Intel, LG display surpass Apple and Qualcomm in laptop battery life
Dell offers a higher-resolution OLED option
One of the most exciting laptops we noticed at CES in January was the latest Dell XPS 16, sporting a novel 1–120Hz refresh rate display that conserves energy when a fast screen is unnecessary.
How minimal can its power usage get? Notebookcheck conducted a test on a version of this laptop featuring that LG Display screen and a new Intel Panther Lake processor — and it appears to be the most power-efficient laptop they've ever evaluated in their Wi-Fi browsing trial.
When idle, the Core Ultra 325 laptop consumed as little as 1.5 watts, managing almost 27 hours of web browsing despite having just a 70 watt-hour battery.
This is significantly less than the 99.5Wh that’s sometimes packed into Dell's 16-inch models.
This impressive battery duration surpasses any results Notebookcheck has achieved with MacBook or MacBook Pro models, and reportedly exceeds all but two other laptops since their tests began in 2014.
Among those two, one used a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip, a larger 84Wh battery, and a standard 60Hz screen — while the other featured dual batteries for a total of 149Wh and also a 60Hz display.
Keep in mind that real-world usage usually yields shorter battery life compared to controlled battery tests.
Nevertheless, compared to its competition, this Dell paired with Intel and LG Display seems to be setting new standards for battery longevity.
Do note, however, Dell also offers a higher-resolution OLED option — but for peak battery performance, opt for 1920 x 1200 without touchscreen capabilities.
Although Dell merits recognition as the system integrator, this technology might not remain Dell-exclusive for long.
LG Display has announced it is the first globally to mass-produce a 1–120Hz laptop LCD panel (branded Oxide 1Hz) and is planning an OLED version's mass production by 2027.
Additionally, Intel is collaborating with more than one display manufacturer: last October, it declared a partnership with Chinese display company BOE on 1Hz refresh rate laptops as well.