Tablet Battery life results

Battery life testing is one of the last evaluations we subject tablets to at CNET Labs, but by no means is it the least valued. How long you can use your tablet is nearly as important as what it is you do while using it. 

Our CNET labs testing standards ensure that all tablets, regardless of size, color, or operating system, are tested as close to equally as possible. Details on how we test tablets are included below the testing results chart. We've also thrown in each tablet's maximum luminosity for good measure.

Expect this list to be updated frequently as new tablets are tested.

To see what tablets are coming down the pike, check our current and upcoming tablets list, which gets updated every week.

Tablet name	Video battery life  (in hours)	Maximum brightness  (in cd/m2)	Resolution	Screen size  (in inches)
Acer Iconia Tab A100	6	227	1,024x600	7
Acer Iconia Tab A200	7.7	318	1,280x800	10
Acer Iconia Tab A500	7.8	377	1,280x800	10.1
Acer Iconia Tab A501	6.4	322	1,280x800	10.1
Acer Iconia Tab A510	11.6	353	1,280x800	10.1
Acer Iconia Tab A700	10	325	1,920x1,200	10.1
Amazon Kindle Fire	6.7*	424	1,024x600	7
Amazon Kindle Fire (2012)	5.4	404	1,024x600	7
Amazon Kindle Fire HD	5.3	394	1,280x800	7
Apple iPad	12.6	388	1,024x768	9.7
Apple iPad 2	14.2	432	1,024x768	9.7
Apple iPad (third generation)	11.4	455	2,048x1,536	9.7
Apple iPad (fourth generation)	13.1	na	2,048x1,536	9.7
Apple iPad Mini	12.1	na	1,024x768	7.9
Archos 70	4.7	302	800x480	7
Archos 80 G9	5.8	220	1,024x768	8
Archos 101 8GB	5.8	177	1,024x600	10.1
Archos 101 G9	5.5	247	1,280x800	10.1
Archos 101 G9 Turbo	5.5	207	1,280x800	10.1
Archos Gen10 101 XS	5.6	210	1,280x800	10.1
Asus Eee Pad Slider	7.7	323	1,280x800	10.1
Asus Eee Pad Transformer	7.3 (10.7 with keyboard)	320	1,280x800	10.1
Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime	9.6 (15.3 with keyboard)	570	1,280x800	10.1
Asus Transformer Pad TF300 (Balance mode)	8.7 (13 with keyboard)	331	1,280x800	10.1
Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 (Balance mode)	8.5 (13.9 with keyboard)	422	1,920x1,200	10.1
Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet	6.5*	307	1,024x600	7
Barnes & Noble Nook HD	7.3	455	1,440x900	7
Barnes & Noble Nook HD+	9.5	496	1,920x1,280	9
Google Nexus 7	Wi-Fi: 10.1; 3G: 9	288	1,280x800	7
Google Nexus 10	8.4	368	2,560x1,600	7
HP TouchPad	6.8	292	1,024x768	9.7
HTC Evo View 4G (Sprint)	6.9	454	1,024x600	7
HTC Flyer	6	372	1,024x600	7
HTC Jetstream	7.7	293	1,280x800	10.1
Lenovo IdeaPad A1	4	224	1,024x600	7
Lenovo IdeaPad K1	8.6	289	1,280x800	10.1
Lenovo IdeaTab A2109	9.3	304	1,280x800	9
Lenovo IdeaTab S2109	9.4	411	1,024x768	9.7
Lenovo IdeaTab S2110	10.1	437	1,280x800	9.7
Lenovo ThinkPad	7.6	425	1,280x800	10.1
Motorola Xoom	9.3	312	1,280x800	10.1
Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1	8.7	411	1,280x800	10.1
Motorola Droid Xyboard 8.2	5.3	469	1,280x800	8.2
Pantech Element	8.8	446	1,024x768	8
RIM BlackBerry PlayBook	7.6	587	1,024x600	7
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1	9.6	411	1,280x800	10.1
Samsung Galaxy Tab	7.8	364	1,024x600	7
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0	7.1	379	1,024x600	7
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 4G LTE	8.4	454	1,024x600	7
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus	7.8	214	1,024x600	7.2
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7	8.8	110	1,280x800	7.7
Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9	8.2	372	1,280x800	8.9
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1	7.5	336	1,280x800	10.1
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1	6.2	380	1,280x800	10.1
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G (Verizon)	8.4	455	1,280x800	10.1
Sony Tablet P	5.9	388	1,024x480	5.5
Sony Tablet S	6.2	393	1,280x800	9.4
Sony Xperia Tablet S	10.5	335	1,280x800	9.4
T-Mobile G-Slate	9.7	424	1,280x768	8.9
T-Mobile SpringBoard	7.3	353	1,280x800	7
Toshiba Excite 7.7	7.5	NA	1,280x800	7.7
Toshiba Excite 10	7.8	358	1,280x800	10
Toshiba Excite 10 LE	8	359	1,280x800	10.1
Toshiba Excite 13	8.8	236	1,600x900	13.3
Toshiba Thrive 10-inch	9.6	337	1,280x800	10.1

How we test tablets

We currently run two different tests to evaluate the performance of non-Windows tablets.

Battery life

We evaluate battery life by continually running a movie file on the tablet until its battery dies.

We set each tablet to Airplane mode and adjust its respective brightnesses to 150 candelas per square meter (cd/M2) or as close to that number as possible.

For the iPad, we run the iPad version of "Toy Story 3." On Android tablets, we run a 720p version of "Toy Story 3." The reason we chose 720p for Android was that not every tablet can run 1080p video just yet, and we wanted to make sure we tested Android tablets under the same methodology.

On the iPads, we ran the movie through the iPod app; for Android, we used the movie player apps mVideoPlayer or DicePlayer, as they provide a much-needed repeat video function that not all native Android movie players include.

*The times for the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet reflect continually streaming video through a wireless connection. The router was approximately five feet away with a full signal. We used Amazon Prime to stream "Amadeus" on the Amazon Kindle Fire; for the Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet we used the Netflix application to stream "Amadeus". On both tablets when the movie ended it was manually repeated due to a lack of repeat video function available.

Contrast ratio and brightness

We also tested the maximum brightness, default brightness, and contrast ratio for each tablet. We conducted these tests using the Minolta CA-210 display color analyzer. With each screen at full luminosity, we placed the sensor in the middle of the screen. We used a completely white screen to test the brightness and a completely black screen to test the black level. We then divided the maximum brightness by the maximum black level to get the contrast ratio.