I’m curious what the battery life has been like for different users. Obviously, this will depend on how the laptop is used. For me, doing web browsing, having Microsoft Teams and Outlook open, plus many background tools, and even running some VMs for a little while, I get about 6 hours of battery life on Windows 11 Pro on the “Best power efficiency” power mode, and battery saver set to kick in when the battery reaches a 20% charge, which is the default threshold.
What about you? How do you use your laptop, and what is the battery life like? Some people here have been claiming up to 10 hours of battery life, and I have no idea how.
The ADATA XPG Xenia Xe was on sale in Canada for CA$950…and that’s a lot of bang for the buck as it’s based on Intel’s reference design. I tested it instore, and that unit runs faster than the Framework’s i7-1185G7. (The larger chassis helps of course)
Worth noting that the 1185G7 and 1165G7 have virtually identical performance. Also the XPG Xenia 14 (also included in the chart) is more of a direct Framework competitor (14" 16:10, 30W sustained, 2xSODIMM, 2xM.2)
Imagine if we had the 72Wh battery…that would be a dream.
Think all in all, the battery life of the Framework laptop seems to be around mid-pack when taking into consideration that it’s a 13.5 inch device and with the resolution that it has.
That’s a good thing given that it’s a Gen 1 product. I’m currently waiting for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or F36 to materialise…and we should be seeing similar battery life on the Linux side of things (hopefully). Some are reporting great battery life already running on beta / pre-release.
I wish there’s a chart that will show a system’s computational capacity per gram (of system weight) per fixed-complexity task…or something like that.
Some of the systems in the list has only 15W PL1…to drag out the runtime…but that also means slow task execution.
…and they tend to score better in multicore tasks while consuming less power. So that translates to even better weighted score when taking compute scoring into consideration.
For example, the 4800U:
Default TDP:15W
AMD Configurable TDP (cTDP): 10-25W
Momentary bursts typically run into PL2 territory. Wattage depends on the instructions and execution units. But page rendering and JavaScript could be heavy if the site is complex.
Update: Did a quick test just now (Firefox): bbc.co.uk peaked at 16.9w on page load.
community.frame.work peaked at 12w on page load.
It’s not a constant load, of course. But it’s a bunch of peaks / bursts, race to task completion.
My Windows 10 battery report estimates an average of five hours given my current use, with some days giving me seven hours.
Given how the battery is only 55Wh compared to the 63.5 Wh of my old MacBook Pro and I only charge it up to 80% of its capacity to reduce the stress on it, it’s not that bad.
While I’m hoping for options for bigger batteries in the future, so far I haven’t had a situation where I was low on battery and I was far from a power outlet. I think the worst case I had was when I was on a flight and I played Spyro Reignited which drained the battery quite a lot, but even then I had a power outlet available.
Folks have to remember you have to start somewhere. This is the Mk1 laptop and I feel Framework got it 85-90% right first go. There are always compromises especially with ambitious projects like these.
So let’s keep supporting and see what happens for the Mk2…Mk3…
Oh I’m not complaining. The Framework Laptop’s battery life is still much better than the ~4 hours I got on my XPS 15 that I’m replacing. I was just curious to see if it lined up with what others are seeing, and it is. This thread also helps perspective buyers understand if the laptop is right for them in its current state.
Worse than any laptop I’ve ever owned. Mostly Chrome web browsing with a decent amount of YouTube time, Microsoft Office usage, MPC-BE and Plex video playback, etc. 3-4 hours. TERRIBLE.
