Googlebooks have a battery life problem — here's what our results show

We just benchmarked the first 5 Googlebooks, and so far, they’ve held their own against the best Windows laptops and the best MacBooks. This is especially true with the Snapdragon X Elite-powered Dell XPS Googlebook and HP Googlebook 14. Even if Google’s new laptops aren’t mind-blowing, they’re far more capable than the best Chromebooks.

The one area that still concerns me is battery life. Google claims Googlebooks have at least 14 hours of battery life. As the company explains on a support page, they test battery life by keeping the laptop's screen brightness at a minimum of 100 nits, with Dark theme and Battery Saver mode enabled. Wi-Fi is connected and used for browsing data.

Our battery test is very different, so we didn’t get the same results. To put it bluntly, Googlebooks have disappointing battery life, especially when rival laptops can last anywhere from 15 to 20 hours on a single charge. So, how did Googlebooks fare in our battery life tests? Read on to find out!

How we test laptop battery life

Before getting into the results, I want to explain how we test a laptop’s battery life. I should note that Googlebook OS is a brand-new operating system, so we’re still working to determine the best tests and testing methods for the platform. But since some of the manufacturers are aware of how we test and didn’t object, we’re sticking with it.

As I said in our Googlebook benchmark story, our Googlebook battery test is the same as the one we've used on Chromebooks in the past, and it's much more demanding than Google's testing. Unlike our custom in-house macOS and Windows battery test, this test uses the live internet and is powered by a Chrome extension. It cycles through a list of 30 live websites every 30 seconds until the battery drains.

We set the screen to 150 nits of brightness and disable Bluetooth and location services while using the device's default theme. We also keep the display’s refresh rate at 120Hz, which Googlebooks have enabled by default out of the box. We run this test three times on each machine. With that established, let’s dig into the numbers.

Our test results

If you’ve read the previous benchmark story, then you’ll already know most of the results. I say most because I’ve now included some results after testing a couple of Googlebooks with the display set to 60Hz. I also have an update on the Asus Googlebook 14, which had the most eyebrow-raising battery life.

The HP Googlebook 14 is the clear winner with its 11 hours and 52 minutes of battery life across two runs. The Acer and Lenovo Googlebooks each lasted for 10 hours and 25 minutes, while the XPS Googlebook lasted just shy of 10 hours. Those aren’t the worst results, but as you’ll see, the competition leaves Google’s laptops lagging.

The Dell XPS 13, which uses the same Intel Core Ultra 5 325 processor as the Acer, Asus, and Lenovo Chromebooks, lasted an impressive 14 hours and 57 minutes. The 13-inch MacBook Air M5 did even better, lasting 15 hours and 37 minutes. Even the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 Gen 10, which we tested like a Chromebook, lasted an impressive 13 hours and 19 minutes. I could list other laptops, but I think you get the point.

Returning to the Googlebook results, let’s discuss the Asus Googlebook 14, which lasted 6 hours and 50 minutes. That’s after running two tests, with the first at 6 hours and 18 minutes and the second at 7 hours and 23 minutes.

We’ve reached out to Asus about this and are working with them to determine why the company’s laptop has nearly half the battery life of other Googlebooks. This laptop may have a defect. Regardless, I’ll update this article when we hear from Asus.

Now, what happens when we run our battery test with the display set to 60Hz instead of 120Hz? We’ve only had time to test this on the Dell XPS Googlebook and HP Googlebook 14, but as you can see, battery life was nearly two hours longer on both machines. That might not sound like much, but if you’re on the road, those two hours could make a huge difference if you need to get important work done.

Except for the XPS Googlebook, all the Googlebooks we tested have OLED panels, which are notorious for draining battery life. This is something to take into account when reviewing our battery life results. And before you ask, the XPS likely has so-so battery life because it has a 52Wh battery, whereas the other Googlebooks have a 70Wh battery.

Outlook

We plan to run a total of three battery tests on all the Googlebooks we’ve received, but I can tell you that we likely won’t see a huge difference when we average the results. The real-world testing we’ve done, such as web browsing and video calls, also seems to align with our test results. For example, the Lenovo Chromebook 14 went from 95% to 74% in two hours during back-to-back Google Meet sessions.

I want to reiterate that Googlebook OS is so new that we’re still trying to determine the best way to test laptops running it. It’s also entirely possible we could see improved battery life as Google further optimizes the platform over the coming months and years.

For now, if you’re considering getting a Googlebook, don’t expect whichever laptop you choose to last nearly as long as a MacBook or a newer Windows laptop. That said, if you do opt for a Googlebook, set the refresh rate to 60Hz to squeeze more life out of its battery.

Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.

More from Tom's Guide

• Googlebooks vs Chromebooks — here are the actual differences
• I tested all 5 new Googlebooks — and this is the one that blew me away
• I checked out the new Googlebooks — 3 reasons I'd buy one, and 3 reasons I'd skip