Oct 20, 2006
Battery Life
by Cesar Menendez at 12:39 PM

Ok, I've got some battery life numbers to share:

Zune has a battery life of up to 13 hours, when listening to music. Oh. . . and that's with the wireless turned on. When you turn the wireless off, Zune has up to 14 hours of battery life when listening to music, and up to approximately 4 hours for video or pictures.


<Strongbad voice>And now. . . the thrilling details! </Strongbad voice>

We got to 14 hours (wireless off) based on the following conditions: a single length average album of 128 kbps ripped WMA songs, played on repeat; with the EQ (equalizer) setting set to “none”; the default volume setting (i.e. not turning volume up or down); the backlight timer set to 1 second; and with no other activity (like viewing pictures, navigating, etc.) going on.

Tags: ,
73 Comments
Comments
wow, not bad, especially with wireless on!
Nice, I thought wireless would be a batter KILLER, but it isn't. :P
A pleasant surprise!
Wow, made my choice. I'm definitley getting a Zune. It gets the same battery life as an iPod which doesn't even have wifi!
Cool. Can't wait to see the reaction from all of those iPod zealots who predicted a battery life of 3 hours.
Cesar deleted this comment. Don't knock people commenting on this site. Feel free to express your opinions about Zune, but we're nice to each other here.
wow, that was very unexpected news, zune is now an all rounder. i'm getting one. 13 hours WITH wifi on is excellent. thanks cesar for letting us know.
Oh, one other thing. You gotta watch out for the details. This battery life was measured using RIPPED wma files, not WMA files from the Zune Marketplace with DRM applied. It is a well-documented fact that playing files wrapped in DRM - which is what MS is pushing people to use via their Zune Pass subscription model - results in a significant decrease in battery life. See this for more details http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/13193 Cesar, please feel free to correct me if I've mis-interpreted your comments, but I would assume battery life to be less than what you just reported if I'm playing DRM-wrapped songs from the Zune Marketplace, true?
Thats not true. Pretty much everybody i've seen comment on Zune has said battery life in real use is closer to 4 or 5 hours. 14 hours if you have the same song on loop perhaps to ensure no HD spinning and no backlight or wireless enabled.
I'm glad you gave us details of how you got those battery life numbers. Apple, and for that matter pretty much everyone else, publishes numbers based on god-knows-what criteria - they never tell you. Certainly, based on every single real-world observation ever, the battery life the average user can expect is always much lower than the published specs. This is because virtually all manufacturers go out of the way to set conditions that maximize battery life (loop a single small MP3 that fits into the memory cache, disable backlight or set the timer very low, no interface activity, no DRM, and so on). It's simple marketing. I'm not saying I totally agree with the test conditions you chose to get that figure for Zune battery life, but I at least appreciate that you told us all about them so we can judge for ourselves.
I'm a Zune fan but can't you give us the information based on average usage of the product?
Yep, Dan. Playing music you got from Zune Marketplace will knock down the above battery life, by about 30-60 minutes.
sunny - I'm not totally sure, but my guess is that it's too hard to build a test around "average" use, as there are way too many different permutations of usage.
well, at least they don't explode
sweet nice battery life. I was afraid it would be worse.
I noticed you mentioned the "EQ was set to none" Aha! So Some EQ info. How about spilling the beans? Pre sets? How many? Custom EQ settings? Hmmm?
Cesar, I think you're being a bit sensitive re: my comments. I wasn't directing my comments to any specific individual, but simply referred to a generic group of people. No different than the reference to "iPod Zealots" in the post above. Anyway, my comment still stands. And that is that I don't think that indicating that testing battery life with wi-fi simply turned on is a good indication of the impact of using wi-fi to transfer files. I think the real reason Microsoft is implementing a severly limited wi-fi feature set is to minimize impact on battery life. If you allowed wireless access to Zune Marketplace, wi-fi streaming, etc. battery life would likely be unacceptable to most users. (Just my opinion).
EQ settings, for Rhett the audiophile ;). the EQ settings: none; acoustic; classical; electronic; hip hop; jazz; pop; rock. This release won't have custom EQ settings, but it's an interesting idea that I would personally love/need to see. and Dan, thanks for re-posting your thoughts, they're intelligent and I hope you keep posting them.
