Benchmarks: Power Draw and Battery Life
Battery life arguably isn't one of the most important elements of a large, 17.3in gaming laptop, but 215 minutes is still a disappointing return.
To gauge longevity we loop a 720p video clip with all wireless radios disabled and screen brightness set to 50 per cent, and the GT72S succumbs to sleep in just over three-and-a-half hours. Battery life is a weak point, though there is a potential workaround in the form of the GPU toggle switch.
Hit the key and, after a reboot, the laptop will alternate between the Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M and the CPU's integrated Intel HD 530 graphics. We'd prefer a seamless, on-the-fly switching mechanism that selects a GPU based on usage (i.e. Nvidia Optimus), but with the GT72 MSI seems inclined to give gamers full control. Out of curiosity, we re-ran the battery life test in IGP-only mode and managed to keep looping the same video clip for a more respectable 315 minutes - representing nearly a 50 per cent increase.
