharp display don't have to impact battery life the way that laptop makers like to use as an excuse. Battery life isn't the only remarkable thing about this laptop. That high performance wasn't a joke — it beat out all other MacBooks and every competitor we threw at it.
Sherri L. Smith said, "The MacBook Pro 16 is the laptop for Mac fans that need every bit of power they can squeeze from its svelte factor," in our review of the MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max, 2023).
The M3 Max destroyed the Geekbench 6 overall performance test with a score of 20,863. What does that number mean? Consider that the average premium laptop scores 8,241. That means the 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro offers over double the performance of any premium laptop on the market.
One of the things we love the most about the Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, M3 Max) is that 3456 x 2234 Liquid Retina XDR display. It's stunning, gorgeous, vivid, vibrant — throw all the adjectives at it, and most will stick to the wall. The display covered 81.8 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut on our tests and averaged 560 nits of brightness. You'll be able to see your screen even if you use this laptop outdoors.
After some rough years of MacBook keyboards, we're back to large bouncy keys with firm feedback. What about the audio? The MacBook reproduced incredible highs, mids, and lows with six speakers.
But let's not get it twisted, this machine is expensive. We're talking about $3,499 starting and $3,999 as reviewed. You have to ask yourself, how much do you need that shiny new 40-core GPU? If you're a creator, it's a question worth asking.
See our full MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max, 2023) review.
Best budget
Asus Zenbook 14 OLED offers a long battery life, sure, but it is also one of the great budget laptops you can buy thanks to its incredible performance for the price.
✔️ You want great performance for cheap: With a Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, the Zenbook 14 powers through its competitors for a low price. Getting a top notch CPU in the triple digits is a great score.
✔️ You want a smooth keyboard experience: Thanks to its comfortable switches and minor key travel, the Zenbook 14 produces an excellent click ratio that'll keep your fingers happy for hours.
✖️ You need a bright display: While you do get an OLED display, it's not particularly bright. If you work in bright settings, you won't get the best out of this laptop.
✖️ You need a high-performer: You're getting great performance for the price, but you're not getting the best performance. If you're a creator or gamer, this is not the laptop for you.
The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) is a killer laptop with incredible battery life that offers itself up for an affordable price. The Zenbook 14 banged out a stunning 15 hours and 52 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test. Asus has been killing it with its laptops lately, and this is a perfect example of that. Battery life isn't the only thing this machine has going on.
Madeline Ricchiuto said, "The Zenbook 14 OLED boasts a Jasper Gray finish with a shiny Asus logo on the cover, for proper minimalist elegance," in our review of the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M).
Sporting Intel's latest Core Ultra 7 155H, the Asus Zenbook 14 has the power to get you through a modest number of tasks. We threw a couple dozen Chrome tabs, spreadsheets, and even a Photoshop editing session at it. The Zenbook 14 didn’t so much as flinch.
One of the biggest highlights of this affordable laptop is its 14-inch, 1080p OLED display. Covering 79.8% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and clocking in 339 nits of brightness, the Zenbook 14 will be there for you at the end of the day when you want to stream your favorite shows on a gorgeous window.
Meanwhile, the Zenbook 14’s comfortable keyboard will ensure you don't get exhausted throughout your day. Typing across the keyboard felt great, thanks to the 1.4mm key travel, which provided a pleasant click-to-pressure ratio.
Warning—its quality audio will get you headbanging subconsciously. Packed with Harman Kardon and Dolby Atmos-certified super-linear speakers, the Zenbook 14 captures quality mids and highs along with a wide bass.
The device is also incredibly portable. It’s not the lightest machine on this list, but it’s remarkably thin at 0.59 inches. You might be able to slot that into a medium-sized purse. Another neat feature is its webcam privacy shutter. We don’t see that on many laptops at this price point, so it’s a nice bonus.
See our full Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) review.
Longest battery
Dell XPS 13 9345 is in fact the longest lasting laptop we've tested. Between that and its powerful performance packed into a svelte chassis, the XPS is an excellent choice.
✔️ You want the best no matter what: This is the laptop with the longest battery life. It doesn't get better than this, so if you want the best, the XPS 13 is here.
✔️ You need a bright display: In-office work environments can get pretty bright, and if you're working outside, you'll need to fight the sun. But the XPS 13's display is bright enough to get you through it.
✖️ You need a large keyboard: You don't get to be lighter than a MacBook Air without a cost. The XPS 13's keyboard feels pretty cramped, at just 7.8 inches wide.
