Battery drain issue

Question

Hi all,

I just got a Surface Pro 7 and became a part of Surface community.

I have a quick question. How long does your Surface Pro 7 battery last?

I saw several posts and comments on the battery drain issue, but I'd like to know whether the battery problem is only to a specific model (i5 or i7), or just seen in some devices.

Because I feel my Surface Pro barely works for 4~5 hours (Wifi with google docs, or simple work, etc.) not up to 10.5 hours. On the ads, it clearly says 'All-day battery life' & up to 10.5 hours of typical device usage. I tried some recommendations from other posts, but so far no luck here. 

So, I'd like to know whether you have a similar problem or successfully managed the problem.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Yup, same problem here. They are all doing it. I tried all the suggestions and it doesn't matter. The machine is very powerful, for what it is, but the battery cannot keep up. I am only getting about 4 hours. I have to keep an external power bank or the charger handy every day.

Also, if Microsoft claims 10 hour battery life then it should get 7-10 hours out of the box no problem without any tweaks. Very misleading. I love the experience of the device but the battery life is like a thorn every time I am getting work done.

Answer 2

I am getting 7.5 to 8 hours of battery life.  Doesn't matter if I am just watching YouTube videos, or doing work using Microsoft Office apps.  Also, my Surface Pro 7 (i5, 8 ram, 128 ssd) was not new, it was an open-box excellent condition purchase from Best Buy.  Anyway, here are some of the things I did to increase my Surface Pro's battery life:

1. Made sure all background apps are always turned off.
2. Use Microsoft Edge Carney browser (Google Chrome is a big drain on the battery).
3. Unless I am using it, I always have the Edge Carney browser closed. 
4. I keep screen brightness at around 50%-60%.

5. Battery saver mode is activated as soon as the battery's charge goes below 100%.

6. Applied some of the tips from this webpage, "Ultimate Tips to Max Out Microsoft Surface Battery Life" (https://surfacetip.com/)

7. Instilled this driver/firmware update,  SurfacePro7_Win10_(https://www.microsoft.)
8. Most importantly, uninstalled this driver/firmware update, SurfacePro7_Win10_this driver/firmware update increased my battery's life by around 2 hours. 

Hope these things work as well for you as they did for me...

Here is my response in another thread: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/all/microsoft-surface-pro-7-battery-life/1ec34164-e79a-4645-9fc0-a2cc97ee47e8 

This seems like a great patch solution for people that are a bit techie & savvy. I have not tried this myself and will look into the firmware piece, as I really believe that this is a software issue as people have received replacement units and still have the horrible battery life. This is why I have not sent for a replacement as I have no other issues with the hardware and reset the OS twice to make sure the setup is ok.

Between points 1,3,4 &5, these are not normal things one should have to do to extend battery life. On number 2, indeed Google Chrome is a hog on battery (depending on how it is setup ie: extensions, adblockers, 3rd parties Add-ons/EXT,etc). There is the new MS Edge Chromium, which has the same issues in my opinion. The regular MS Edge browser was not so bad, but not a fan for me or others out there. There are other choices/options in this regard anyway.

Number 6, I had done most of what the suggestions are mentioned, installed BatteryBar, create a new PowerPlan, Cortana for me is completely off (i just don't use it at all). As for the rest, it mentions to turn off practically everything... It is unacceptable to have to do all this to reach a proper & respectable battery life. What is the point to have a tablet where most of the options needs to be off to work...ridiculous!

Unfortunately, this is not the right or permanent solution. Microsoft needs to fix the issue at the core, either software or hardware. The latter will obviously not happen due tot he way of the design. But nevertheless, if they claim they had 10.5 hours in the lab, there is no reason that we should not get a respectable 6/7 hours minimum out of the box!

I truly believe this is a software (Firmware) issue as I mentioned in my previous post above.

My new work tablet, Lenovo, gave me 6.5 hours with absolutely not tweaks (confirmed with IT dept.) and cost $500 less!! WTH!!. I would play movies, surf, work, etc....and get great battery life. (the company replaced all the surface tablets (that was the only tablets we had) because of the battery life issue). good way to lose business customers hey MS? 

MS keeps putting their head in the sand and ignoring the issue altogether as we have not seen any significant fixes for this issue in years, meaning all other Surface have had battery issues (big & small).

Microsoft, you need to fix it! Plain & Simple!!

Answer 3

I am getting 7.5 to 8 hours of battery life.  Doesn't matter if I am just watching YouTube videos, or doing work using Microsoft Office apps.  Also, my Surface Pro 7 (i5, 8 ram, 128 ssd) was not new, it was an open-box excellent condition purchase from Best Buy.  Anyway, here are some of the things I did to increase my Surface Pro's battery life:

1. Made sure all background apps are always turned off.
2. Use Microsoft Edge Carney browser (Google Chrome is a big drain on the battery).
3. Unless I am using it, I always have the Edge Carney browser closed. 
4. I keep screen brightness at around 50%-60%.

5. Battery saver mode is activated as soon as the battery's charge goes below 100%.

6. Applied some of the tips from this webpage, "Ultimate Tips to Max Out Microsoft Surface Battery Life" (https://surfacetip.com/)

7. Instilled this driver/firmware update,  SurfacePro7_Win10_(https://www.microsoft.)
8. Most importantly, uninstalled this driver/firmware update, SurfacePro7_Win10_this driver/firmware update increased my battery's life by around 2 hours. 

Hope these things work as well for you as they did for me...

Update 7/14/2020:  After instilling the Windows 10 2004 update my battery life has dropped to 6 hours and 30 minutes of continuous YouTube viewing (50% brightness, battery saver and Wifi on, Bluetooth off).

Answer 4

>Because I feel my Surface Pro barely works for 4~5 hours (Wifi with google docs, or simple work, etc.) not up to 10.5 hours

>

I have seen so many reports like this..

https://mspoweruser.com/surface-pro-7-poor-battery/

Answer 5

Hi hyeyum,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Community.

Correct, Surface Pro 7 has up to 10.5 hours of video playback for its battery life. For the battery drain issue, this could just be happening on some but I would like to confirm if you have done these steps already. If not yet, please try these steps to troubleshoot the device:

1: Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit and check Windows Update

2: Update drivers and firmware

                               Check what is the current OS Build of your Windows version by going to Settings > System > About.

                               Go to Download driver and firmware for Surface, choose Surface Pro 7 then click Download on the next page.

                               Choose the .msi file that matches your current OS Build and click Next.

                               After downloading, run and install the .msi then Restart.

3: Check Startup Programs

                              Open Task Manager

                              Click the Startup tab on top

                              Please check what are the applications or programs running upon Startup, if you see apps not needed upon startup, try to disable them.

If this answer your question, we highly encourage you to inform our Community by clicking on Yes or marking my post as an answer. This will help other members who may have the same issue as you. Otherwise, don't hesitate to update us so we can further assist you.

Kind Regards,

Marrion Y.