Stay energetic

Use the information in this section to achieve the best balance between performance and power efficiency.

Rechargeable battery pack

Your computer includes a built-in, rechargeable battery pack that makes mobile computing a reality. When the computer is plugged into an electrical outlet, the battery charges. If you use the computer when you don't have access to an electrical outlet, the battery discharges to supply electricity that the computer system requires for operation.

You can charge the battery any time you want. The battery packs of Lenovo computers support multiple charging modes that are suitable for different power usage habits. You can switch the battery’s active charging mode in Lenovo Vantage or Lenovo PC Manager.

Battery charging is also affected by its temperature. The recommended temperature range for charging the battery is between 10°C (50°F) and 35°C (95°F).

Normal mode

Normal mode is the most basic charging mode. In normal mode, it typically takes 2 to 4 hours for the battery to charge from 0% to 100%.

Rapid charge mode

If you want the battery to be charged faster than in normal mode, switch the battery charging to rapid charge mode. The following table lists the estimated time needed for batteries in rapid charge mode to be charged to 80% and 100% respectively.

Table: Estimated charge time for batteries in rapid charge mode

The estimated charge time assumes that the battery is charged while the PC is in sleep, hibernation, or powered-off state.

Conservation mode

If your computer is constantly plugged into an electrical outlet, consider switching the battery charging to conservation mode. In conservation mode, the battery will not be fully charged. Instead, the battery’s charge will be kept within 75%–80%. This is beneficial to the long-term health of the battery.

If you want the battery to be fully charged before bringing the computer to work, disable conservation mode by switching the battery charging to normal or rapid charge mode.

Overnight charge optimization

Some people follow a regular pattern when using their computers. They finish their workday with the computer at a low battery charge level. They plug in their computers at night and need the battery to be fully charged the next morning so they can unplug the computer and bring it to work. These activities happen at approximately the same time each day. If this sounds like you, consider enabling overnight charge optimization for the battery.

Overnight charge optimization affects battery charging during the night hours, the time when you’re usually asleep. When it is enabled, the computer regularly adapts its charging behavior based on observation of when you plug in the computer at night and unplug it in the morning. During the nighttime, the battery is charged to a particular range and is kept within that range for an extended period, before being further charged to 100%. Overnight charge optimization ensures safe charging during the night and is beneficial to the long-term health of the battery.

If the battery pack of your computer supports overnight charge optimization, it can be enabled in Lenovo Vantage or Lenovo PC Manager.

Recover full battery capacity

If your computer is constantly plugged in to an electrical outlet and the battery rarely discharges, the battery may not be charged to its full capacity even if the battery meter reports 100% charge. You can recover the battery’s full charging potential simply by discharging and re-charging the battery.

Set power button behavior

By default, pressing the power button puts the computer to sleep mode. However, you can change the power button behavior in Windows Control Panel.

A power plan

A power plan is a collection of power-saving settings made available by an operating system. With a power plan, you can set idle time-outs for different hardware components to enter a low-power state. The default power plan and some of its idle time-out settings are listed below for computer models pre-installed with Windows.

The listed settings are active when the computer is connected to an electrical outlet. If your computer include a built-in battery pack, a different collection of time-out settings is set to take effect when the computer is operating on battery power.

• Default power plan: Balanced
• Turn off the display: after 5 minutes
• Put the computer to sleep: after 5 minutes

To wake the computer from the sleep state, press the power button or any key on the keyboard.

Change or customize a power plan

This operation is applicable to computers with pre-installed Windows.

System operation modes

Lenovo has preset several modes in which your computer can operate. The maximum attainable performance, power consumption, and speed limit for the heat sink fan vary between the operation modes. Consider the following conditions when you want to switch operation modes.

• The environment where you use your computer, and
• The tasks running on your computer

You can switch the operation mode in the pre-installed app Lenovo Vantage or Lenovo PC Manager. As a shortcut, you can also use the key combination Fn + Q. Three modes are usually available for most Lenovo computers. The following table lists the operation modes and the recommended conditions for each mode.

The operation modes listed in the table are descriptive and may not be the same as those displayed by the app.

Table: Operation modes and their recommended usage conditions

In Auto (Balanced) mode, the computer dynamically switches between High Performance mode and Power Saving (Quiet) mode depending on the tasks running on the computer.