If the inference is that this is comparable to the iPod's battery life... in the interest of full disclosure, truth in advertising and the American way, one ought to include the comparison to the similarly thick 80GB iPod model. From Apple's page: Playback time (80GB model) Music playback time: Up to 20 hours when fully charged Photo slideshow with music viewing time: Up to 6 hours when fully charged Video playback time: Up to 6.5 hours when fully charged If that was not the inference, then... well... never mind.
Why would you compare the $249 Zune to the $349 ipod? Why didn't you also include the fact the Zune screen is 45% larger than the ipod screen? Seriously, compare similiar products please. Would you compare the BMW 3-Series to a S-Class Mercedes?
For those who like to compare , here are the battery specs for Apple's 30GB iPod, which is really the model that it makes sense to compare to 30GB Zune to: Playback time (30GB model) Music playback time: Up to 14 hours when fully charged Photo slideshow with music viewing time: Up to 4 hours when fully charged Video playback time: Up to 3.5 hours when fully charged So Zune essentially equates to iPod battery life, even with the wireless on. It's not clear if that means "wireless actively being used", but still... this is very positive news from Zune. Harvey http://www.zunerama.com
C, what you just did is set the example of how EVERY electronics-maker should provide details.... by telling the exact conditions in which the battery life was tested. That's totally cool with me.
I beg to differ. When designing these, one of the variables is thickness. My assumption is that the 30GB Zune tradesoff the extra screen and wireless feature for increased battery volume and the resultant extra thickness. My belief is that readers need/want to know the entire story and ought to be told it. Certainly much has been made of the wireless and screen features, without explicity noting the tradeoffs needed to incorporate those. As well, those that like to compare may also want to compare how much space the two products will take up in their pockets, coats etc. As you all recall, the pictures posted some weeks ago "comparing" the thickness of these two products did show the 30GB Zune vs. the 80GB iPod, and no mention was made of the capacity difference. The inference was that the two products were similarly sized. For 30GB versions, they are not.
The 30 GB ipod CLAIMS 14 Hours of music. This is Garbage. "For real-world use, many users report battery lives of less than 8 hours with the 30 GB video iPod. Lawsuits were brought against Apple complaining that the iPod battery charges lasted for shorter lengths of time than stated.."
The 30 GB ipod CLAIMS 14 Hours of music. This is Garbage. "For real-world use, many users report battery lives of less than 8 hours with the 30 GB video iPod. Lawsuits were brought against Apple complaining that the iPod battery charges lasted for shorter lengths of time than stated.."
I hate to be a Party Pooper...but come on everyone, snap out of it! These ARE NOT accurate numbers...these are numbers they have recieved under conditions that the device will never experiance! They are using un-DRM'ed music - which all songs from the market place will have They are not using a backlight - Which everyone relies on to navigate through their music They are not having the hard drive spin - They are playing the same album repeatedly for 14 hours which has been loaded onto the onboard memory The volume is at the default volume setting (most likely 70%) - I like to crank my music...sorry. If your interested in the actual battery life than please check out my analysis over at http://zunecorps.com/?p=49 . Once again, I don't mean to come off as harsh, but everyone needs to understand that DAPs do not get the full battery-life they promise on the box...these are optimal conditions. Unless you plan to listen to the same album for 14 hours straight, expect a lot less. -Charlie
Happy me. Thanks Cesar, its great to hear the battery life is better than expected. Even better that you gave us full details on the testing process, that shows class.
@Charlie I totally agree that these are definitely about as "Ideal" as one could possible get. That being said, If all mfgs are doing their testing under similarly "Ideal" circumstances, then it still gives some basis for comparison.
oh.. yueah... i already pre-ordered one, can't wait to play w/ it. 1 more month... itching to retire my 4g ipod. i was force to get one, cuz there's no nice mp3 player out there, finally... thanks god for microsoft. and ZUNE.
shouldnt the battery life be higher if a user has the music files in MP3 format? MP3's are easier on battery than WMA. Cesar could you clarify that for me?
