The Edge and Firefox browsers will automatically adapt to the high-contrast theme. Pick High Contrast #1, #2 or Black (the white high-contrast mode won't help). Go to Settings > Appearance and Personalization > Change the Theme

These themes are meant to help make it easier for you to see the display, but this is a nice benefit on the side. They use black pixels, with white and yellow text, which is far more energy-efficient than bright white background. They're not pretty, but Windows 10's high-contrast themes can save some energy. You can usually turn off backlighting by hitting the Function (FN) key and pressing a backlight key on the top row of your keyboard (some computers may not require you to hit the function key).

If you're a touch typist and you're sitting in a dark room, you'll have no problem turning off the backlight function, and you'll reap some benefits in terms of battery life. Check out our top picks for the best 802.11ac routers.īacklit keyboards look nice, but they are huge battery sucks. It's a quick way to increase your internet speeds as well as your battery life. Connecting to a 5-GHz connection rather than an older, 2.4-GHz connection can save your laptop's battery life, since 802.11ac networks use less power. We run the Laptop Mag Battery Test on an 802.11ac Wi-Fi network. In addition, because an SSD lacks moving parts, it is faster and longer lasting. More and more laptops are coming with SSDs by default, but those with a traditional HDD can be easily upgraded.

Desktop mode battery charge