What laptop manufactuers have battery software to control battery charge, besides Dell?

DaRuSsIaMaN

[H]ard|Gawd
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This is what I can do on my Dell Latitude E5450:


battery manger.png



(It's mostly the stop charging threshold that I care about.) Are there other laptop manufacturers that provide similar battery control? I kind of just assumed that premium laptops would have features like this, but apparently that's not the case. This is important for prolonging the long-term battery capacity.
 
The only company I ever knew of that supported such control was IBM with their ThinkPads when Lenovo took over and created the Power Manager application. I had no idea any other manufacturer had ever done that too, if Dell is doing it now that's actually quite awesome of them. Keeping a Li-Ion cell at roughly no more than 80% charge (typically 40-80% is the area to work in but you can go less than 40% now and again) can extend the overall lifespan (as measured in years and not a per-charge basis measured in hours) by a considerable margin - I use 85% with my smartphones (as measured by AccuBattery which alerts me at the 85% point so I can disconnect, it does not automagically stop the charging in progress, sadly).

It's a very useful feature for a laptop for sure, especially if you do use it in mobile off-the-charger situations and can really help increase that overall lifespan. If Dell is doing it these days on some Latitudes and Precision laptops, I'd bet HP is probably doing it as well for their Elitebook/Probook/etc lines of business class hardware as well but I can't vouch for that aspect. Could be something some other manufacturers are doing as well on their premium high end hardware (Alienware, but that's still Dell, Razer, MSI, etc).
 
Could be something some other manufacturers are doing as well on their premium high end hardware (Alienware, but that's still Dell, Razer, MSI, etc).

I can confirm that the high end MSI gaming laptop I just got does NOT have this feature (gs65 thin-050). Slightly second guessing if I should return it lol, but will probably keep it. Anyway, I just talked to my work colleague about this, and his HP Spectre x360, 13", 2017 version, does NOT have such a control either.

Could I expect any high end Lenovo product to have this? Or only the ThinkPad line?? I have a cheap Yoga Book, and it certainly doesn't have that, and it barely has any Lenovo utilities or software at all -- pretty much just basic/barebones drivers to get it to work with Windows and nothing beyond that.
 
If I had to guess on the Lenovo situation, I would guess that it's unique to the ThinkPad line, yes. I had a Yoga 15 2n1 convertible a few months ago and that machine did have that capability - it was enabled and put into action by the Lenovo Vantage application on Windows 10 which is installed from the Windows Market/Store/whatever they call it now. Inside that app you'll find power management settings that allow you to set the lower/higher charge limits.

The screenshots there don't show it but under the Hardware Settings tile it'll offer those options, but they must be enabled as they are disabled by default. I can't say if the Yoga Book offers that depending on what OS you have on it - with Windows 7 that feature is under the Power Manager options (installed from Lenovo's support site, search for the drivers for your machine and go from there, and you have to enable the Advanced options then dig for the settings to do the adjustments). On Windows 8/8.1 I think they still used the Power Manager application but there's a possibility there's some Windows app (one of the Metro style apps) you'd install.

But for Windows 10, they deprecated the older Power Manager application - that's what provides you with that big ass green battery icon in the System Tray so familiar with ThinkPad laptops over the years - and now do everything through that Lenovo Vantage app (note the difference between "app" and application when I'm referring to these tools, the Power Manager is a full application installed with a traditional .exe, the Vantage app can only be installed through the Windows Store for Windows 10 and maybe 8/8.1, can't say for sure).

Anyway, as I said, I had a Yoga 15 a few months ago (with a Kaby Lake processor in it) and I can't stand Windows 10 so it was an interesting experience to get Windows 7 installed and functional on it. The only issue I encountered was that I could never get the full multitouch support working meaning it would never detect more than 1 finger touching the screen but that was enough for me as I didn't really use it as a tablet much at all. It was fast, it was a Kaby Lake device, and I got it at a pawn shop for $200 out the door which I thought was a great price at the time and I still do. Sold it for $250 a month later so I made some profit, kinda wish I still had it but that's how it goes. :)

I can't say you'll have much luck with the Yoga Book but I would think those power management capabilities exist in at least that line as well based on my personal experience of having owned a Yoga but it remains to be seen I suppose. If you're interested in getting a new laptop from Lenovo, I can only recommend ThinkPads in the T/W/X series personally, just as I'd only recommend Dell Latitude and Precision laptops along with HP Elitebooks and Probooks. I simply never ever EVER recommend consumer grade hardware and yes I know that flies in the face of me buying that Yoga 15 but it was $200 in great shape, Kaby Lake, and I'm not stupid 'cause I knew I could flip it for a profit fast and I eventually did. :D
 
My new Gigabyte Aero15x doesn't have it either (as far as I can tell). All of my past dell lappies (Alienwares and XPSs) did. It's funny I never even thought about this until you brought it up just now.
 
