According to a Microsoft executive, incoming Windows 10 laptops driven by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips will offer ‘game-changing’ levels of battery life, lasting for multiple days.
We’ve already been hearing a lot about these notebooks this year, the initial incarnations of which will be powered by a Snapdragon 835 SoC (as opposed to an Intel or AMD processor), and these chips – more traditionally found in mobiles – are hugely energy-efficient, so clearly will be great on the battery front.
But how great? According to Pete Bernard, Principal Group Program Manager for Connectivity Partners at Microsoft, these portable PCs will be nothing short of a revelation.
Over at Qualcomm’s 5G Summit in Hong Kong, Bernard told Trusted Reviews: “The final numbers aren’t in, but the battery life is really, really good. Amazingly good. To be frank, it’s actually beyond our expectations.”
He added: “It’s the kind of battery life where I use it on a daily basis, I don’t take my charger with me. I may charge it every couple of days or so. It’s that kind of battery life.”
So we can expect multiple days of battery longevity away from the power socket, which is obviously a very enticing prospect.
Bernard further noted that he considered these machines “a game-changer in terms of the way people have experienced PCs in the past”.
- Hopefully we’ll see some great Black Friday deals in the UK on Windows 10.
- There's sure to be some great bargains during Black Friday in the US and Black Friday in Australia, too.
Exciting times
Of course, Microsoft can be expected to talk these laptops up, and we won’t know for sure until we get some hard figures for claimed battery life – and indeed until we’ve tested these notebooks ourselves – but color us more and more excited about exactly what these portables will offer, particularly when it comes to longevity on the move.
Not only are Snapdragon chips more power-efficient by their very design and nature, because they are also smaller than a traditional laptop processor, there’s more room for manufacturers to fit in a bigger battery.
On top of that, you can add in the fact that Microsoft is working to improve Windows 10’s efficiency with power consumption, recently claiming that the Creators Update (delivered back in the spring) brought a sizeable boost to laptop battery life. The Fall Creators Update rolls out from today, and will hopefully bring further advancements on this front.
All of which means we’re definitely moving in the right direction in terms of laptop longevity.
Snapdragon-powered notebooks will run the full-fat version of Windows 10 and will be thin, fanless, and have integrated LTE connectivity for going online when out and about.
- Some of the best laptops you can buy run with Windows 10