There is no argument that all MP3 Players are tested using similar settings so its perfectly justified to say its a good indication of the competitive battery life of the Zune in comparison to 'other' MP3 players. Of cause I'd have preferred a longer battery life, everyone wants that, but its better than I was expecting, even if in the real world it will be a few hour down on 13 hours.
I still think the transparency (or semi-transparency) of the post is great. Whether you trust the battery life stated or have hesitations about it, you've gotta say that no other company has given so much detail on a product BEFORE it was released. And that's the cool part with me... :~)
Cesar, you make Microsoft look bad when you use unreasonable assumptions to measure battery life. You assume that people will listen to one and only one album on repeat for 14 hours. That's EXTREMELY UNREALISTIC. 1-second backlight time is UNREALISTIC too, but not as bad. Furthermore, a lot of people have MP3s and AACs hanging around. How do those impact the battery life? I'm sure you have numbers for those scenarios internally. I know at the place-where-i've-made-mobile-hardware-before we very easily measured a wide array of power scenarios on a low budget. Don't pretend that the Zune team doesn't have it--again, you make Microsoft look bad. Let's have more honesty, please.
Cesar, You seem like an honest guy, but the design of the post itself makes you look DISHONEST. The image of the Zune interrupting the MISLEADING NUMBERS and the real explanation implies that you'd rather not have people read the fine print. How does that make you any better than your run-of-the-mill PR hack? Looking at the other posts on your blog, you don't always have the image interrupting paragraphs. I hope it is only coincidental for this post. Seriously, if you had put the details about the power numbers in the first paragraph instead of highlighting IN BOLD THE MISLEADING NUMBERS, I probably wouldn't have posted either of these comments. Having read the comments and seeing that many people take the 14-hour battery life as gospel without considering the fine print led me to believe that people have been MISLED. (why all the caps? it's equivalent to the bold you're using)
@ me@somewhere.com While I do think that these numbers are misleading, Microsoft is forced to give these numbers because these are the conditions that ALL DAPs are tested under for battery life specs. Apple is just as guilty of misleading consumers... Instead of coming out with real numbers and being compared against Apple's (and everyone else's) fake numbers, Microsoft had no choice but to give specs from "optimal conditions" as well. -Charlie www.zunecorps.com
Charlie, I agree -- but Cesar should explain this. A blog from a company is an implicit promise of openness and honesty. Saying 'but the other guy is just as dishonest' is not the right way to go about things. If Microsoft wants to beat Apple, they have to be better than Apple, and that starts with honest descriptions of battery life. Anyone who says 'you can't model typical power consumption conditions' either has never developed hardware or is lying. Who would spend thousands or millions of dollars developing a battery-powered device without measuring one of the most critical parameters: power consumption? EVERY mobile device developed has a test suite modeling a 'typical' load -- I've helped design mobile hardware myself, and run load tests on reasonably priced (for a large firm) power monitoring equipment. (you can also run it on reasonably priced--for an individual--equipment, but the time 'resolution' of the data isn't as good). Microsoft has done that, and they ought to share those numbers. Otherwise, there's no reason for this blog--if I want the misleading sell-sheet statistics, I'll just hit the slick, marketing-designed website. On the other hand, if they want to do better than Apple, publish the real numbers and explain where the real numbers are derived from. Publish the fake numbers too--then explain that they're there for comparison with everyone else's fake numbers. Matt
@Charlie: Agreed, if MS had released their numbers under "normal/average" conditions, it would of brought the battery life to around 10-12, and all the major headlines of all the news sites would say Zune has 10 hour battery life while ipod 30gb has 14 hours. They would of ignored the fact that Ipod's testing conditions ( like all other mp3 players ) are under "optimal/unrealistic" conditions while the Zune's would of been tested under proper conditions. Therefore the only thing to do is take the number companies give you and minus 4 hours off of it.
