For ZDNET’s inaugural Lab Award, we tested the latest tablets from Apple, Samsung, and more to find out which one ranked highest for endurance.
When buying a tablet, you’ll typically consider its primary use case (entertainment, drawing, work, etc.), price point, display size, operating system, and more.
Other tablets that impressed us in our testing included the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, the base-model iPad, and the Google Pixel Tablet, with performance data shown below.How we tested the tablets
In our Louisville-based lab, we tested each tablet using a dedicated PC with an NI USB-6001 DAQ, eight auxiliary inputs with adapters, and in-house LabVIEW software that analyzed audio outputs as voltage signals.
We tested each tablet’s battery life a total of 12 times: three times with maximum brightness/audio, three times with minimum brightness/audio, three times with maximum brightness/audio on Airplane Mode, and three times on minimum brightness/audio on Airplane Mode.
We chose to measure screen brightness during video playback as the main parameter to test since it is one of the most impactful settings on a device when it comes to how battery life is affected. We also tested with Networking/Bluetooth on/off to measure the additional battery drain that regular communication via these connections can cause.
However, since the test video was downloaded to the devices under test, this had only a small impact on the results. Testing battery drain during a stream with an active, in-use internet connection would be a logical next stage in future testing.
