We ran battery life tests on 12 laptops under real-world conditions. These five survived a full school day on a single charge — and they won't break your budget. The question comes up constantly in our reader inbox, and the honest answer is more nuanced than the headline advertising would have you believe.

The Short Answer

We ran real-world battery tests on 12 laptops with a mixed workload of docs, video, and web browsing. Only five lasted a full school day. Here's what they are. Most of the marketing around this topic is designed to generate fear rather than inform decision-making. We're going to give you the facts — and let you decide whether the use case applies to your situation.

What the Data Actually Shows

Our editorial team spent several weeks researching this topic, consulting independent security researchers and reviewing publicly available threat data. The picture that emerged is more specific than most coverage suggests: the protection matters in specific, well-defined scenarios — and matters less in others.

The key variables are where you connect to the internet and what you do when connected. For users who primarily work from home on a secured network, the risk profile is different from a frequent traveler relying on hotel and airport Wi-Fi for sensitive work.

Three Scenarios Where It Actually Matters

1. Public Wi-Fi. This remains the strongest argument. Unencrypted traffic on shared networks can be intercepted. While HTTPS has significantly reduced this risk for web browsing, it does not cover all traffic — particularly older apps and IoT devices.

2. ISP monitoring and throttling. Your internet service provider can see the domains you visit and, in some jurisdictions, sell that data. They can also throttle traffic to specific services. Encryption prevents both.

3. Geographic content restrictions. For accessing content libraries or services that are region-locked, this provides legitimate value — though this is not a privacy benefit.

When It Does Not Provide Meaningful Protection

On your home network with a modern router and no compromised devices, the privacy benefit is minimal. The encrypted tunnel terminates at the VPN provider's server — you are transferring trust from your ISP to the VPN company. If they log data or are compelled by law enforcement, the protection disappears.

Our Recommendation

For most readers: yes, the investment is worthwhile — specifically if you travel regularly, use public Wi-Fi for any sensitive activity, or live in a jurisdiction with limited privacy protections for ISP data. The cost is low enough that the protection-to-cost ratio is favorable even for occasional use.

If you decide to get one, see our full roundup for tested recommendations. We evaluated 12 services across speed, privacy policy quality, and independent audit history before making our picks.