✖️ You need a lot of ports: Sorry, the XPS 13 offers only two ports and they aren't even unique. It provides a total of two USB Type-C ports. If you want the XPS 13, you'll need a Type-C hub.
The era of AI PCs has already reached a precipice, and while it may just be the tip of the iceberg, the Dell XPS 13 9345 leads the charge with a whopping 19 hours and 1 minute of battery life with the potential for 20 hours and 51 minutes. That's thanks in part to the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 chipset, but Dell didn't let Qualcomm do all the heavy-lifting. The company is famous for a number of long lasting laptops. But what else does the XPS 13 offer?
Rami Tabari said, "Staring at its graphite anodized metal lid is like gazing into the ethereal plane. Then there are the curves and angles, which look like the finished product of a marble sculptor..." in our review of the Dell XPS 13 9345.
When it comes to performance, the XPS 13 scored 14,635 on the Geekbench 6.3 overall performance test. It wiped the floor with the MacBook Air’s M3 (12,087), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H in the Zenbook 14 (12,707) and Spectre x360 (12,358). It performed just as well on the HandBrake test, transcoding a 4K video to 1080p in just 4 minutes and 41 seconds, crushing the MacBook Air (6:32), Zenbook 14 (6:36), and Spectre x360 (7:30).
The Dell XPS’s 13.4-inch, 1920 x 1200, 120Hz display is plenty bright. You won't miss a beat in settings with intense lighting, as the XPS averaged 456 nits of brightness. It outshines the Zenbook 14 (339 nits) and Spectre x360 (366 nits), but can't quite beat the MacBook Air (476 nits).
One of the XPS 13's alluring factors is its weight, coming in lighter than the MacBook Air. The XPS 13 weighs in at 2.6 pounds and 11.62 x 7.84 x 0.6 inches. It may just be 0.1 pounds, but the MacBook Air is heavier, at 2.7 pounds.
Now, not everything is sunshine and rainbows in paradise. With the XPS 13 you're also getting a laptop with only two ports, a cramped keyboard, and a low color gamut in the display. But if you have smaller hands and don't need an eye-meltingly colorful display, the XPS 13 is a great choice.
See our full Dell XPS 13 9345 (Snapdragon X Elite) review.
Best MacBook value
MacBook Air 13 M3 is an absolute powerhouse for the price. Combine that with its lengthy battery life, bright display, and comfortable keyboard, it offers a terrific Mac experience.
✔️ You want a MacBook for a low price: It's not a secret that Apple produces the most premium laptops around, and with macOS, you get access to a slew of new apps unavailable on Windows all for a decent price.
✔️ You want the most portable laptop: Apple calls it the MacBook Air for a reason. At 2.7 pounds and 0.44 inches, this is one of the most portable laptops that exist.
✖️ You want a colorful display: While the MacBook Air's display isn't dull, it's not the most colorful. With only 77.8% DCI-P3 color coverage, it's 10% duller than the average.
✖️ You need a lot of ports: That thin body is going to cost you. You're stuck with only two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a headphone jack.
You do not have to pay a fortune to purchase a MacBook. The 13-inch MacBook Air M3 costs $1,099, just like its predecessor. And like the rest of the MacBooks on this page, this machine offers some killer battery life. The Air M3 powered through 15 hours and 13 minutes of battery life testing in our lab.
Sean Riley said, "The MacBook Air 13 M3 shows Apple still has a clear lead when it comes to the balance between performance and efficiency," in our review of the MacBook Air 13 M3.
That battery life is impressive because the most affordable MacBook doesn't back down on performance. The MacBook Air's M3 chip scored 12,087 on the Geekbench 6.2, soaring over the category average in our review. It transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in just 7 minutes and 54 seconds, and its SSD clocked in 3,031/3,059MBps (read/write) performance.
All that power and battery is packed into an incredibly slim body, 11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches, that you can easily lift 2.7 pounds. Whether you're commuting to work or school, this machine will make the ride less cumbersome than most. Between its size and performance, the MacBook Air M3 does what most ultraportable can't.
While it is the most affordable MacBook, $1,099 is a bit pricey, but the Air M3's display is better than laptops I've seen sold for double the cost. At 476 nits of brightness, the MacBook Air's 13.6-inch display is one of the brightest available. It also registered 77.8% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is not as colorful as the OLED competition but decent.
