Getting stuck in a situation where you are on the verge of winning a critical match and the laptop battery dies at that very moment is a big nightmare for most gamers. Moments like these make you realize the need to extend battery life and do battery optimization like no other. To ensure you never get stuck in such a situation, you have to take adequate care of your laptop’s battery. Apart from that, there are many other points to check before actually buying a gaming laptop. Read On.

Optimize Windows Power Settings

Customize the power plan for gaming laptops for better performance than the Balanced option available in desktops. When unplugged, you can get maximum performance by changing the settings.

You should navigate to the “Additional Power Settings”, where you can “Create a Power Plan” and save the custom settings under it. Create the new plan under the power saver/battery saver category. Then click on the Change Plan settings > Change Advanced Power Settings. From here change the features with a perspective of increasing battery backup when running on battery.

Minimize the time for the “Hard disk” (it’s the legacy storage device, replaced by SSDs now) to turn off, Display turns off, Sleep, Hibernate, etc. to save battery power. Pause the Windows background slideshow, and Change to “Maximum Power Settings” on battery wherever prompted.

Changing the “Maximum Processor State” under “Processor Power Management” can impact the battery considerably. So, while on the battery you can turn down the percentage of Maximum Processor State to increase battery backup. “Optimizing the video quality” over Power Setting is good for battery backup.

Adjust Screen Brightness

For an immersive gaming experience, most gaming laptops come with 144 Hz 300 NITs displays, which consume more power than typical laptop displays. While high brightness makes everything look good on screen, it is not required all the time. So, while you are not playing games, or using the device in outdoor conditions, turning down the brightness to 50% makes sense. It will seriously save a lot of battery juice if you can just develop a habit.

Turn off Unwanted Background Applications

Windows comes with lots of preinstalled apps and bloatware, which are not typically used by most users. Such applications start running at start-up and keep running in the background all the time. Disabling such apps from the Task Manager is what everyone should do first after buying a new laptop. You can also use 3rd party applications to detect such apps, and disable them or even uninstall them directly from the system. This optimization technique not only increases the battery backup of your gaming laptop, but it will improve the login/booting time as well.

Keep the Laptop Cool

Maintaining an optimal temperature for gaming laptops is a challenge, yet it’s a crucial step to take. Without proper cooling, even the best devices would start underperforming. In such a state CPU and GPU struggle more to ensure optimal performance, which in turn draws more battery than usual. Also, when a gaming laptop overheats, it forces the fans to run at full speed, which becomes noisy and draws more battery juice than normal.

To ensure the best cooling, you should clean your laptop vents regularly with a vacuum cleaner. Also make sure you run the gaming laptop in a cool room, placing it on a table, and ensure good air circulation around. Using a cooling pad can help in both maintaining the system temperature and saving battery life. If you want best-in-class cooling out of the box, then be careful at the time of opting for gaming laptops. Omen Tempest Cooling is the best solution in the market right now for enthusiast gaming laptop users.

Unplug Devices Not in Use

Gaming laptop users often use multiple accessories like gaming pads, keyboards, mice, headphones, docking stations, etc, for the best experience. But when you are not playing, keeping all these devices connected keeps drawing the power constantly. To save the battery juice for the moment you need it, it’s better to unplug them. Also, using the external gaming keyboard, and gaming mouse with the RGB lights switched off reduces battery consumption considerably.

Go For LAN Over WiFi

WiFi is the most flexible option for connectivity but draws more power than typical LAN. So, if you are playing games on battery, and if you have the option of connecting to LAN directly, you should go for it. LAN will establish a more stable network connection as compared to WiFi with a nominal usage of power. This tip might not be the right choice for everyone and every time, but it can reduce battery consumption.

Turn off Bluetooth

Bluetooth has always been known as power-intensive hardware. So, it’s better to switch to a wired gaming headset over a Bluetooth one to save power. Also, if you are not a typical Bluetooth user, then turn it off from the settings to save power.

Charge the Battery Optimally

This one varies from user to user, but it’s recommended by most experts that you should never overcharge your battery. Neither should you drain your battery completely every time. It’s good to let the battery drain once in 15 days, but not more than that. Connect the charger when the battery level is under 30% and remove it when it’s over 90%. This way the cycle of the battery is maintained properly, which extends battery life. Also, do disconnect the charger to ensure zero battery power leakage.

To ensure a long lifespan for the battery of a gaming laptop, choose a brand that features batteries with 1000+ life cycles. Omen by HP series of Gaming laptops is one brand such to consider.

Play Games with Custom Settings

Playing games in ultra settings will push the hardware to run at its peak capability, which will draw more power. For longer battery backup, you choose to switch off some of the advanced graphics features. Switching of Ray Tracing, Ambient Occlusion, Lighting Effects, and Real-time shadow will help in reducing battery consumption while having a negligible impact on the game’s visuals.

Use a Dedicated Application for Optimization

Third-party application for controlling fan speed, overclocking hardware frequencies, and other aspects is a good idea to derive the best performance out of the device. Omen Gaming Hub is a great example of such an application, which comes as pre-installed on all Omen and HP Victus Gaming laptops. With just a single click you can “under-volt” your CPU, which will reduce heat and increase battery backup noticeably. This feature can reduce the CPU core voltage without reducing the CPU performance. For most users, there is an “Intelligent Mode” which automatically analyzes and tests the computer to give a recommended value for the core voltage offset. Other features like Performance Booster, Network Booster, Max Fan Mode, etc are also helpful in increasing battery backup, and reducing heat while keeping the performance as per the standards.

Some Laptops with Great Battery Backup

To get a taste of premium gaming devices, I recommend the OMEN by HP Laptop 16-b1361TX. Powered by a 12th gen Intel Core i7 CPU, 16 GB DDR5 RAM, and RTX 3060 (6 GB GDDR6), it’s a device for enthusiast gamers. This device features a 6-cell, 83Wh Li-Ion polymer battery with a 230W AC Adapter, which ensures 8+ hours of battery backup for years.

Another device I can recommend for QHD video streamers is the OMEN by HP Laptop 17-ck1022TX. Powered by a 17.3-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) 165 Hz 3 ms display, it’s a great device for game lovers and content creators. The 12th Gen i7 CPU, RTX 3070 Ti (8 GB GDDR6), 32 GB DDR5 4800 MHz RAM, and 1 TB Gen4 NVMe SSD justify the 206,500 INR price tag. This device features the same battery as the above device with 330W AC Adapter but gives 7+ hours of battery backup due to the larger display, resolution, and the most power-intensive CPU-GPU combo.

Check out the HP online Store to browse many other premium and affordable gaming laptops.

Click here to know about HP Victus and Omen gaming laptops.