Stretching the Zune's battery life to 14 hours

Here at Engadget, we're all about squeezing every last drop of functionality from our gadgetry, and to be honest, Microsoft's Zune needs all the constringing it can get. While we've heard reports stating the average Zunehead could expect 12 hours of battery life when simply spinning through tunes, and 3.5 hours while watching their favorite YouTube masterpieces, new (unconfirmed) talebearing suggests that users can realize 14 hours of continuous audio playback should they follow a few (rather stringent) rules. There can be no activation of wireless functions, no skipping over tracks, and no usage of the built-in equalizer; additionally, the tunes must be ripped as 128kbps WMA files and repeated into perpetuity. Oh, and we almost forgot -- the backlight timer must be set to "one second," and no "other activities" such as viewing photos or scrolling through playlists are allowed either. While we suppose these carefully implemented listening guidelines can stretch the Zune's theoretical battery life to match that of its primary competitor, we'd probably recommend looking elsewhere if you're not down with daily recharges.

[Kev50027 @ Oct 21st 2006 2:20AM]

Why is this a post? I can stretch my laptop's battery life to 20 days if I put it in standby mode! Woohoo!!

[Billy @ Oct 21st 2006 2:25AM]

Anyone who's anal enough to follow all that, just to add 2 hours (16.6%) of battery life, is insane. Like 12 hours is really that bad anyways... unless you're on a trip away from your computer for more than a day at a time on a regular basis (and admit it, you aren't), then it's a non-issue. :P

[Chris @ Oct 21st 2006 1:31PM]

I have to agree there. I'm not a big fan of the zune (with the exception of when I'm at work I use a Mac predominantly) but I really don't see the Zune's battery life as a big issue.

All things equal, I'd love for devices to have super long batteries, but I realize that all things are not equal. Battery life currently equates to a trade-off in size, and I'm willing to accept that trade-off. The number of times my iPod Nano's battery has died before I've had a chance to recharge it is almost none (I can think of one or two times I've been at the airport all day when by the end of the night it's died).

So that being said, while I have no intention of buying a Zune (I've spent entirely too much money on the iTunes Music Store over the past couple years), I'm glad it seems like a good product. Competition is healthy, and Apple could certainly use some.

[kevin @ Oct 22nd 2006 12:32AM]

12 hours is bad if you have to encode your music a 128kbs! I don't generally use WMA, so I don't know exactly what it's audio characteristics are, but if I assume that it's just as good as M4A, then you must encode at 192kbs to get 20hz-20khz. If it managed to match Ogg Vorbis, then it'd have to be 160kbs to get 20hz-20khz.

128kbs is fine if you steal your music or if you dumb enough to buy lossy audio online, but for those who actually care about sound, 128kbs is entirely inadequate. Add to that that some of those restrictions are unrealistic (no changing the playlist, no skipping a song, no scrolling? Puhleeze!).

I'm pulling for MS to be competitive, though I'd rather see a more open player (one that doesn't limit online purchases to the company store) prevail (it won't happen, if for no other reason than the rest of the manufacturers don't understand that they have to market the products (including advertising) to gain significant market share. Witness the late great Rio who arguably had the best player around (yes better than the iPod), but never advertised. Creative isn't much better. Apples marketing is nothing short of fantastic.

[M @ Oct 21st 2006 2:25AM]

I would expect most companies do all they can do to maximize the duration of the battery when they are determining the battery life. How do we know the iPod is any different? I think anytime battery info is listed the parameters for the test should be included like it was with the Zune.

But I still believe this test is bogus, most people do not listen to the same song on loob for 14 hrs without doing anything else with the player.

[frabgod @ Oct 21st 2006 2:29AM]

To be fair, I'm sure that other manufacturer's, including iPod, use optimal conditions when testing their battery life. Apple is careful to state "up to" xx hours on their specs page, and actual battery usage in the real world is much lower.
Microsoft is also doing that, and to their credit is detailing the conditions they used when testing the maximum battery life.
As the carmakers say, your actual mileage may vary.

- Harvey
http:/www.zunerama.com

[z @ Oct 21st 2006 11:34AM]

I don't think the 'serious' companies, I mean the ones with a serious image, put the test through optimal conditions. They wouldn't want people to start believing they are trying to bluff them, this would be the worst thing to do for their reputation. They however probably add a tiny bit to the real tested autonomy of the batteries to make it sound a tad more interesting.

[mike @ Oct 21st 2006 2:35AM]

well its more of a video player anyways, and it gets 3.5 hrs of vids instead of 2 of ipods so thats cool

[Vilppi @ Oct 21st 2006 3:03AM]

Except the 30GB iPod gets up to 3.5 hours of video playback and the 80GB up to 6.5 hours.

[Will @ Oct 21st 2006 3:11AM]

Teehee. My B153 gets up to 153 hours of playback under optimal conditions, 145 or so if you want to be realistic.

[Julian Bond @ Oct 21st 2006 3:19AM]

If the battery is easily swappable, perhaps this is moot. And if you can charge via the USB port (or by hacking a USB to power connector) there's usually ways of building or buying an external battery pack. Anyway. How often do you play the PMP for 12 hours straight without being near a charging point?

[Will @ Oct 21st 2006 3:30AM]

Why is this worthy of a comment, Mike Allen?

