The UL Procyon Battery Life Benchmark produces a score measured in hours and minutes. Each battery life scenario produces its own score. Combine scores from different scenarios to create a battery life profile.

The Windows version includes an additional 'MP' mode for cross-platform comparison between Windows and macOS devices. This MP mode does not include the Outlook scenario and is the only mode supporting comparison between Windows and macOS devices. 

The battery must be at least 80% charged before you can start a battery life benchmark. We recommend starting the test with a fully charged battery. The benchmark will run until the system goes into hibernation or shuts down. After the test is complete, reconnect the charging cable, restart the computer, open the Procyon app and then go to the Results screen to see the battery life result.

Recommended baseline settings.

For the most reliable and comparable results, we recommend you start with the computer at factory settings and a fully charged battery. 

  • If the device is new, or the battery hasn’t been discharged for a while, follow the manufacturer’s advice to calibrate and condition the battery.

Windows

  • Set DPI scaling to 100% 
  • Disable WiFi / Bluetooth / Cellular 
  • Disable Screen Saver and Monitor Timeout 
  • Set the screen brightness level to 200 cd/m2 
  • Unplug any peripherals that consume power (e.g. external keyboards, mice or USB storage devices) 
  • Power mode set to balanced (or default OEM setting).

macOS (Multi-platform Battery Life Benchmark only)

  • Calibrate the screen brightness to 200nits 
  • Auto adjust brightness - off (on by default) 
  • Color preset - default 
  • Refresh rate – Pro motion / Out of the box default 
  • Dim Display on battery - Off (on by default) 
  • Low power - Never (Automatic on pro model)  
  • True tone - off (on by default) 
Luminance is occasionally expressed in Nits. A Nit is a non-SI name used for units of luminance and is equivalent to the luminance SI unit cd/m2 (i.e. 1 nit = 1 cd/m2.)

Screen brightness settings

Screen brightness can have a significant effect on battery life. To produce comparable results, you should calibrate your device to the same screen brightness for each test if screen brightness is not your testing variable. For devices using standard backlit LCD displays, we recommend setting the screen brightness level to 200 cd/m2. For devices using other types of display technologies, please refer to the manufacturer's recommendations.

Please note that different devices may offer different levels of maximum brightness. Different screens may offer different levels of brightness at any specific brightness setting. E.g. the 50% brightness setting on one device may not be equal in luminance to the 50% setting on another device.

Recommended testing process

  1. Reboot the system.
  2. Plug in the power cable.
  3. Wait until the system battery is fully charged.
  4. Open the UL Procyon application and start a Battery Life Benchmark. 
  5. Unplug the power cable when prompted. 
  6. The benchmark will run until the battery is depleted for the Windows score, or until the device hits 3% for the MP mode. 
  7. After the system has switched off, plug in the power cable and turn the system back on. 
  8. If Procyon is still running, it will complete the test and present the result. If Procyon is no longer running due to the system shutting down, start the application manually. Procyon will then recover the files saved during the benchmark run and present the result on the Results screen.
UL Procyon benchmarks use real applications whenever possible. Updates to those applications can affect your benchmark score. When comparing two or more systems, be sure to use the same version of each application on every system you test.