Battery Test:

3G/Wifi Model
Mobile Data (3G) ON (but is probably over-riden by...
Wifi ON (connected to home network) -- this means I was getting notifications/etc the whole time, all on
Brightness MAX
Headphones, volume at 50%

Full to Death: 4:29
Warning notice came on at 4:11

Movie Battery Test:

Wifi Model Vita
Wifi OFF/ON (connected to home network) -- 4 hours OFF when at work, but at home it was ON.
Bluetooth ON
Brightness MAX
Near Auto-Updating: I didn't even check because I use WiFi model of Vita.
Headphones, volume at 100%

Time was spent: Played a constant loop of Man from Nowhere. (Ripped the movie and compressed it to 320x240. Found out better software too late. Bitrate was 828kbps if anyone is interested.)

Full to Death: 7:41

Both above are from Gaf, so a thanks goes to them for taking the time do the tests. I will update this post with a best case scenario battery life test when one has been done as well.

also found this vid http://andriasang.com/comzfm/battery_test/ but I personally wouldn't bet too much on it but take a look for those who are interested

>4 hrs. Thats pretty reasonable. How long does it take when you access online features i.e. social media, street pass - those sort of things?

be nice to see results without headphones being used but the systems speakers

I doubt it will be making a big difference compared to this. but i have read that several users are doing tests under various settings so we will have more info soon.

236 views and so few replies :D guess since its not bad news can't expect for more

Better than expected :) But maybe my expectations are too low...

Compared to the psp 3000 how do these results fare? I found the psp 3000 to be particularly bad with battery life, especially while gaming...might have just been a very old psp or a warn out battery. I had it for a few weeks, took it with me to uni and my biggest issue was the feeling of not wanting to play it because i was scared i was gonna drain the battery (which is against the whole point of having a portable!). I hope the psv doesnt have such issues.

Based on those results though, id say 4.30 hours is respectable (if it was spent gaming).

With regards to the clip you have linked in the OP i dont think you should include that in the OP, its clearly not a true representation of things. Theres no way in hell a 3DS lasts only 2.30 hours. Even if it does, theres nothing to suggest that clip is credible so i dont see why its posted, its just gonna cause some sort of fanboy war in here -_-

I am just wondering how the movie mode last more than 3 hours longer (even with not being on WiFi for 4 hours while at work). I suppose I am used to Netflix draining the 3DS battery since it has to stream also.  I am also not too sure about posting that link in the op considering my 3DS has never died anywhere near 2 hours even with WiFi and everything else maxed.

Well these are some good numbers but not too useful.

What I want is the max settings gameplay time full volume, probably around 3 hours, and a min settings gameplay test with no volume, wi fi, and lowest brightness, hopefully greater than 7 hours.

With those two numbers you can compare to other systems much more objectively.

I'm fine with those numbers. I was bracing myself for worse.