[Henry @ Oct 21st 2006 3:44AM]

Oooh! That was a zinger!

[markus_competitions @ Oct 21st 2006 7:44AM]

Nothing says "Dork" like a Zune no matter how much Microsoft is pushing it ...

[George @ Oct 21st 2006 7:48AM]

Dear engadget,

Please show us you have some ethics and stop advertising this silly 3rd grade Microsoft product, no matter how many money you are getting from advertising, sponsorship, etc. There are far better iPod competitors out there and they are not from this mafia based company.

Microsoft brought to some of us one of the worst experiences using a operating system. Don't let them screw the DAP industry too.

[z @ Oct 21st 2006 11:41AM]

Took the word out of the mouth of many of us. ;)

[t .piper @ Oct 21st 2006 8:03AM]

oooh this post is getting violent let me get some popcorn and a soda

[tekdroid @ Oct 21st 2006 9:31AM]

sensationalism
(as much as I dislike Microsoftie)

Zune Wi-Fi quasi-"sharing"? That's the QUESTION on everyone's lips.
What were they thinking?

WMA? WTF?

Sorry, random outburst. But more valid than this one. Better watch it, or I'll go into my embedded battery rant.

[Colin @ Oct 21st 2006 10:04AM]

Quote: we'd probably recommend looking elsewhere if you're not down with daily recharges.

WTF. Are you telling me that the average user will listen to 12 hours of music every day! Glad I'm below average then.

[Remo Williams @ Oct 21st 2006 10:45AM]

I dig the honesty that they gave in their tests of the longest battery life. 14 hours for audio and 4 hours for video is great. I also read that the case is a smooth rubber feel and that you can't stop stroking it...lol. Only a few weeks away!

[Ron @ Oct 21st 2006 11:11AM]

More iPod fan-crap, trying to defend a product that waits for products to force them to release new features. This article is displaying poorly researched information, and biased conclusions, selective descriptions, and a know-it-all disposition.

Don't waste people's time with these crap articles. Also, don't review and draw conclusions on an unreleased product. It's ridiculous, foolish, and unprofessional.

And to the kid comparing it to the battery life of an 80gb iPod... I don't want 80gigs.... and I def don't wanna blow extra money on hd space if all I want is battery life. That's a stupid comparison.

[Konstantino @ Oct 21st 2006 2:23PM]

I'd suggest changing the "its primary competitor" link. The http in it doesn't have the collon before the double slash.

[Chris @ Oct 21st 2006 4:09PM]

Actually, Apple has moved towards advertising average battery life instead of best case. Read some reviews. Here's one example:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Apple_iPod_fifth_generation_update_80GB_black/4505-6490_7-32069546.html

"In unofficial testing, the 80GB version was able to play back a wide-screen iTunes movie (with brightness at default) more than three times, and very close to 6.5 hours. That's pretty impressive."

I have a 5.5G iPod and my battery life in normal use seems right up there with Apple's advertised values.

[NicleT @ Oct 21st 2006 5:12PM]

SensaZunalism!!

[treetrunk @ Oct 22nd 2006 4:27AM]

This is just completely wrong. As has been pointed out, this is absolutely no different to the iPod or any other product. OF COURSE battery life will be quoted as the maximum attainable, and OF COURSE this will be under certain conditions.

Apple's specs for the iPod say the battery life is "UP TO" 14 hours, and THEIR OWN HELP PAGE ON IPOD BATTERIES (http://www.apple.com/batteries/ipods.html) states that in order to maximise batter life you must turn off the backlight, turn off EQ, not skip tracks, and play only small 128kbps mp3/aac files. Additionally, it states that Apple's battery life tests are carried out with "songs played continuously through a playlist without interruption, with backlight and equalizer off".

Save for the wireless functionality which doesn't exist on the iPod, these conditions are EXACTLY the same those you're taking issue with for the Zune. There's no difference, at all. Your piss-taking of the conditions and conclusion to "look elsewhere" are entirely unfounded, and portray the iPod as superior where it is not. Please correct the article.

[Andy @ Oct 21st 2006 9:07AM]

Exactly what I was going to say. These are the same conditions they get the advertised battery life for iPods for. So what's the big deal?

[Blake @ Oct 22nd 2006 9:32AM]

So, if you want to get 14 hours on your zune, you have to lower its functionality to that of a old walkman tape player?

I loled

Hard.

[Kutanks @ Oct 22nd 2006 4:31PM]

Mike- What are you talking about, my ipod gets 6 hours of video playback

12 hours isn't that bad, the 3rd gen ipod and the iPod mini maxed out at 8 hours and people still bought those. no one actually listens to their portable music player for 12 hours anyway

[Nikki @ Feb 7th 2007 10:01AM]

I understand I am a bit late at typing anything under this topic but I did want to post my opinion. I am a current owner of a Zune and am greatly disappointed with this Microsoft product. I have turned off all of the wireless functions and changed the backlight time. Still, even with those changes, the battery life honestly sucks. It has only lasted about five hours before dying. Personally, I am not one that is willing to sit around and wait day after day for the thing to charge.

I am considering switching to another product. Preferrably one that doesn't require so many alterations in order for the battery life to be anywhere NEAR average.