M5 iPad Pro had longest battery life in ZDNET lab tests

ZDNET ran lab battery tests on nine popular tablets in Louisville and found the M5 iPad Pro lasted the longest — a little over 15 hours at maximum brightness — earning the model a ZDNET Lab Awards badge, according to the report. Testing used a dedicated PC with an NI USB-6001 DAQ, eight auxiliary inputs and in-house LabVIEW software.

Each tablet was tested 12 times: three runs each at maximum brightness/audio, minimum brightness/audio, maximum brightness/audio on Airplane Mode, and minimum brightness/audio on Airplane Mode. Screen brightness during video playback was the primary parameter measured. The only app running on each device was VLC playing a downloaded video file; tablets were tested at maximum volume for audio and video and with Networking/Bluetooth toggled to measure additional drain.

ZDNET noted that streaming over an active internet connection was not part of this set of tests and said that would be a logical next stage. The nine tablets tested included the OnePlus Pad 3, Google Pixel Tablet, Microsoft Surface Pro, Samsung Galaxy S10 Ultra, Apple iPad Pro, Apple iPad, Apple iPad Air, Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids and Amazon Fire Max 11, according to ZDNET.

Results showed the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra lasted almost 11.5 hours and the Amazon Fire Max 11 just over eight hours at maximum brightness.

m5 ipad pro, m5 ipad pro battery life, ipad pro battery test, ipad pro maximum brightness, apple ipad air, apple ipad, oneplus pad 3, oneplus pad 3 battery life, google pixel tablet, microsoft surface pro, samsung galaxy tab s10 ultra, samsung galaxy tab s10 ultra battery, amazon fire max 11, amazon fire hd 8 kids, vlc media player, video playback battery test, battery life maximum brightness, battery life minimum brightness, airplane mode battery tests, louisville lab tests, ni usb-6001 daq, labview software testing, zdnet lab awards, zdnet editor's choice, streaming battery test, standby power management, tablet battery life test