CNET labs finished their Zune 80 battery life test. The good news is the battery was tested and is a significant increase over the Zune 30. Microsoft advertises that the Zune 80 has a bettery life of 30 hours, but the CNET test resulted in a 22 hour battery life (with WIFI turned off) and 18.5 hours (WIFI turned on). The good news is this is an improvement from the Zune 30s 13 hour life, but well short of the iPod Classic 80 GB battery life of 45 hours (no WIFI capability). This test was with playing audio only so expect less battery life with video.
There are obvious reasons for a shorter battery life compared to the iPod. For one the Zune screen is much larger than the iPod classic. With a bigger screen and similar resolution you must expect a shorter battery life, especially with video (4 hours). I would also expect less room for battery as the Zune has WIFI and radio capability while the iPod does not.
If you have done a test on the Zune 80 battery please post a comment!
Turning off your Microsoft Zune properly will save precious battery life. I talked about this before, but he is a simple video. To turn off your Zune hold the left/back button and at the same push up on the navigation circle for 3 seconds or until the Zune shuts of. To turn your Zune back on push the Play Button. Thant’s it! Here is a Video of turning off your Microsoft Zune.
I have had a few e-mails about Microsoft Zune users not having a long battery life. I know when I first got my Zune player I used to turn the Zune off completely wrong. I used to hold the PLAY/PAUSE button down for a few seconds and it would turn off. Holding the PLAY/PAUSE button actually places your Zune into a hibernation mode, or stand-by. Your Zune will shut down though after 1 day of no use, but it will still use power before it shuts down. While this is great if you only plan on placing our Zune off for short durations it will consume a lot of battery life over time. To completely power down your Zune hold down the BACK and DOWN buttons for a few seconds. This will power down your Zune and save precious battery life for later. This tip is very useful if you are traveling and can’t plug in your Zune for long durations.
