MS surface pro and power banks - what is the actual requirement

Question

With the advent of the MS USB C power adaptor I thought my portable power problems were over. It says as long as there is a minimum of 27w of 12v it will be happy.  No mention of a maximum or any other requirement and of course the standard charger is 65w so you would like to think that 27-65w is likely to be ok. I have just bought 45w of 12v courtesy of a cygnett chargeup pro 20,000 mah.  Looking at it they seemed designed for each other.  The charging light comes on for all of 3 seconds.  It really feels like I have just wasted $270 on a non solution when MS should have offered a decent solution in the first place.

Answer 1

Hello George,

We understand that you wanted to maximize the use for your Surface Pro, especially when you're on the go. However, we 

always recommend you use the Surface Connect charger that came with your Surface for faster charging.  If you use the USB-C port to charge your Surface, keep these things in mind:

• Surface devices will only charge with USB 2.0 or 3.0 compliant chargers. Chargers that provide 5 volts, 1.5 amps, or 7.5 watts can charge, but they’ll be so slow that they should only be used if there’s no other option. Low voltage USB A chargers with a USB A to USB-C cable won’t work at all.
• If the battery is drained, and the charger you’re using uses 60 watts or above, your Surface will instantly turn on when you plug it in. If you’re using a charger that uses less than 60 watts, your Surface must charge to 10% before it will turn on.

If your Surface Connect charger works fine with your machine and the behavior is only visible with the 20,000mah power bank, we recommend that you try another power bank that follows the requirement stated above.

Let us know if you need further assistance.

Thank you.