Surface shutting down without warning when battery low.

Question

When the battery gets low on my Surface, it will shut off without warning. I'd really prefer a clear warning at least a minute or two before that happens, so I can plug into power or have it hibernate,

Note, this is NOT a battery management concern, this is a shutdown behaviour concern.

I've been through the settings for low and critical battery shutdown, and the reserve battery level. They are poorly documented as to what exactly they do and how they interact. But changing them doesn't seem to help anyway.

Is there anywhere they are properly documented? And are there recommended settings to avoid these abrupt, surprise shutdowns?

Answer 1

Thanks Palcouk.

I did wonder whether going into hibernation might draw more power than the battery could able to provide if it is already low, but that would depend on how the low battery threshold is set.

The alternatives would be immediate shutdown or going to sleep, and sleep mode still draws a little bit of power. I'd prefer sleeping to abruptly turning off with no warning.

The battery health is fine, BTW. I get pretty much the full expected run time I have always gotten since it was new.

Really, my biggest concern is the lack of warning. A decent warning would let me handle it, by plugging in or whatever.

Answer 2

If the battery is low the last thing you should do is Hibernate.

You set the battery warning level under power options. It has been said that if the battery health is low/poor then the warnings dont work