Your laptop’s battery plays a significant role in your work efficiency. If it dies or runs out, you cannot use your laptop without plugging in a power cord, which isn’t always convenient or practical as its portability is a significant feature.
This post clearly articulates whether 5 hours of battery life is suitable for a laptop. In addition, the article also elaborates on the average laptop battery’s lifespan, what affects the laptop’s battery, how you can know your laptop battery’s condition, and how you can prolong your laptop battery’s life.
Is 5 Hours of Battery Life Good for a Laptop?
The answer to this question is not the same for all. It depends on what one is planning to do on the laptop.
A laptop battery that stays charged for 2-3 hours is pretty good for some kinds of laptops, but it can be pretty low for others. In the case of older laptops, 3 to 4 hours of battery life is quite effective considering the battery is old.
Generally, a battery can last from 3 hours to 10 or more hours on a single charge. It all comes down to your laptop’s intended use. For example, some use it mainly for gaming, while others use it for studies or routine tasks. So, you can buy a laptop according to your needs. Here is a quick rundown for you:
Studies
If you are a student, then a laptop with 4 to 5 hours of the battery will be enough. You can effectively study or do programming for no more than 5 hours. Also, most workshops and online classes end up within 4-5 hours, so you will not have any difficulties.
Gaming
However, the case would be different if you use your laptop to play heavy games. When you spend most of your time on your laptop playing heavy games, you may only get 2 or 3 hours of playtime before needing to plug in the battery cord to charge it (even when you have a high-powered battery gaming laptop).
Simple Regular Tasks
On the other hand, if you want to use your laptop for simple tasks like writing an email, web browsing, and so on, you can quickly go for laptops offering 3 to 4 hours of battery life.
The age of your battery is another critical factor here to consider. If your laptop’s battery is new, it will survive much longer than a battery that is 1 to 2 years old. When you have used your laptop for a year or two, your laptop’s battery that once lasted 5 hours on a single charge will probably require charging every 2 to 3 hours.
What Factors Deteriorate the Lifespan of Your Laptop’s Battery?
Well, you can buy a laptop that provides you with a battery that seems good enough for your work, but that initial battery time can reduce eventually after some time based on many factors:
High Temperature
Your laptop battery will deteriorate faster if your laptop gets heated or is more frequently exposed to high temperatures. Also, the high exposure to heat can put all of its components under stress. So, you must avoid using the laptop at high temperatures or frequently exposing its battery to heat.
Usage
One of the significant factors that affect your laptop battery’s performance and longevity is using the laptop while it’s on charge. When you frequently use your laptop while it’s getting charged, it can permanently affect your battery. Typically, a laptop battery can only handle a certain number of charge cycles before the battery begins to deteriorate.
Not Using A Laptop For A Long Time
If you do not use your laptop for a long time (like weeks), your laptop battery’s life can drain. In such a case, what you can do to preserve your laptop battery’s timing is leave the battery only 50% charged rather than 100% charged or fully drain the battery before shutting down the laptop for a long time.
How to Know If Your Laptop’s Battery Is Failing?
If you are concerned about whether your battery is ok or failing, you have a few ways to know:
Battery Running Out Faster
If your laptop battery expires faster than it used to before, this is a clear signal that your laptop battery is starting to deteriorate.
Frequently Overheated Laptop
When your laptop frequently crashes or gets overheated, it can signal a deteriorating or overheated battery. You can use a power cable to cool it down, but that does not always work. Sometimes it even makes the laptop battery more heated.
Notification By macOS & Windows
Now, both the macOS and Windows notify the user about battery condition and if you have to replace the battery when you plug in the battery cord for charging.
How Can You Make Your Laptop’s Battery Last Longer?
You can tell by now that even the average battery life of any laptop can deteriorate with time. If your laptop battery stays charged for about 4 to 5 hours initially, it can drain to 2-3 hours or less if you would not take good care of the battery. So, here are a few points to remember if you do not want your laptop battery to reduce its timing:
- Do not overcharge your laptop; unplug the battery cord once your laptop is fully charged.
- Must use laptop cooler as heated batteries deteriorate faster.
- Reduce the brightness of your laptop’s screen.
- Simplify the workflow by closing the apps you are not using and only opening a few programs at a time.
- Decrease the duration your laptop’s screen takes to time out.
- Use only a limited number of tabs at the same time.
- If you are not using the Wi-Fi while working on your laptop, please turn the Wi-Fi off.
- Try using headphones instead of laptop speakers.
Also read:
Which type of battery is good for laptop life?
There are two types of laptop batteries: lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride (NiMH).
- Lithium-ion batteries typically last longer but are more expensive and can pose a fire hazard if they overheat.
- NiMH batteries are less expensive but may be less reliable in the long run because they lose their charge more quickly when not in use.
We should use the right type of battery to ensure that our laptop has a long life.
The most common type of battery is Lithium-ion. It is usually found in laptops. These batteries are lightweight, so they can be used in laptops that are thin and light. They also have a high energy density, so they can be used in devices with small batteries. The downside to these batteries is that they cannot withstand as many charge cycles as other types of batteries before the performance starts to decrease. But it is recommendable compared to other battery types.
Concluding Remarks
The battery life of laptops varies, and which one is good for you can only be defined by you as you know what you are intended to do on your laptop. Thereby, you can decide the hours of battery you will need. Also, how well you are treating your laptop will affect the performance of its battery.
Batteries of laptops do deteriorate over time. So, you should keep an eye on the warning signals and look after the points on how you can prolong your battery’s longevity and efficient performance.
