The best part of my CES adventure this year wasn’t the stretch screen or the 115-inch TVs. It wasn’t the robot catching up to you. Or the one who cuts the grass. It wasn’t even one of the smartest smart glasses.
Impressive stuff, yes. But consider this: I made it through the event — taking notes, checking email, editing photos, and posting to social media — without a laptop charger.
Simply, I was able to pass commando power through CES. Not once, during four 14-hour days full of press conferences, meetings, cocktail receptions and coffee breaks – 66,326 steps in all – did I find myself looking for an outlet.
Every day, I put one of two laptops in my backpack. They are both among the first in a new generation of Windows systems built for all-day use on a single charge. They are light, sleek, loud and responsive. And they are stingy enough to convince you to leave the wall anchor behind. Which, once you start believing the promise all day, can be positively liberating.
MacBook Air for Windows?
I call them MacBook-Air-for-Windows systems because they are the PC world’s first legitimate counterattack to the game-changing laptops that Apple has built around its M-series processors. Apple set a new standard for portability in late 2020, when it introduced the first MacBook Air that was built around the first-generation M-series chip, the M1, and never looked back. At least, not until now.
This new generation of all-day Windows systems is based on either Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series – which, like the M series, is Arm compatible – or Intel’s latest Core Ultra 7 processors, codenamed Lunar Lake. Most major PC manufacturers offer systems built around both processors, with an even bigger selection on the way after a flurry of CES announcements last week.
For my experiment, each day I brought one of two similarly configured laptops from Lenovo, the Yoga Slim 7i (Core Ultra 7) and the Yoga Slim 7x (Snapdragon X Elite). Both have batteries of the same capacity. The Slim 7i (starting at $1,049.99) is slightly larger and slightly heavier than the Slim 7x (starting at $799.99). The Slim 7x has a 15.3-inch display, while the Slim 7x has a smaller, 14.5-inch display.
To help level the playing field, I set both screens to 60 pct brightness. With that brightness, I found that the Snapdragon-based Slim 7x burned through its power division at a rate of about 10 percent per hour, which suggests it will support 10 hours of nonstop work, give or take. On average, the Intel-based 7i burns through about 12 percent of battery per hour, which translates to just under 8.5 hours of uninterrupted work on a single charge.
Larger screens typically draw more power, which may help explain much, if not all, of the difference in battery life I’ve experienced. In any case, both systems were powered and ready whenever I needed them during my incredibly long days at CES.
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All-day power at its best
CES was a great place to put the all-day battery promise to the test because of the incredibly long days and constant changes of locations. But I already had a backpack and could have just thrown a charger in the bag.
The real magic, I’ve found, happens when you come out with a MacBook Air for Windows — and nothing else. No backpack. No charger. And no “where’s a plug?” anxiety.
Put it under your arm when you leave a meeting and head for a coffee shop, or when you’re walking across campus to another class. I even sat through several meetings all day without a power adapter late last year.
Now I’m at the point where I don’t even miss the charger. And when you leave it behind, these portable devices feel more portable than ever.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.
USA TODAY columnist Mike Feibus is president and principal analyst of FeibusTech, a consulting and market research firm in Scottsdale, Arizona. Contact him at mikef@feibustech.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikeFeibus.
