So, this is our system, which we bought about a year ago:
XPS 13 Inch 10th Gen 4K Laptop | Dell Canada
Note under performance:
Work or play longer: You'll experience incredibly long battery life —up to 19 hours, 24 minutes* on a Full HD model when using productivity applications like Word or Excel or up to 17 hours, 39 minutes* when ... Netflix. On our UHD panel, get up to 11 hours and 24 minutes* using productivity apps or up to 10 hours and 39 minutes* of Netflix ....
We were getting very poor battery life (1.5 to 2 hours), were told this was normal, but on insistence (though very reluctantly) had the battery replaced (it was defective, badly swollen).
Now we get about twice that (4 hours only if very light usage).
Technical support agents tried to tell us that the figures given were for higher end systems. Makes sense, right, better systems are more efficient and so on.
But our system wasn't all that low end...and, contrary to many assertions, there was no option to upgrade the battery...actually it is impossible to do so.
After quite a while we finally talked to an ARS (Advanced Resolution Services) agent who almost convinced us about what was going on:
Contrary to previous claims, these benchmark tests were actually done for LOWER end systems.
Read under the asterisk:
Netflix .... battery benchmark : XPS 13 tested with 10th Gen Intel Core i3-10110U, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD and FHD display. Testing conducted by Dell labs in May 2019 with display brightness set to 150 nits (40%) and wireless enabled. Based on. ... Netflix 1080p content using the Netflix Windows 10 app. Actual battery life may be significantly less than the test results and varies depending on product configuration and use, software, usage, operating conditions, power management settings and other factors. Maximum battery life will decrease with time.
Yes, out configuration...i7, 16GB RAM, 512 GB SSD...would seem to be a significant upgrade from that used for the benchmark tests.
But such a large difference??
@jphughan (who we have found to be the very best treasure trove of practical knowledge on these boards) responded to this assertion this way: " while it's true that battery life claims are performed on lower-end specs and sometimes in use cases that don't resemble real world use, 3-4 hours still seems unreasonable."
So, does anyone know how or how much variations in these specs affects battery life?
Is it reasonable that a combination as above should lower expectations 50 - 80%?
A related question is why Dell Technical Support agents all claim that battery life of 20 - 30 minutes per cell (or 2 hours for the XPS 13 4-cell) is "normal" or "average" when the ubiquitous promotions and even so many independent reviews claim and support the much higher numbers.
This is not some aberration, we have now talked to around 30 different agents in Technical Support and ARS. They all say the same thing. So, where do they get these low numbers?
Thanks in advance to anyone who can provide any information which might shine a light on all of this!
