The laptop that most won my admiration is the new $800-and-up Dell XPS 13. Its battery clocked in at about 12 hours, then went to more than 18.5 hours with the help of a separate $108 power companion. What’s remarkable is that the Dell does this in a 2.6-pound form that’s cheaper, smaller and even a bit lighter than the famously svelte $1,000 13-inch MacBook Air. (Without the companion, Dell’s battery also lasted just a hair longer than the Air.)The Dell XPS 13 is the laptop to beat in 2015, at least until we see what Apple has in store when it redesigns the MacBook Air, which hasn’t changed in style since 2010.How did laptops get to two-day territory while smartphones still struggle to make one? They face different challenges. Phones waste a lot of juice connecting to cell networks and have far less space to stash batteries. But laptops have to do a lot more processor-demanding work and have larger screens.

Much of the recent improvement in laptop life can be attributed to the efficiency of the processors inside them. The latest models from Acer, Dell and Lenovo contain a new kind of processor from Intel, 5th Generation Core, that adds about 90 minutes of battery life, compared with last year’s laptops. And older models, like the current MacBook Air, contain last-generation Intel chips that still provided a massive 50% battery boost over anything from early 2013 or before.Processors have learned how to turn off more and more nonessential functions when you don’t need them. Why be ready to crunch the numbers to render 3-D imagery when all you’re doing is scanning top-10 lists of cats?And processors aren’t the only battery hogs. Displays and wireless radios drain juice, and other factors affecting battery life include the operating system, the type of storage, and, of course, the size and density of the battery.

Because we all use laptops differently, there’s no perfect battery test. Companies make claims based on tests that don’t necessarily reflect real life. That’s why their lawyers make them stick lots of asterisks on their ads.To cut through the confusion, and achieve the results I discussed above, I used a trio of tests. First, I played a never-ending loop of nature videos stored on their hard drives, simulating the movie marathon you might queue up on the world’s longest flight. Second, I ran a program (developed by the industrywide Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium) in their Web browsers to load and scroll through some of the most popular sites over and over again. Finally, I just used them in my life. (You can read more about these tests here.)

Here are the battery-life dimensions you should consider when buying a laptop in 2015:Chips: Processors have become so efficient, any road warrior will want a laptop made no earlier than June 2013, when Intel’s 4th Generation Core came out. And if you can, get one with this year’s 5th Generation Core. Intel and its laptop-building partners don’t make it easy to spot the difference—for this year’s models, the name of the processor should include "5th Generation” or read "5000-something.”New battery technology is always coming, but for gains right now, manufacturers are re-thinking how they use and install batteries.The new Apple Macbook is a great example. iFixit did a recent teardown and found the laptop is almost all battery – the hardware is squeezed onto a tiny motherboard.But more importantly, Apple boffins have built multi-layer terraced batteries that fit more into the super thin body.This smart approach actually lets them fit 35% more capacity into the laptop whilst still keeping it as slim as possible.It’s not just laptops either – smartphones from as long ago as the LG G2 have used terraced batteries to increase capacity without increasing in size.A Focus On EfficiencyRather than trying to improve battery capacity, manufacturers are working to improve your devices efficiency.New CPUs such as the Core M family from Intel use less than half the power compared to previous CPUs with similar performance.

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They also generate so little heat that further power can be saved by not needing a cooling fan.Software controls and other tweaks can also help improve how long you can keep away from the charger. From tweaking Wi-Fi settings to killing electron hungry apps, you can get more from your existing battery.For those who have gotten used to the ease of wireless charging, going back to wires and fiddly plugs is almost unthinkable.While you may have an all-day battery, the ability to grab some extra charge every time you set your phone down means you are almost always fully charged.You can even get wireless charging power banks and car holders. If your device doesn’t support charging without wires, there are various add on batteries and cases that can help out.Ikea has recently announced a line of furniture that includes built in QI wireless chargers, so you don’t even need an extra pad.

Intel is also pushing wireless charging technologies, including for your laptop.While many high end phones support wireless charging, it does need a plastic or glass back and slightly increases the weight and thickness.Still, it’s the future of charging, and you can expect wireless functionality to be included in more and more devices in the near future.Forget about batteries entirely – super capacitors offer many advantages.Of course, there are still plenty of hurdles before they will replace the battery in your phone or laptop.A recent breakthrough from a team at UCLA Berkley has produced a fasting charging, paper thin supercapacitor.Importantly, it can also match the sort of energy densities found in current batteries.The super capacitor can charge very quickly and handle 10,000 charge discharge cycles. While that may seem like overkill for your phone, knowing your battery won’t degrade as it ages will be nice.

