Windows 11 has received a number of useful changes that will allow laptop owners to benefit from longer battery life. However, these changes are still being tested.
Microsoft has implemented a number of mitigations in the latest preview build (27686) in the Canary Channel (the earliest testing channel).
The biggest change here is actually under the hood, and in its blog post For build 27686, Microsoft says it has made several “optimizations to improve battery life,” without going into detail about exactly what has been done.
More recently, as Tom’s Hardware spotted, Microsoft has made one more change with this build, as the company explains: “We’re starting to roll out improvements to Settings > System > Power & battery, including the ability to set your power mode for both when your PC is plugged in (and) when it’s on battery, along with a few other UI improvements to the page.”
In fact, it’s always been possible to change your power preferences depending on whether your laptop is plugged in or running on battery with Windows 11. You just had to dig deeper into the operating system’s settings to change these options.
Microsoft is now putting them in a more accessible place so Windows 11 users can see them and toggle them easily: right in the Power & battery panel.
Analysis: At the intersection of testing
It’s clear that making the settings for changing your power mode in Windows 11 much easier to see and adjust is a good thing. We can’t imagine this change won’t make it through the various testing channels and into the release version of Windows 11.
The other move here in the optimizations to extend battery life is a little different. Microsoft seems less certain about the impact here, because when the software giant asked for feedback on the change, it noted: “Let us know what you think, and if you’re not seeing the battery life on your PC that you expect, let us know through Feedback Hub.”
As we said before, the Canary channel is the first opportunity for testing and therefore the riskiest bet. This is the place for testers who want to be ahead of the curve, as the risks are greater there than with other builds.
In other words, this early work on implemented power-saving changes could go awry, and your battery life could end up being shorter instead of longer. At least until all the kinks are ironed out, anyway – and we expect they will be eventually, if there are any major wrinkles present.
Microsoft is being vague about this change, but with any luck it will help Windows 11 laptops get longer battery life. And it wouldn’t hurt to see an ability to customize power modes, making this more visible to everyday users.