AMD processors lag far behind Qualcomm, Intel, and Apple when it comes to battery life. Here’s why.
Lately, we’ve noticed that the battery life of laptops with AMD processors is increasing compared to the competition, so what exactly is going on?
I recently got the new Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor. However, I was disappointed with the runtime of eight hours and two minutes on the LaptopMag Battery life test that includes continuous web browsing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits.
Normally I would dismiss this as just an inefficient laptop, but this time I couldn’t.
I just had the With Intel technology Version of the same laptop a week earlier, the Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 (The “I” stands for Intel). And with the Intel laptop, my experience was much better.
These two laptops are identical in almost every way, but Intel has the edge with 12 hours and 57 minutes of battery life, five hours longer than the AMD version. Both have the same 71 Wh battery. This discrepancy of almost five hours in battery life is also likely to be questioned by any laptop user.
Given this significant inequality laptop Likes examined a larger sample of productivity laptops with AMD processors and compared them to laptops with Apple, Qualcomm and Intel processors. The results were not encouraging for AMD.
AMD’s lackluster battery life in detail
Of the six AMD-based productivity laptops we’ve tested over the past 12 months that don’t have a discrete graphics processing unit (GPU), only one had a battery life of over 10 hours.
The outstanding product is the Asus Zenbook S16, which lasted 11 hours and 35 minutes on the LaptopMag Battery test. (The test corresponds to continuous Internet browsing via Wi-Fi at 150 nits brightness.)
Below is the full list of six AMD-based productivity laptops that laptop Likes tested in the last 12 months, sorted by battery life:
| laptop | AMD processor | Battery life |
|---|---|---|
| Asus Zenbook S16 UM5606 | Ryzen 9 3900X | 11:35 |
| 15-inch HP Envy x360 2-in-1 | Ryzen 7 5825U | 9:52 |
| HP Pavilion x360 2-in-1 | Ryzen 7 7730U | 9:17 |
| Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1 | Ryzen 7 8840HS | 8:02 |
| Acer Swift 3 15.6″ | Ryzen 7 7840U | 7:18 |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1 | Ryzen 7 8845HS | 6:26 |
The average battery life of the six laptops mentioned above is 8 hours and 45 minutes.
The worst of all is the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1 with a battery life of 6 hours and 26 minutes, which is terrible for a laptop without a dedicated GPU.
When I discovered that the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1 notebook, which has abysmal battery life, is powered by the same integrated AMD Radeon 780M graphics found in the Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1, I wondered if there was something about this chip that was draining huge amounts of power from the battery. After all, this was the laptop that sent me on this desperate search for answers.
It’s no secret that AMD has the most powerful integrated graphics in its chips. LaptopMag I’ve reached out to AMD to see if the company can comment on why battery life lags so far behind the competition.
Stacy MacDiarmid, senior manager of public relations at AMD, says the relatively short battery life is in line with the company’s expectations for its chips.
“The Intel processor is a U-series designed for energy efficiency and everyday performance, while the AMD HS processor is designed to deliver peak performance for more demanding workloads such as gaming and content creation,” says MacDiarmid LaptopMag by email.
Because the AMD chip promises stronger integrated graphics performance, its efficiency decreases and battery life decreases more quickly.
“With more advanced integrated graphics, you can also expect a significant difference in battery consumption,” MacDiarmid explains, adding that when developing the chip, the company tries to “balance the advantages and disadvantages to deliver processors that meet the needs of customers today and in the future.”
MacDiarmid added that AMD’s new Ryzen AI 300 series processors “will deliver the performance our customers expect, with greater efficiency than previous generations.” It is a claim LaptopMagOur own tests can confirm this.
We know that Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1 has a relatively short battery life because AMD says that is not the main focus – the focus is on graphics performance. So how much of an improvement does the Yoga 7 2-in-1 offer in integrated graphics?
Graphics and their influence on battery life
Since both the Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1 and the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1 have the same integrated GPU, I checked to see if their scores in the graphics category are higher than other AMD chips.
We played Sid Meier’s Civilization V: Gathering Stormand the Yoga 7 2-in-1 managed 48 frames per second at 1080p with its AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS. And the AMD-powered Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1 achieved the same 48 fps.
The Asus Zenbook S16, a laptop with more than 11 hours of battery life, boasted 63 fps. It is powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 with integrated AMD Radeon 890M graphics. So the test data shows that impressive graphics performance and long battery life can still be achieved. It just depends on the efficiency of the chip.
Test data shows that impressive graphics performance and long battery life can still be achieved. It all depends on the efficiency of the chip.
