In our intensive Wi-Fi browsing test, the Core i3 Envy 13 lasted just over 7 hours at 50% brightness. This is a good result, surpassing the QHD+ Dell XPS 13 from late 2015 that I recently reviewed. It still falls behind the excellent battery life of the Surface Book and non-touch Dell XPS 13, but this can be attributed to larger batteries in both devices.
When playing back a 1080p video, the Envy 13 posted typical battery life of just over 8 hours. With results like this, you can expect to watch around four or five films in one sitting, and possibly six if you’re on a long-haul flight with the brightness set below 75%. Don’t forget to play videos in Windows 10’s default player for the best battery life; using VLC results in a few hours less battery life in most situations. The Envy 13 does support HEVC decoding so you can also expect decent battery life while playing back these sorts of videos, although battery life will be reduced compared to decoding H.264.