The MacBook Air is a great product, but it has its faults. Ports, as you probably guessed, are a bit rare around here. Fortunately, since the MacBook Air features a discrete charging port, you can use the two Thunderbolt 4 ports you have. The price also gets concerning when you think about configuring, with a bump from 8GB to 16GB of RAM costing $200. While we recommend the additional RAM, adding more parts to this machine dwindles its value.
See our full 13-inch MacBook Air M3 review.
Best business
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is an overall excellent business notebook. Great battery life is just a part of it; when we think about its intense workstation-level power, it's easily top.
✔️ You need a high-performer for 3D design, video-editing, etc.: You won't find a better workstation with professional graphics, especially with its battery life and relatively affordable price.
✔️ You want that legendary ThinkPad keyboard experience: Crisp, clicky, bouncy. That's really all you need to know about this excellent keyboard.
✖️ You need a vibrant display: This is important for users that are focused on visual editing. It's not vibrant enough to combat bright spaces and it's not vivid enough to fulfill the DCI-P3 color gamut.
✖️ You want an affordable business notebook: Business laptops tend to be pricey, but the ThinkPad P1 is even more so because of its workstation-level performance.
Lenovo's ThinkPads are the few brands that excel at being business laptops — but the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is also great for high-performers focusing on graphics-intensive projects, such as video or photo-editing. Despite being an absolute powerhouse, the ThinkPad P1 lasted 17 hours and 23 minutes on a single charge.
Madeline Ricchiuto said, "The keyboard has a nice mid-activation point with a decent bit of bounce to it, making for a satisfying typing experience," in our review of the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7.
Unfortunately, business laptops and those that double as workstations want more money than they have any logical reason to ask for. That's because laptop manufacturers wants companies to buy in bulk and not ask questions. But finding the ThinkPad P1 on sale is a killer opportunity to get an excellent laptop with high performance and tough security.
Speaking of performance, the ThinkPad P1's Intel Core Ultra 7 165H transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in just 4 minutes and 22 seconds. It patiently waited at the finished line for the HP ZBook Studio 16 G10 (4:37) and HP ZBook Fury 16 G9 (4:29) to get across. Although, it could quite beat the ThinkPad P16 Gen 1 (3:44).
For a laptop with so much power, the ThinkPad P1 supports a thin and light design, coming in at 4.3 pounds and 13.95 x 9.49 x 0.67 inches. However, it also features a plethora of ports, including 1 x USB Type-A (5Gbps), 1 x USB Type-C (10Gbps), 2 x Thunderbolt 4 Type-C (40Gbps, DP Alt mode 2.1), 1 x HDMI 2.1 (up to 4K @ 60Hz), 1 x SD card reader (SD Express 7.0), and 1 x 3.5mm audio combo jack.
A business laptop is going to stand on business. You get all those neat security features, including a fingerprint reader, an IR webcam with facial recognition, a webcam privacy shutter, and a dTPM security chip.
The caveats are that the display isn't as vibrant as we'd like it to be. And the webcam produces lifeless and grainy images.
See our full Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 review.
Best gaming
Asus TUF Gaming A14 is not only a leader in battery life for gaming laptops but it also offers excellent performance for the price.
✔️ You want an affordable gaming laptop: It's unfortunate, but some gaming laptops with an RTX 4060 charge above $1,500. That's too much. This one is under $1,500 and it offers excellent features that premium laptops don't have.
✔️ You want a vivid display: While the TUF Gaming A14's display isn't perfect, it's brighter and more colorful than what some premium gaming laptops offer. This is a great choice.
✖️ You need excellent performance: Yes, the TUF Gaming A14 can handle AAA games without breaking a sweat. However, it won't get your fps into the triple digits at max settings.
✖️ You want a smooth touchpad experience: I am super picky about my touchpads because it's your main point of interaction with a laptop. Unless you'll use a gaming mouse consistently, maybe don't get this.
The Asus TUF Gaming A14 is the first gaming laptop in recent history to break into the double digits in terms of battery life. Despite featuring an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060, the TUF A14 hit 10 hours and 4 minutes on our battery test. For context, the average gaming laptops lasts around 5 hours. This is currently the best gaming laptop for battery life. Most folks can get through a whole workday before you need to plug it in. Naturally, battery life isn't the only feature we loved.
Claire Tabari said, "Elden Ring is gorgeous, but thanks to the TUF Gaming A14’s panel being appropriately colorful and bright, this world is vivid and beguiling," in our review of the Asus TUF Gaming A14.
