There’s something wrong about the latest Chromebooks: battery life. Cr-48, Google’s prototype hardware, had a 63Wh battery that provided more than 8 hours per charge. Samsung’s first Chromebook had a similar battery that provided “up to 8.5 hours of continuous use”.
For some reason, a few months after introducing the Series 5 Chromebook, Samsung switched to a different battery: 41Wh and only 6.5 hours of use. The updated Series 5 Chromebook, which uses a Celeron processor, has a battery with a larger capacity: 51Wh, but the same battery life. Samsung’s latest Chromebook, which uses a Cortex A15 chip, has a 30Wh battery and the same battery life because the ARM chip is more efficient.
What about the latest offerings from Acer, Lenovo and HP?
– Acer C7: 37Wh, 2.5Ah, 3.5 hours battery life
– HP Pavilion: 35Wh, 2.55Ah, 4.25 hours battery life
– Lenovo X131e: 6.5 hours battery life.
It’s not clear why the latest Chromebooks no longer have a great battery life, but the new batteries are obviously cheaper and lighter. Google’s Chromebook features page no longer mentions the word “battery”, even if this was one of the main selling points for the first Chromebooks.