You guys who are flipping out about the test being done under an unrealistic scenario need to calm down a bit. The scenario of the battery life that Cesar gave is most likely no different than any other scenario that other companies use. The only difference is that Cesar was kind enough to let us know under what circumstance they manage to get the given battery life. Matt you insist that they should give "honest descriptions of battery life." Yet how can you generalize how everyone uses their device? Especially in regards to the zune? "The Zune can play for 8.25 hours if you listen to 32 songs that are 4 minutes each at 192Kb with 4 more songs at 128Kb/s non drm, 8 song transfers 11 pictures received 14 minutes of video, 3 minutes of the backlight being left on because we cant decide what background to use etc..?" Do you really expect them to come out with a response like this? Atleast this way we have a general idea of battery life in comparison to the competing brands. I'd much prefer they use this standard than Brand A's customized battery test vs Brand B's customized battery test, where it would be a complete headache to fairly compare... Also I dont think Cesar is being dishonest in any way, quite frankly I find his post may be too honest in that he let us know the method they used to achieve those times... I find it ironic that had he never said that, you probably would never have ranted about how "dishonest" he is. By the way is Matt the same guy that posted as 'me@somewhere.com'?
Jeez some people need to chill. Who the hell listens to a DAP for 14 hours straight anyway? Even on a really long plane flight you'd need to give yourself a break. For my 45 minute trip to work it means I'd have to charge once a week. with a few hours in hand, and if I run out, hey I have a PC at work.
So Apple and other manufacturers are misleading consumers with their battery claims? Apple claims 24 hours for their iPod Nano: http://playlistmag.com/reviews/2006/09/nano2g/index.php 26 hours for the 4G, 28 for the 2G http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/ipod-2g.ars/2 24 hours, as advertised. http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=473&blogid=4 26 to 29 hours (they also found the Sansa and Creative Zen outperforming the official estimates) Feel free to write to these publications with your accusations as well-they are obviously in on the "fix".
I'd wait for third party numbers, personally.
Totoro comparing the Zune's battery life to a flash based device is pretty unfair. Just as the Video Ipod doesn't get the full 14 hours of battery life (usually in the range of about 10 hours), neither does the Zune. The Video Ipod and Zune both have components which eat up a lot more power than just listening to music uses. Maybe if they had included numbers of listening to 20 different songs of 4 minutes in length in a loop that would be a more accurate depiction of what you get, but then again you would still get people complaining about how misleading they are being because they weren’t using x bitrate and not including the use of y feature in the battery life. In regards to the battery life in those other products, they are already up in the 20+ hour range so the companies which market them feel that they will get better PR by underscoring their products without hurting their image. Also these other products which are flash based are not affected much by changing songs like a hard drive based device is, and is thus easier to test. While on the other hand you have products which are heavy power users (Video Ipod, Zune, other multimedia based pocket devices, and notebooks), and are listed on the lower end of battery life spectrum. These products don't have as much leeway, and will probably be hurt more by underscoring their battery life (ie: stating 9 hours of actual use vs 14 hours lab test use.) Anyway essentially what I’m trying to say is as a product reaches a certain threshold of battery life people stop caring about the battery life and start taking other features into consideration, but while under that threshold every minute becomes more and more important (as can be seen by the Video Ipod and Zunes given battery lives.)
Totoro, All those players you mentioned there are flash players. (As Im sure you know) You can't compair a flash player with a HD player. Moveing parts Vs non moving parts. I am a bit shocked at how many people actually find this testing method out of the ordinary. Are you all really that naive? Even C-net will test all that stuff using optimal fixed conditions. This player looks to have about an average battery life for players (including the ipod) in it's catagory. Nothing to rave about but noting to whine about either. Some things that prevent the battery from being in the top 3 for HD players; Larger screen, FM radio, WiFi, processor and feature rich OS. It would have been nice to have a removeable battery. Having it built-in makes the unit disposable and thus you will buy new units more often. Good for the corporate bottom line, bad for the consumer. I talked about this before I think most people will be playing non DRM MP3 or WMA so DRM sucking battery life won't be that much of an issue. (heres my chance to stand on the soapbox) If your buying 99 cent DRM tracks then I have no sympathy for you anyway. Thats just silly stupid on so many levels. DRM music is more disposable than the player you put it in. Go buy a CD. Also, DON'T BE A THIEF but if you insist on buying DRM music then at least google the fair rights tools and crack the DRM of your purcahsed music that you own. Civil disobediance! It's a war and this one the consumer MUST win. Doing that will help improve your battery life.
