When users take the specifications of an MP3 player into consideration, one very important factor most take into account is the rated battery life. However, as many are aware, the battery life stated is generally the runtime from a full charge in ideal conditions, such as when the player is left playing without any sound enhancements (EQ, bass-boost, etc.), volume set to a moderate level, all music is 128kbps MP3, backlit display goes out within a few seconds and so on. However, according to tests conducted by CNET, they found that while many players met or exceeded their claims, one feature that has a drastic affect on battery life is the infamous DRM.
When it comes to the Creative Zen Vision:M's 14-hour claim, CNET got about 16 hours of playback time with MP3s from a full charge, which was a nice surprise. However, when they tried playing WMA 10 DRM crippled subscription tracks on it, they only got just over 12 hours; a loss of almost 4 hours (~25%) of playback time due to the battery-hungry DRM. CNET found similar results with other players with WMA DRM drastically reducing battery life by up to around 20%. Apple's FairPlay DRM seems to have less of an effect with battery life being reduced by around 8% when compared with MP3 playback.
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The full article can be read here. |
When it comes to maximising battery life in a portable MP3 player, this is a clear sign that one should avoid playing DRM protected music if at all possible and also another good reason to get the music converted into a more battery-friendly format. While 2 to 4 hours may not seem a lot to some people, this can be the difference between listening to music to the end of a lengthy journey or getting left in silence a couple of hours before the journey is complete.
With the shorter battery life caused by DRM, this means that consumers have to recharge their battery more often, which in turn results in a shorter overall battery life before it needs replacement. Finally, while most MP3 players now have a rechargeable battery, for those who still use disposable AA/AAA type batteries and listen to copy-protected music, not only does DRM cut their listening time, but it also costs them more in replacing batteries, not to mention more battery waste building up in landfills (if not recycled).
Source: c|net News - MP3 Insider
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While I wouldn't be surprised to find that handling the DRM reduces battery life, it's pretty stupid to make that argument by comparing the decoding of two different codecs. I believe that OGG is harder to decode than MP3, so it would reduce the battery life. If you're going to blame it on DRM, you have to compare a WMA with DRM to a WMA of the same song without DRM and make sure both files are at the same bitrate.
If you want to look at the effect of DRM you should compare battery life on WMA10 w/o DRM to the same set of tracks in WMA10 with DRM - same goes for the apple tracks.
As AAC and WMA10 have higher compression of the music, it's likely they need more decoding power compared to MP3, which is why the battery time is reduced. I'm sure the DRM will reduce battery life a little, but not by nearly as much as is claimed here!
[edited by Seán on 16.03.2006 12:47]
Even though AAC is more sophisticated than MP3 and WMA (from what I recall), it is interesting to see that the iPod battery life is reduced by only 8% with AAC DRM compared with MP3 tracks. However, going by a review I came across where they compare MP3 playback time against WMA (where they don't mention is protected), it appears that just using WMA seriously shortens the battery life as you mentioned.
OK, realistically, how many people actually listen to 10 hours of music all at once on a trip? I mean noone makes rest stops, if they're driving? Noone gives their ears a break after a couple of hours? I used to be a heavy walkman user in my youth and I could not go more than three hours without resting my ears, although I rarely had to wait that long because my parents' bladders could not wait that long, most times.
I can't see listening to music that long even on a long plane ride. Plus, especially driving or riding in a car, you'd have the ability to re-charge the battery if not use a car lighter adapter (don't MP3 players have adapters to allow them to recharge and play through the lighter?)
[edited by Roj on 16.03.2006 14:58]
P.S. Still waiting for the first Flac player to hit the market, whatever brand it is.
Cheers.
[edited by FidelC on 16.03.2006 18:06]
