Battery Life And Recharge Time
After running the Transformer Prime through our standard suite of battery tests, we decided that it's able to hold a respectable charge, ending up close to the middle standard battery tests, we decided it holds a respectable charge, falling close to the middle of the tablets we've tests. And although the device doesn't break any battery life records, we were pleased with its quick charge (0-90%) time. The break-down is as follows:
At maximum brightness, we measured just north of four hours doing some general Web browsing.
When we dial brightness down to 200 nits, creating a more controlled environment, we are able to extend battery life an additional 15%. All of Apple's tablets far exceed what we saw from the Transformer Prime in this workload.
When we turn off Wi-Fi, it immediately becomes clear just how much of an impact networking has on the Transformer Prime's longevity. We're able to get more than 10 hours of battery life from the tablet playing back H.264-encoded video, so long as the wireless radio is off. That works out particularly well for long flights with no Wi-Fi.
You're not able to game for as long on the Transformer Prime as you could on an iPad. But it's worth noting that we're using a pretty intensive game for benchmarking. A simpler title like Angry Birds should afford you a longer charge.
Recharging is where things really start looking up for the Transformer Prime. It's able to hit 90% in just two hours. A full charge takes two hours and 50 minutes.
Those are almost exactly the same results we got from the original Transformer. Both Asus tablets can achieve a decent charge over a lunch break. Compare that to Apple's new iPad, which needs to sit plugged in overnight if it's completely depleted.
