We tested the battery life on hundreds of laptops. These 5 refused to die

The HP OmniBook 5 14 is the new king of the castle as far as battery life goes–it’s currently PCWorld’s Best Battery Life pick, and for good reason. In our battery test, which you can read more about here, it lasted an astonishing 25 hours on a single charge. That’s a jaw-dropping result for any Windows laptop, especially one that costs under $1,000. So, where does this efficiency stem from? It comes from the Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 processor that’s nestled inside. 

It’s a lower-tier chip that trades raw performance for endurance. It’s not a slow machine by any means, but if you’re a power user, you may need to look elsewhere. For the day-to-day stuff, though? Totally fine. The 14-inch 1920×1200 OLED display, though it delivers good colors and contrast, tops out at just 300 nits in terms of brightness. In other words, it’s not a huge power draw. The keyboard feels snappy and comfortable, too, which is nice for long typing sessions.

The Asus ZenBook A14 is one of those laptops that’s so light it might just cloud off into the clouds if you’re not careful. It weighs just two pounds and yet it somehow manages to last 24 hours on a single charge. That’s just plain bananas! This is probably because of its 70Wh battery (this is on the bigger end for a portable laptop) and the entry-level Snapdragon X processor, which prioritizes efficiency over pure speed. 

It’s fine for things like browsing the web and writing emails, but it’s not built for heavy-duty apps, so if you’re a multitasker at heart… this might not be the machine for you. That said, if your priority is to stay unplugged for as long as possible, the ZenBook A14 will definitely deliver on that front.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 is a business powerhouse with loads of endurance (despite the smaller 57Wh battery sitting inside of it). This 14-inch laptop managed 24 hours in our playback video test thanks to its Intel Lunar Lake CPU and lower-power display. You could unplug it for a full day (or more!) without worrying, as long as you keep the brightness turned down some. 

Battery life aside, it’s a classic ThinkPad machine through and through. You’ve got a sturdy metal chassis, an excellent keyboard with the iconic red TrackPoint, and an included pen. The 1920×1200 IPS display also hits 500 nits of brightness, and performance is snappy for productivity and some light multitasking, though it may slow down a bit when running super-heavy workloads.

The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition is a good-looking laptop (it’s wrapped in aluminum!) that just keeps on going and going–and it’s no wonder it took home PCWorld’s Best Overall title this year. It’s another 14-inch convertible that runs on an Intel Lunar Lake chip (Intel Core Ultra 7 258V to be exact) and between that and its 75Wh battery, it pushed out 23.5 hours of video playback. That’s not bad for something that looks so good!

It’s like the posh sibling to the more straight-laced ThinkPad X1 2-in-1, swapping the lower resolution display of the former for a sharper 2880×1800 OLED touchscreen. You’re also getting 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD, both generous amounts. The Intel Arc graphics can handle some lightweight creative apps, too.  

23.5 hours of battery life is a phenomenal result, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s a tiny bit shorter than others on this list. That’s probably because of the Yoga’s higher resolution display, which eats up more of the battery life.

Stamina is the name of the game here and the HP EliteBook X G1i is no different in that regard. With its Intel Lunar Lake processor and 68Wh battery, it managed nearly 21 hours in our tests, which is impressive for a machine that’s built for the business crowd. 

The 1920×1200 anti-glare display isn’t the most beautiful thing we’ve ever laid our eyes upon, but it’s bright and sharp and, most importantly, easy to read under fluorescent lights. The keyboard and trackpad also feel good, and the magnesium chassis keeps it pretty light at 2.7 pounds. The facial recognition stuff is pretty great, too.

It doesn’t match the Yoga 9i’s 23.5-hour result nor does it dethrone the battery life champion up top (aka the OmniBook 5 14), but the EliteBook X G1 rightfully earns its place here because it’s reliable and that’s what really matters most.