SP4 M3 vs. SP4 i5 - Battery Life?

[DavidZ]

I just bought an M3 and like it a lot so far. I'm still in the return period and debating whether to exchange it for an i5. I don't mind paying an extra $100 (8GB/128GB) for more power, but if I have to give up a lot of battery life, that would be a deal breaker.

So my question is -- What is the difference in battery life/consumption between these 2 units?

I realize it depends on the type of use. I mainly use it for travel, so that would be web surfing, email, YouTube video, etc.

If there's only a 5% or less difference in battery life, I'll probably go with the i5. If the difference is more than 5%, I'll probably keep my M3.

I've surfed the web for an answer to this question, but haven't found anything definitive.

 

[leeshor]

Welcome to the forum

The question you're asking may not have a solid answer. Everyone is getting dramatically different battery use out of any of the models. Maybe someone here has both and using them exactly the same way but it's doubtful the information would apply to your usage.

 

[DavidZ]

Welcome to the forum

Thanks!

The question you're asking may not have a solid answer.

I'll take a not-so-solid answer.

Everyone is getting dramatically different battery use out of any of the models.

Can you give me examples?

Maybe someone here has both and using them exactly the same way but it's doubtful the information would apply to your usage.

It would be ideal if someone would run a side-by-side test running the same app(s) and timing them until they died.

 

[leeshor]

No 2 people have the same configuration, using the same software, using it the same way. Depending on what I'm doing I can get anywhere from 5 to 11 hours. My average is around 7+ but I'm doing things differently from pretty much anyone as far as I can tell. There is no way to say for sure what any one person can get or expect. There are just so many variables.

 

[GatsbyGlen]

I recall a video from mobile tech review comparing the two.

Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Review - Laptop and Tablet Reviews by MobileTechReview

"As with the last generation of the Core M, despite the much lower wattage, we didn't see better battery life, perhaps because it spends so much time in boost mode above base clock speed. Our Core m3 unit with 4 gigs of RAM and a 128 gig SSD averaged 6.75 hours on a full charge."

That's in comparison to the i5, which was 6.5 hours.

 

[raqball]

^^ Those comparisons are pretty much useless though.

As previously stated, it depends on each person and their use. Battery life is such a wide variable it's impossible to say.

I'm getting about 9 to 9 1/2 hours from my core M....

 

[GatsbyGlen]

I think the comparison is valid in that it was an attempt to do the same thing on each model, and compare the difference. How is that not valid, or useless as you put it?

 

[raqball]

No they are a complete waste because how they use the computer will NEVER be the same as how the OP will use it... To each their own I suppose.

I guess if the OP is going to use his machine in the exact same manner, with the exact same settings and the exact same processes running then it's valid.. LOL

If it's valid then why do I get over 9 hours easy on my core M? Guess I just have a magical SP4........

 

[GatsbyGlen]

You must be a freaking genius. Sorry that I'm not. The OP's question was what's the difference between the two. I figure comparing the same load on each is a good comparison. I would say that there is no significant difference between the two models when doing the SAME tasks.

 

[raqball]

Why so rude? Just because you are dead wrong does not mean you need to resort to being nasty.

At any rate, I'll digress now as I think @leeshor already said what needed to be said..

Have a nice day.......

 

[GatsbyGlen]

No, it's you that is wrong. Good luck.

 

[Zkyevolved]

OK, here's an easier way to look at it. The SP4 M3 has a lower wattage CPU, BUT A smaller battery. So it's max drain is less than that of an i5 or i7. The i5 and i7 have larger batteries, but the cpus can drain more battery faster, and also there is a fan.

I can guarantee this. Any person with an M3 pushing it will last a lot less than a casual user with an i7 or i5. And vice versa.

Theoretically they should get the same battery life. 9 hours of video playback.