The iPad can squeeze more time out of its battery than its Android counterparts, a new tablet battery life study performed by Which shows. Apple’s 2013 iPad Air came on top both when it comes to continuous Internet use, but also when it comes to continuous video playback, beating its brethren and other rivals by solid margins.
In the web browsing test performed over Wi-Fi and 3G if available, the iPad Air lasted for 658 minutes, with the Retina iPad mini (614 minutes) and iPad 2 (590 minutes) completing the top 3. The most efficient Android device at Internet use was the Tesco Hudl. In the video use test, the iPad Air lasted for 777 minutes, with two Android devices following in second and third position, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 (714 minutes) and the 2013 Nexus 7 (669 minutes), respectively.
“With the iPad Air, Apple has clearly been able to strike the right balance between design and battery life,” Which wrote. “It’s only 7.5 mm thin and yet still manages to offer a 8820mAh battery that works well in conjunction with iOS 7.”
The tests were performed in similar conditions for all devices, with screen brightness set at 200 nits. Interestingly, Windows tablets were included in the tests. In a similar tablet comparison, the publication found the Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 edition) to be superior to the iPad Air when it comes to speed.
The following image shows the results for all the tablets Which used in its tablet battery tests.