The recent seconds display option in Windows 11 has been tied to changes in how laptops manage charge, with testing showing the device might drain a bit faster when the clock shows seconds. Reviews indicate a small yet measurable impact on power use compared with a clock that only displays minutes.
Microsoft rolled out the Windows 11 Moment 3 update, bringing a collection of refinements and new capabilities. Among the most visible changes is the option to show seconds in the system tray clock, a feature that has sparked discussion about its effect on battery life.
In a hands-on test, a Neowin reporter evaluated the feature on a single machine. The test platform was a 14-inch HP Pavilion x360 equipped with an Intel Core i3 processor and 16 GB of RAM. The laptop was fully charged to 100 percent, with network connectivity disabled via airplane mode to isolate charging behavior during the experiment.
The findings indicated that turning on seconds for the system clock led to higher power draw. On average, Windows 11 recorded a modest increase in power consumption, while a comparison with Windows 10—performed on a nearly identical setup—showed a similar pattern of slightly higher drain when the seconds feature was active. The measured delta in battery performance was small, but noticeable in the context of a tightly scoped test such as this.
The testers emphasized that the observed difference is not substantial enough to reject the seconds feature outright, and they noted that many daily-use factors influence battery life. For typical day-to-day tasks, a 2 percent difference in endurance might still be meaningful for some users, depending on their workload and usage habits.
Earlier reports from the Bleeping Computer outlet at the start of May described a separate issue affecting some Windows users. Updates intended for both 32-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11 reportedly created problems with saving and copying files, illustrating how platform updates can sometimes introduce ancillary bugs alongside feature enhancements.