Lenovo IdeaPad S940 FHD vs. 4K UHD display: What's the difference in battery life?

Lenovo IdeaPad S940 FHD vs. 4K UHD display: What's the difference in battery life?

Best answer: The Lenovo IdeaPad S940's FHD 1080p screen will last you around 7-8 hours of use, while the 4K UHD option will reduce the battery life to about 5 hours.Configure your own: Lenovo IdeaPad S940 (From 1,400 at Amazon)

Why does the 4K display have worse battery life?

The main reason that the 4K UHD display option for the Lenovo IdeaPad S940 consumes battery faster than the standard FHD one does is because there are four times as many pixels in the display, which means that the laptop's processor and graphics card has to do four times the amount of calculations during use. This significantly increases the load on your system, which in turn drains more power.

In addition to this, the fact that the 4K display is 500 nits bright is also a factor, as the FHD one is only 400 nits bright and thus doesn't demand as much juice from the battery.

Which display should you choose?

IdeaPad S940

IdeaPad S940 (Image credit: Windows Central)

When it comes to choosing between the two different displays available for the Lenovo IdeaPad S940, the most important thing for you to think about will be whether or not a much better-looking screen is worth losing 2-3 hours of use before you need to charge the laptop. The 4K display looks crisp and gorgeous, but the trade-off is that you lose time that could be spent working or browsing the web.

Overall, if your online activities primarily consist of viewing or editing visual media like video or images, then you should choose the 4K display, as everything will look incredible. However, if you're someone that mostly sticks to text-based activities such as writing articles, taking notes in class, or viewing wordy websites, you would be better off with the FHD screen, as the benefits of 4K will be wasted. As such, you may as well choose the option that gives you better longevity.

Brendan Lowry

Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he's been an avid fan since childhood. You'll find him doing reviews, editorials, and general coverage on everything Xbox and PC. Follow him on Twitter.