There’s another kind of processor, called Core M, that consumes less energy but also has less processing power for demanding work. Makers tend to use it in ultra-portable laptops that weigh less, with smaller batteries that can’t last as long. Toshiba’s upcoming Core M laptop, the Portégé Z20t, is expected to get 17.4 hours of battery life. (The company couldn’t get me one to test in time for this review.) Screens: The bigger, brighter and sharper your screen, the harder your battery will have to work. If you want any laptop to last longer, crank down the brightness on the screen. I used a light meter in all my lab tests to put them on equal footing, which meant setting most of them to roughly 70%.

Resolution, too, plays a role in power performance. It’s no surprise that the Lenovo had the lowest resolution of the group, though it was passable. There has yet to be a high-resolution MacBook Air, either. The Acer I tested has a high-res touch screen—and poorer battery life.In my tests, a Dell XPS 13 with a relatively standard 1920x1080-pixel screen lasted about four hours longer than one with a Quad HD+ 3200x1800-pixel display. (I also find these higher-resolution screens maddening to use with Windows 8, which can make some apps look impossibly tiny.)Watt Hours: Every system may draw on a battery differently, but not all batteries are created equal, either. These days, battery capacity is measured in watt hours (Wh). Dell’s XPS 13 includes a 52 Wh battery, while Lenovo packs two in the X250—a 23.2 Wh internal and a 72 Wh add-on.

Batteries still have a problem with losing capacity with repeated use. I noticed a degradation even in the three weeks I tested these laptops. Laptops that let you swap in new batteries, like the Lenovo ThinkPad, make it easier to deal with the inevitable decline than those that bury the batteries deep inside, like the MacBook Air and Dell XPS 13.Design: Different theories about where to stash those batteries also impact the shape and weight of laptops. No doubt about it, the 72 Wh add-on battery gives Lenovo’s ThinkPad X250 a hefty backside—and brings the total weight to 3.6 pounds. It’s still lighter than most laptops from just a few years ago, but I could feel it tugging in my bag.

Dell gets to two-day battery territory by selling that optional power companion, a 43 Wh carry-along battery backup. Surprisingly, it was a huge success in my real-world test. I liked having it in my backpack as a security blanket for my laptop’s battery life, and as a way to charge my phone and tablet via USB. If one more thing can save me from carrying three extra chargers, I’m game.We all want our favourite devices to go longer between charges, but so far improvements have been incremental at best. Chin up though — here are 8 coming advancements that will ease life battery woes.Battery technology is constantly getting better, but the extra life is just as quickly used up by new features and faster hardware. Which leaves us with laptops, tablets and phones that still need to be charged after a heavy day’s use.

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Fortunately there are a lot of very smart people playing with a lot of cool technology so you can have an Apple Watch 2.0 that lasts more than a day.Not all the coming advancements are about increasing capacity either – there are a lot of innovative ways the power situation is going to change.Some other further away than others, but these are the technologies that will improve your next smartphone and laptop batteries.Rather than experimenting with exotic new chemistries in an attempt to build a better battery, some companies are instead improving what we already have.Backed to the tune of $15 million by Dyson (who no doubt wants longer lasting batteries for their vacuums), Sakti3 is replacing the liquid electrolyte in batteries with a solid.

The upside here is the potential for double the storage capacity in the same size battery.Other companies promise upgrades to existing tech, such as flexible batteries, or titanium oxide anodes that charge faster and last longer. New types of lithium ion batteries could also be safer than existing varieties.Researchers at Amprius think silicon is the answer, using it to replace carbon in Lithium ion batteries to potentially double existing battery capacities.Lithium Sulphur (currently in testing) also shows promise and could be easier and cheaper to produce, yet offer higher capacities.Lithium Air promises energy densities higher than petrol, thanks to using outside oxygen in the reaction. But don’t hold your breath for this tech – it’s not expected to have the kinks worked out for at least the next 10 years.

One way to ease battery anxiety is fast charging – topping your phone up in just a few minutes makes like a whole lot less stressful.New Snapdragon CPUs support Quick Charge, which (with a suitable charger) lets you regain up to 60% battery life in 30 minutes.Only a limited amount of Android phones and tablets support the feature, but expect it to make an appearance on more devices in the future.Researchers are also working on quick charge battery technology – Nanyang Technological University in Singapore is promising batteries that can charge 20x faster thanks to titanium dioxide anodes.Just don’t believe the (obviously false) rumours that you can fast charge your iPhone in a microwave.

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