I have been spending a lot of time working remotely with my laptop in random locations. And usually just plug my mouse in via the USB dongle. But just curious if there is a noticeable battery difference doing this? Seems like Bluetooth would be better because it’s already powering other things anyway.
Edit: seems like it’s Bluetooth. Going to have to change my habits. Thanks all.
I’m not sure of the answer, but I feel like other commenters are just guessing.
My reason for doubting the dongle is that Bluetooth is designed to be ultra-low-power. We’re talking in the low milliwatts range.
I don’t know how much power a 2.4gHz dongle uses, but I would be surprised if it was less than Bluetooth. However, in terms of laptop battery life, it’s probably not significant enough to really matter. It’s not like either one will cut your batteey life down a noticeable amount.