- Dell’s XPS 16 has almost 27 hours of battery life for browsing the Internet with Wi-Fi
- This is based on independent testing by Notebookcheck.net.
- Only two other laptops have surpassed that result, and both had a more powerful battery capacity than the XPS 16.
We all want longer battery life from our laptop (it’s universally considered one of the most important features of a laptop) and Dell’s new XPS 16 has been proven to really deliver on this front.
We haven’t yet tested the XPS 16 ourselves (or its smaller brother, the XPS 14), and we’ve only tested these laptops so far (at CES). However, Notebookcheck.net has completed a full set of tests on the larger model (with the LCD screen option, not OLED, and I’ll explain again why that’s important), with results that look very promising.
Dell claims up to 31 hours of battery life, and according to Wi-Fi web browsing tests conducted by Notebookcheck.net, the XPS 16 achieved 26.6 hours of longevity, pretty close to the laptop maker’s boast.
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The site noted: “We can record a runtime of almost 27 hours, which is still incredibly impressive given that the 70Wh battery capacity is actually small for a 16-inch form factor.”
As noted by The Verge, which noted the review, Notebookcheck.net has only had two laptops that surpass this result.
One of those laptops was very different because it had two batteries (which totaled 149 Wh, so not a fair comparison to a device with a single battery with 70 Wh), and the other was a Qualcomm-powered laptop with a Snapdragon X Plus chip: a Lenovo ThinkBook that barely outlasted the Dell laptop.
That Arm Silicon is known for its battery life, but the ThinkBook in question also had a larger 84Wh battery: it had 20% more capacity than the Dell’s, and yet it actually offered only 1% more longevity.
Apple MacBooks were choked with Dell dust here, as were other Arm laptops, which is really impressive.
Of course, battery life will vary widely depending on the situation, and you won’t necessarily get more than 20 hours of on-the-go life in real-world use; It depends largely on what you’re doing.
Analysis: CPU, VRR tricks and power density: a winning combination
As already noted, we really need to test the Dell XPS 16 for ourselves, but this is a notable achievement based on this round of independent testing.
What has Dell done to achieve this? First of all, Intel Panther Lake CPUs are a new level in power efficiency for Team Blue, and that will definitely help a lot. On top of that, a neat trick with LG’s display on the
Dell’s new XPS 16 with LCD screen sits idle on the Windows 11 desktop and consumes just 1.5W as measured by Notebookcheck.net. (OLED can only go down to 20Hz with VRR, and it’s worth noting that it’s not as energy efficient, but LG Display will launch a 1Hz variant next year.)
Third, Dell has used new battery technology, achieving a new high in energy density (ED) with 900ED cells, meaning more energy can be stored in a smaller battery. Advances in cooling and overall thermals within the laptop chassis also help.
It’s a potent combination of factors, by all indications, and hopefully we’ll be able to put the new Dell XPS models through our own tests, including battery life, soon enough.
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