My new Gigabyte Aero15x doesn't have it either (as far as I can tell).

Dang, I was heavily considering that one, too. That's a shame. But at least the Aero has a substantially longer battery life to begin with, so even after it inevitably degrades you still get pretty good usage time out of it. Ugh, I need to stop second guessing my decision and just enjoy the new toy, but with my perfectionist personality I keep agonizing over everything.
 
Wait, are you sure that this part of the software doesn't do the thing we're talking about?? What does the Battery Charging Policy do, then? From the title, it sounds like it would deal with exactly this...


smart manager.jpg
 
The Lenovo Ideapads, you can charge to EITHER 60 or 100%

The Lenovo Thinkpads, you can customize in 5% increments.
 
This is what I can do on my Dell Latitude E5450:


View attachment 127909


(It's mostly the stop charging threshold that I care about.) Are there other laptop manufacturers that provide similar battery control? I kind of just assumed that premium laptops would have features like this, but apparently that's not the case. This is important for prolonging the long-term battery capacity.

I have a recent MSI model, and it's got a dedicated Battery program(made by MSi), in which you can calibrate, set charging options, & set Power output mode.

I don't think other laptops will have more settings, than this one when it comes to battery options & settings. It's beefy.
 
Edit:

Oh I see the option under lenovo vantage software :)

Of course it's a thinkpad so i could always replace the battery anyways.

Is there really much advantage to starting charging around 30% I figure it won't matter if you set it higher like 70% After all it's a laptop and you do want to have a charged battery.
 
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My advice is that you regularly use it on battery like daily or even every few days then 80% max is recommended because that's been proven by SCIENCE!!! to show that it does indeed allow the overall lifespan of the battery (measured in years) will be longer. If however you really keep it plugged in the vast majority of the time and only occasionally use it on battery I'd say charge it to 85-90% so it's got a charge if you do decide to go mobile with it.

As for the low end, the recommended low end is typically about 40% but again it depends on the usage patterns of the individual laptop in question. 30% isn't going to hurt it that much more (perhaps a minor percentage in terms of lifespan wear) so, 30-40% as the low end to kick the charging into action seems reasonable.
 
My advice is that you regularly use it on battery like daily or even every few days then 80% max is recommended because that's been proven by SCIENCE!!! to show that it does indeed allow the overall lifespan of the battery (measured in years) will be longer. If however you really keep it plugged in the vast majority of the time and only occasionally use it on battery I'd say charge it to 85-90% so it's got a charge if you do decide to go mobile with it.

As for the low end, the recommended low end is typically about 40% but again it depends on the usage patterns of the individual laptop in question. 30% isn't going to hurt it that much more (perhaps a minor percentage in terms of lifespan wear) so, 30-40% as the low end to kick the charging into action seems reasonable.
I would care more if it was mac or dinner such laptop that is differently to change a consumable. batteries after consumables after all so anything that closely integrates them also use a consumable. I do wish I should tell my phone to stop at 90% though.

80% isn't going to be enough juice on my x1 extreme.
 
My advice is that you regularly use it on battery like daily or even every few days then 80% max is recommended because that's been proven by SCIENCE!!! to show that it does indeed allow the overall lifespan of the battery (measured in years) will be longer. If however you really keep it plugged in the vast majority of the time and only occasionally use it on battery I'd say charge it to 85-90% so it's got a charge if you do decide to go mobile with it.

As for the low end, the recommended low end is typically about 40% but again it depends on the usage patterns of the individual laptop in question. 30% isn't going to hurt it that much more (perhaps a minor percentage in terms of lifespan wear) so, 30-40% as the low end to kick the charging into action seems reasonable.
I'm thinking to go with 60 / 85. I go about 30-80 with my car, but the battery is allot bigger :)
 
Huawei has one. I've got mine set to run the battery lifetime optimized mode, charging only when it reaches less than 40%, and only charge to 70%.

I'd like to see more options like that. I mostly use mine at my desk, so the few times I plan on using it away from an outlet I can just set my laptop up for a full charge and let it just work its way back down.
 
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