RIM: PlayBook Battery Life Will Be Just FineRIM: PlayBook Battery Life Will Be Just Fine

Research In Motion's PlayBook tablet goes on sale later this quarter. The company is wooing developers, forging relationships with wireless network operators and prepping its distribution channel to sell it. There are still plenty of unknowns about the PlayBook, including just how good its battery life will be.

The Apple iPad has set a pretty high benchmark as far as battery life is concerned. The iPad's lithium-polymer battery gives it about 10 hours of use over Wi-Fi, and 9 hours of use over 3G. After using the iPad for nine months, there's no question that its battery life is superb. I rarely have to charge it more than once per week (and I use it every day).

RIM is targeting the enterprise with the PlayBook, which means the device had better be able to make it through a standard work day, right?

Senior Product Manager Ryan Bidan said that the PlayBook will have a 5300mAh battery inside. "We’ll have good battery life," he said. "Don’t worry about the battery life." By way of comparison, most of today's smartphones ship with batteries that are about 1500mAh.

When pressed to see if that means the PlayBook will last an 8-hour work day, Bidan confirmed, "That is the case -- our goal is to get a full day."

RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis is a known freak when it comes to BlackBerry devices' battery life. There's no way he'd let the PlayBook ship with sub-par battery life.