iPad Air Battery Life Bests Other Tablets - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iPad Air Battery Life Bests Other Tablets

by

Apple’s iPad Air outperforms competing tablets by a significant margin when it comes to battery life, according to a new test conducted by Which? Test Lab, a consumer test organization in the United Kingdom.

In a battery usage test that covered both Internet and video use, the iPad Air bested both the iPad 2 and the Retina iPad Mini, as well as tablets from competing companies like Amazon, Google, and Samsung.

Tablet Battery Life
With the Internet (web browsing) test, the iPad Air saw 658 minutes of battery life, or nearly 11 hours. The Retina iPad mini came in second place with 614 minutes of battery life, while the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 lasted just 483 minutes and 481 minutes (eight hours), respectively. Apple’s iPad 2 also performed well, lasting 590 minutes.

In the video test, the iPad Air lasted quite a bit longer than its competitors at 777 minutes (almost 13 hours). The Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 and the Nexus 7 from Google came in second and third, at 714 minutes and 669 minutes, respectively. The Retina iPad mini and the iPad 2 fared decently at 660 and 604 minutes, respectively, while the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 came in dead last with 465 minutes of battery life (7.75 hours).

For the tests, Which? set all of the tablets at a brightness of 200 nits (what it calls a reasonable daytime brightness level) and checked battery life while web browsing over wi-fi (with 3G enabled) and during video playback. The tests may not be entirely reflective of real world usage given variations in browsing and video watching habits, but the experiment does give a clear overall view of the battery life of the iPad Air compared to its competitors.

Top Rated Comments

the8thark Avatar
164 months ago


No more words are needed.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tankmaze Avatar
164 months ago
Its the only tablet to buy. Enough said.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adnbek Avatar
164 months ago
Almost all of those compared are 7 inch tablets or so?
Highly unfair (fanboy?) test. A 10" tablet versus 7-8 mostly tablets. Should've been iPad mini retina for this, and the Air versus 10" android/windows tablets.
In case you two didn't notice, the iPad Mini, and other 10" and 9" inch tablets also figured in those charts.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lincolntran Avatar
164 months ago
And if it was the ipad mini versus 7-8 tablets it also wouldn't take the top prize..

Really? Do you seriously believe that? iOS7 is freakishly optimized like you wouldn't believe while android is freakishly unoptimized.

On another note, I do like we browsing on my mini retina and I only need to charge it once a month.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
164 months ago
The performance optimization in iOS7 is nuts! This really just shows how far ahead iOS7 is past Android when you compare similar sized devices. It will be interesting to see the battery life of the iPhone once they go with the larger size allowing a similar sized battery as its Android counterparts.

Also looking forward to seeing what iOS7 can do for battery life in something like a watch. Interesting times ahead that's for sure.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
164 months ago
If you can't afford an iPad...

...go with a Tesco Hudl. Obviously.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro: Pre-Orders and Release Date

Thursday August 20, 2026 8:00 am PDT by
Apple has yet to reveal when the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra will be announced and released, but the dates usually follow a familiar pattern. As usual, the iPhone event is expected to take place in the first half of September. Labor Day falls on September 7 this year. The last time the holiday was on that day was in 2020, but the iPhone event that year was delayed until October due to...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Gurman: iPhone Ultra Wows Early Testers, Except for Its Camera

Sunday August 23, 2026 11:19 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone Ultra is winning over the few people who have had hands-on time with the device, though the camera setup may leave some users wanting, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says people who have used the device – which is reportedly referred to internally as the iPhone Ultra – like how it fits in your...
macOS 27 next to MacBook Pro Running macOS 27

macOS Golden Gate Marks the End of an Era

Thursday August 20, 2026 2:19 pm PDT by
macOS 27 Golden Gate is not compatible with any Macs with Intel processors, marking the end of an era. The update, which is currently in beta ahead of a release later this year, is limited to Apple silicon Macs with an M1 chip or newer. Last year, Apple said that macOS 26 Tahoe would be the final macOS release compatible with Intel-based Macs, so this was an expected development. Intel...