---------------------- IN CONTRAST the batt life test for the 5G iPod exceeds 14 hrs. This is based on MORE REALISTIC TESTING CONDITIONS: i.e: ----------------------- Yet another [EDIT] who can't tell the difference between a flash player and a HD player.
Actually, He meant 5th Gen I pod and not 5g ipod so I guess Im the [EDIT] The battery life for the 30 gig player is about the same as the Zune though (with wifi OFF). I have seen several other testing sites review the ipod and rate the practical life under 12 hours. It really depends how you use it. Where the new ipod improves its battery life is in video playback (not audio). And because the screen is about half the size it really isn't a fair comparison. Not to say that the Zune can't improve on the battery. Just saying that all this yelling about it is really silly. It's on par with most of the players out there (with wifi off). Where I would guess the life shrinks is when you start using the wifi. I'm not convinced anyone really cares about the wifi though. They are making a lot of noise about a pointless feature, IMHO.
@Rhett: Yeah I am more interested in the 3" screen and Zune Marketplace than I am about the wifi. Hopefully though, MS has some plan to make wifi a major component (even if it isn't obvious right now). With all this talk about it, they must have something up their sleeves to back it up...
@Rhett "Yet another [EDIT] who can't tell the difference between a flash player and a HD player." - I think it's you who can't tell the difference between the two. But you've demonstrated that you know how to swear... i'll give you that. The 5th Gen ipod, Zen V:M and Zune in some ways are both HD and Flash players in that they have a small flash based buffer (64MB for the ipod, ?MB for Zune ). This keeps the hard drive from spinning up constantly and thus conserving battery life. The problem with the times quoted for the Zune is that the 14hrs are only obtainable IF you play one 128kbps track on constant repeat, meaning that the playback data stream only ever comes from the flash buffer. This means that it does not take account of the energy requirements of the hdd spinning up. The battery life tests conducted for the iPod @ Playlist Mag in contrast does not make this assumption. The battery life quoted here accounts for the energy requirements from the spinning up of the HDD as well as updating the screen with current playing track info etc. I would like to see MS or any zune review site release such estimates, as well as the DIMENSIONS of the Zune as this is long overdue.
Hey everone, www.zunecorps.com is going to be giving away some Zune swag, so make sure to enter the contest!!! It's totally free and very simple. -Charlie
"Seriously, compare similiar products please. Would you compare the BMW 3-Series to a S-Class Mercedes?" That is true. You wouldn't compare a stylish, tasteful iPod to a F**k.. um, I mean a Zune. Would you? :) http://blog.wired.com/cultofmac/2006/10/microsofts_zune.html
Cesar, This log says "Cesar Menendez of the Zune team posits that realistically, the battery life of Zune would be pegged at about six to seven hours." Is this true, or just a misquote? http://gadgets.qj.net/Batteries-to-keep-Zune-from-making-noise-for-long-/pg/49/aid/70222
Comment deleted by Cesar. feel free to repost and take out the personal attacks.
-snicker- You guys are funny.
I don't know why all the haters here keep bashing the battery life. Do you honestly need a solid 14 hours battery life? What do you do all day? Sit around and listen to music from a portable player? I'll use Zune when I'm commuting on the subway to work, and walking around the city (total less than 3 hours a day). The large screen, radio, customizing the Zune FAR OUTWEIGH my need for a solid 14 hour battery life. These 3 are exactly what the ipod DOES NOT HAVE. The people who keep saying how "Zune Sucks" probably say that because they already spent money on an ipod. They make themselves feel better by criticizing the Zune whenever they can… In truth, they secretly go home and cry and wish they had a Zune.
I quite like the UI, and am sure that this, along with the bigger, higher res screen contribute somewhat to battery reduction when comparing directly to apples ipod.
@Me: ( not myself lol ) not to detract from what you said, but the zune has the same resolution as the ipod. unless you were referring to the fact that the zune has more colors per pixel than the ipod, in which case nevermind.
@woody, the latter :D

