Battery life impacts AI PC performance. Here’s how to avoid the tap

Seamless collaboration. Real-time analytics. On-device intelligence. For IT leaders, this is the potential of AI-powered PCs. It’s a tangible improvement to the way users work that won’t send cloud costs into the stratosphere.

But there’s a catch: none of that matters if your devices can’t survive a full workday away from an outlet. As employees scurry to charge their devices, their effectiveness is negatively impacted, like an electric vehicle (EV) owner with range anxiety.

For organizations with mobile employees, battery performance isn’t just a number on a spec sheet; it’s a critical concern. When evaluating devices for your next refresh, battery life must be front and center – especially for maximizing the productivity of your employees on the field.

Does battery life affect performance?

Battery life is a direct reflection on how well your AI PCs perform in real-world scenarios. When a device runs on battery, it may throttle CPU and GPU speeds to conserve energy. Processes slow down and responsiveness drops. The result? Users experience lag, frustration, and productivity loss.

SHI Field CTO Dave Gruver, Sr. Director – End User Compute Adam Reiser, and Sr. Account Executive Jim Joseph discuss the impact battery life can have on AI PC performance.

The alternative can be just as frustrating. Some PC platforms can still deliver good performance for AI workloads while on battery, but other platforms seeking to deliver performance can significantly reduce battery life. This forces employees to run for the nearest outlet, creating range anxiety that strikes fear into the hearts of so many users in the field.

The most frustrating part? During traditional benchmarking or vendor demos, you might not even know these problems exist.

Why traditional benchmarking falls short

Many procurement teams rely on benchmarks that measure devices exclusively while plugged in. These metrics ignore the reality that mobile employees don’t spend their days tethered to an outlet. Devices that score high in plugged-in tests can lose significant processing power when running on battery, especially for AI workloads. For organizations deploying AI PCs in the field, this blind spot can lead to costly mistakes, missed productivity targets, and frustrated employees.

Why should you care about AI PC battery performance?

AI processing is inherently power-hungry. When you run complex models locally, your device’s battery drains much faster than it would performing basic productivity tasks. That’s why the system’s ability to offload work from the CPU and GPU to a purpose-built neural processing unit (NPU) can make a real difference. NPUs optimize energy usage, allowing employees to benefit from advanced AI features without sacrificing battery life or security. And this isn’t just for inferencing tasks; modern software leverages the NPU to improve both the quality and efficiency of tasks such as background blur, noise isolation, and security effectiveness.

How to properly benchmark AI PC battery performance

Choosing the right AI-powered device for your workforce isn’t easy. Every team has unique requirements, and every OEM has different approaches to battery optimization. That’s where our BenchSmart tool becomes an invaluable.

BenchSmart lets organizations compare real-world device performance across multiple OEMs and chipsets, measuring not just plugged-in stats but also battery-driven results. With BenchSmart, IT leaders gain the insight needed to select devices that can truly handle your legacy and AI workloads, whether employees are at the office, at home, or on the road.

When battery life and AI performance are both mission-critical, you need data reflective of reality to ensure you make the right device selections. When you partner with us, you gain confidence that your device choices will keep teams productive and satisfied, no matter where work happens.

Don’t let device choice become a guessing game. Demand benchmarks that reflect real-world usage and lean on partners who understand how to test for what matters. With our expertise and BenchSmart’s rigorous evaluation, you’ll make smarter investments that power high-performing teams, unplugged and uninterrupted.

NEXT STEPS

Leverage BenchSmart by SHI to validate AI-powered devices in real-world settings. Contact us today to get started.