With the mighty AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, the Asus TUF Gaming A14 cleaned house on our benchmarks. Assassin's Creed Mirage? 87 fps. Far Cry 6? 77 fps. Red Dead Redemption 2? 61 fps. It played most major titles at above 60 fps, which is excellent. It even managed to run Cyberpunk 2077 at a solid 30 fps.
For a gaming laptop this affordable, we were stunned by how well its 14-inch, 2560 x 1600, IPS, 165Hz display performed. It silences the excuse of manufacturers about price versus quality. Its panel produced 411 nits of brightness and covered 82% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. That's more than enough to play your favorite games and enjoy a vivid experience.
Despite being a powerful gaming notebook with a big battery, the TUF A14 comes up light and thin, measuring 3.2 pounds and 12.24 x 8.94 x 0.67~0.78 inches. Long lasting and super portable? That's a recipe for success.
Unfortunately, if you're someone that is picky about their touchpad experience, we recommend steering clear of this one. The trackpad is sluggish, offering too much resistance when in use.
Despite that, the Asus TUF Gaming A14 is a true champ of battery life and affordability.
See our full Asus TUF Gaming A14 review.
Benchmark comparisons
Click to view chart data in table format
| Header Cell - Column 0 | MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max | Asus Zenbook 14 OLED | Dell XPS 13 | MacBook Air 13 M3 | Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 | Asus TUF Gaming A14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 (Higher is better) | 20,863 | 12707 | 14,635 | 12,087 | 12,974 | 11,330 |
| Handbrake time ((MM.SS), lower is better) | 2.36 | 6.36 | 4.41 | 6.32 | 4.22 | 4.21 |
| Battery life - Web surfing (HH.MM) | 18.05 | 15.52 | 19.01 | 15.13 | 17.23 | 10.04 |
| SSD transfer speeds (MBps, higher is better) | 5,039 | 1236 | 1342 | 3030 | 2071 | 1339 |
| DCI-P3 Color Gamut (Higher is better) | 81.8 | 79.8 | 66.9 | 77.8 | 78.6 | 82 |
| Display Brightness (Nits, higher is better) | 560 | 339 | 456 | 476 | 386 | 411 |
| Hottest temperature (95 degree comfort threshold) | 82 | 107.5 | 120 | 83.5 | 88 | 116 |
Recently reviewed
FAQs
Why doesn't my laptop last as long as your test?
Well, the Laptop Mag battery test won't account for the way you use your laptop. It continuously surfs the web over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness (that's less than 50% brightness on most laptops).
If you're doing anything more than that, your battery life will vary. Gaming or juggling a triple-digit number of tabs will most certainly decrease your battery life. Turning down the brightness or even turning on battery saver mode will be a huge help to increase your laptop's battery life.
How do I take care of my laptop battery life?
All batteries deteriorate eventually, but slowing that process down is crucial to keep those excellent scores where they are. To maintain good battery life health, keep these tips in mind.
- Don't let it charge above 100%
- Don't let it die
- Avoid extreme temperatures
- Use the included charger
How We Test Laptops with Best Battery Life
We put each laptop through extensive benchmark testing — both synthetic and real-world — before they end up in the hands of our reviewers. We evaluate each aspect of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers and heat management.
Battery life is critical for the average worker or student or frequent traveler. And especially so for gamers, as there aren't many gaming laptops out there that'll get you at least 8 hours of longevity.
To test endurance, the Laptop Mag Battery test surfs the web at 150 nits of brightness until the system runs out of juice. Before we do this, however, we run through a checklist. We set the screen to 150 nits of brightness (as determined using ChromaSurf) so we have an even basis for comparison regardless of laptop manufacturer and display panel technology. Uninstall antivirus software. Shut down any programs running in the background. Deactivate Battery Saver mode, Bluetooth, and GPS/location services. Turn off keyboard backlighting and any gaming-specific features. Adjust Windows power settings so the screen stays on for the full duration of the test and battery life is maximized as much as possible. Finally, we run the test three times.
We judge processing power with the Geekbench 5/6 overall performance test and a video transcoder software that converts a 4K video to 1080p. For storage speed, we copy 25GB of multimedia files to determine the transfer rate.
We use a colorimeter to measure screen brightness and color gamut, while other instruments help us determine a laptop's key travel and ambient heat. See this page on How We Test Laptops for more details on our benchmarking procedures.
Why Trust Laptop Mag
Laptop Mag reviews over one hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming.
We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades, and we continue to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.
Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.
Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.