I seem to be getting 4 to 5 hours playing CD's that down loaded. I think this is what you should be expecting so you have no disappointment.

I played with all the different settings, etc. changing all kind of things on the zune.. going from album to album and got 12 hours! swear to you!

I can not believe people are fighting about battery life. I have a zune...and I can honestly say that I will listen to music 3 hours tops before I am bored with it. Who listens to 12 hours of music in one day? I really want to know.

I own a ZUNE and am very happy with it !

I vary playing times between charges.

On average I listen 3-5 hrs at a time for 3 days

and look at the battery indicator then I charge it up. After 4 hours of music my ears need a rest anyway

My settings are: wireless off,shuffle on,repeat off, equalizer: accoustic, brightness medium,

backlight 5 sec,TV out off,my average volume level 7-8 (higher volume settings eat more battery juice) Videos none, pictures none

I use ripped CD's on the ZUNE,I don't subscribe

to the e-music stores

I've had this device for about a month,so far

no complaints with the ZUNE,BUT the ZUNE software seems a bit clunky in operation

maybe because it's conflicting with the Windows

Media player ?

Enjoy it and consider 10 continuious hours a LONG time for a small battery.

Just got my zune this past saturday and I am getting about 4hrs 30mins of battery life and I need to charge up....

Since I work at Best Buy I have been trying out the display models, leaving the IPod and Zune on with the same settings to see which lasts longer. They are practically the same when only listening to audio. I would probably get fired if I started messing with other things =P

I bought the Zune about a week ago and I get approx. 10 hours with the volume about 12, wireless off(i dont use unless Im sharing), backlight for 5 sec, and files from the Zune Marketplace... oh and EQ was set to hip hop I believe.

This is without video or pics (well showed pics a couple times to ppl), but it is with going to the menus and such... or normal play I should say. It is with playlists though so I dont need to go through and change songs much.  

Hope this helps at all since my opinion is totally unbiased, I figure I have 30 days to trial it which I can still bring it back =P

(my IPod broke 2 months ago)

Could you add an "off" button?

Hey! i charged my zune and it was at gold, i immediately turned it off and put the lock on. Today, i just got home, and turned it on, and it's at about less than a fourth power... WHAT's GOING ON!!! please! should i return it?

I wrote a sustain and improve document for the Zune. From the doc-A few improves:  1) Battery life (duh, but at least it is comparable to similar competing products)

2)  An off switch...a real one!!??

3)  Sleep timer (go IRIVER)

4)  Mass-storage support (make it an option)

5)  Option to leave the music in the &!* folder I put it in instead of categorizing a bunch of songs into VARIOUS ARTIST or MISC

6)  Better EQ setting for base (again, IRIVER had an ULTIMATE bass setting..have a 20GB Iriver for almost 4 years now)

1)Crisp color, large screen 2) Simple and nice UI  3)Great sound 4) Did I mention great screen?   More colors per PIXEL than IPOD.  5)  Does not convert all of your songs into that ITUNES garbage...bluck.  

Personally a fan of MS products...although as big as they are...you would think they would have their stuff together a little more...Know what I mean, people?

OH ya.  Love the Zune color schemes.  Who thinks of Brown with a hint of green in the trim?  Weird at first, but I love it!  Please make more color options for the 80GB...Will give my 30GB to wife and definitely get a custom imprint on the back of my 80GB.  Way to stay innovative.

Thanks for posting my comments.  Or actually NOT posting them.

The guy who got the 14 hours must be a rep for microsoft. I have done everything they recomend to get maximum battery life and no matter what I only get 75% of advertised battery life. They have replaced it 2 times and still no better battery. They offer no resolution. Someone please start class action!!!

hey :-)

its very unconventional point of view.

Nice post.

realy good post

thank you ;)

wow :)

its very unconventional point of view.

Nice post.

realy good post

thank you ;)

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I let my new Zune 120's battery drain until the unit turned itself off. Pushed the play button and saw the red battery symbol. Charged using a wall charger overnight. The next morning the icon was green. Turned the unit off (down + back button). I thought everything would be fine, but I tried watching a movie that was only 2 hours, 4 minutes, and the battery was drained (red icon again) before the end of the movie. My battery life isn't getting close to even the most modest numbers posted here. Am I expecting too much of the Zune?

horse crap.   more like 4-5 hrs (loudest 20) with wireless on.  

LEAVE A COMMENT
 *Required
*  
 
*  
  Remember Me
1 2 3 4
Zune video goes global on Xbox LIVE

Big day for Zune and Xbox fans…and anyone else out there still trying to decide if they should get a Zune...

See All Features >



Archives
The Cool Kids
The Cool Zune Kids
RSS
©Copyright 2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.