On the 3DMark Fire Strike synthetic benchmark, the Yoga 7 2-in-1 (7,729) and the IdeaPad 5 2-in-1 (7,851) continued to perform similarly. However, the Zenbook S16’s synthetic score of 7,468 was no better than either laptop.
So what about the graphics performance of the Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1, which lasted five hours longer than its AMD counterpart? The answer is not surprising given the weaker integrated graphics, as it is held back by significantly worse gaming performance, reaching 26 fps at the same Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm Test. The 3DMark Fire Strike synthetic benchmark score of 5,010 clearly shows that AMD is way ahead in this regard.
Processors like the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 prove that you can have the best of both worlds.
AMD is focusing on more powerful graphics in its chips, which has a negative impact on battery life. But processors like the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 prove that you can have the best of both worlds.
At the moment, AMD is lagging behind Qualcomm, Intel and Apple in terms of battery life. But how far exactly?
Let’s examine each of these processors in terms of battery life and see which one comes out on top.
AMD battery life compared to Qualcomm, Intel and Apple
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite laptops are still fairly new, but we’ve already tested six, and even the least powerful model in the range boasts battery life that surpasses that of AMD’s best models. laptop found an average battery life of 14 hours and 59 minutes for these six laptops:
| laptop | Qualcomm processor | Battery life |
|---|---|---|
| Dell XPS 13 9345 | Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 | 19:01 |
| HP EliteBook 840 G1 | Snapdragon 835 XIE78-100 | 16:01 |
| Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition | Snapdragon X Elite X1E80100 | 15:44 |
| Lenovo Yoga 720 | Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 | 14:01 |
| Asus Vivobook S15 S5507 | Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 | 12:53 |
| Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition | Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 | 12:11 |
The MacBook is by far the longest-lasting model. We found an average battery life of 16 hours and 24 minutes across the last four MacBooks. laptop has checked:
| laptop | Apple processor | Battery life |
|---|---|---|
| MacBook Pro 16 inch | M3Max | 18:05 |
| MacBook Pro 14 inch | BMW-M3 | 17:16 |
| MacBook Air 13 inch | BMW-M3 | 15:13 |
| MacBook Air 15 inch | BMW-M3 | 15:03 |
laptop Our staff has tested many Intel laptops, so we’ll use a larger sample this time. Across the 10 Intel-powered productivity laptops we tested with no discrete GPU, we found an average battery life of 11 hours and 20 minutes:
| laptop | Intel processor | Battery life |
|---|---|---|
| Asus Zenbook 14 | Core Ultra 7 155H | 15:52 |
| Dell Inspiron 14 | Core Ultra 7 155H | 15:06 |
| Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 | Core Ultra 5 125U | 12:57 |
| Lenovo Yoga 7i Gen 9 | Core Ultra 5 125U | 11:24 |
| Asus Zenbook Flip 13 | Core Ultra 7 155H | 10:34 |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14 | Core Ultra 7 155H | 10:03 |
| HP Pavilion x360 2-in-1 | Core Ultra 7 155U | 9:49 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 9 | Core Ultra 7 155U | 9:47 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 | Core Ultra 7 155H | 9:27 |
| Acer Swift 3 14 | Core Ultra 7 155H | 8:25 |
From the information above, which is limited only to the laptops we have recently tested, we can deduce the following about the average battery life on non-gaming laptops depending on the processor type:
1. Apple: 16 hours and 24 minutes
2. Qualcomm: 14 hours and 59 minutes
3. Intel: 11 hours and 20 minutes
4. AMD: 8 hours and 45 minutes
Keep in mind that this isn’t a comprehensive review of the battery life of these chips, as it’s limited to what we’ve tested. On that basis, AMD is way behind the rest of the competition in terms of longevity, and even compared to Intel’s fairly wide range (somewhere between 8 and 16 hours), it’s not even close.
AMD claims that its Ryzen AI 300 will offer even longer battery life than previous generations. Since the Zenbook S16 has the longest battery life of any AMD laptop we’ve tested in the last year, this is in line with the company’s claims.
The reason is AMD’s more powerful integrated graphics. The consumer must decide whether to accept the improved performance or a weaker battery life.
It’s no secret that gaming laptops offer tremendous battery life improvements on these devices, but when it comes to productivity laptops, the benefit of slightly better gaming performance over significantly less battery life is unclear.
We would rarely recommend AMD integrated graphics to most gamers, so it’s hard to say whether the several hours less battery life is worth it. That seems to be changing, though, and we hope future Ryzen processors continue to improve longevity while maintaining their higher performance.
