Surface Pro 3 battery degradation

Anonymous

I've been using Microsoft Surface Pro 3 for a year, and shortly after the warranty expired I noticed my Surface Pro 3 can only last about 1-2 hours after a full charge. At first I thought this was a problem with background process draining the battery so I disabled everything running in the background. It didn't helped. Then I found out about the powercfg utility and run powercfg /batteryreport on it, and this was the result:

A full charge capacity has degraded by over 80% in just few weeks and continue degrading. I tried to "recalibrate" the battery by doing full charge then full drain multiple times, and it didn't helped. Talk with Microsoft via chat support and they insist this was a software problem and reinstalled the driver and asked me to wait few days to see if things improve. Not only it didn't improved, but now my Surface can only last 30 minutes.

Few days after chat (today), I called Microsoft support and they were being extremely unhelpful. Insist that this was a software problem (which the chat support person already did) and it's "perfectly normal" for battery capacity to degrade. I insist that I've already done the software "fixes" and it didn't work and tell them this is definitely hardware problem, but the person on the phone tell me there's nothing I could do except to order the out of warranty exchange (which cost about $560 in my local currency).

Is there anything else I should do? My country has no Microsoft Store which I could take the machine for them to take a look. Phone/online support were the only option, and none of them could understand the issue.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous

Hello everyone,

Thanks for your continued patience here. We have now completed our testing of the update and it has passed our quality assurance process.

The update, “System Firmware Update - 8/29/2016”, is now available to install from Windows Update.

Before installing this update, ensure that your Surface Pro 3 is plugged directly in to AC power using the standard AC power adapter (do not use the Surface Docking Station), disconnect any USB devices or external monitors, and check that Windows shows a 40% charge or greater when you hover over the icon in the taskbar before you begin.

Once you install the update, please select Restart now (do not shutdown). After your Surface restarts, please manually restart it a second time to complete the process. For more information, please see our Surface Pro 3 Battery FAQ article.

If you’re having trouble charging your Surface, you get a low-battery error, or your Surface turns off when you unplug it, the steps in our Surface battery won’t charge article can help you pinpoint the problem. Should you need any further assistance, please contact us.

Thanks again.

Greg

Updated 8/29/16.

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1,459 additional answers

Anonymous

2016-08-10T16:46:09+00:00

I don't know why your review did not make it, but plenty (5 at last count) of other 1 star reviews that were posted three days back specifically addressing the battery issue, including mine, have finally been added today morning. Looks like somebody higher up the food chain stepped in.
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Anonymous

2016-08-10T16:34:36+00:00

Same problem here. A few months out of warranty and Simplo battery capacity dropped like a rock in just 2 months. Now I have 15 min battery life and dropping every day. I think in a week or two I won't even be able to turn it on with power cable.
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Anonymous

Make sure you all take a minute and go to the Microsoft store to post your review of the product and the support you've received so far on this issue.

https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en\_US/pdp/Surface-Pro-3/productID.300190600

This is what happened to my review. Apparently a review with facts does not meet their guidelines. My review can be read below, so you can determine yourself if my review deserved to be pulled, or whether Microsoft manipulate their product reviews for a positive outcome?

Known Serious Battery Issue
Microsoft are aware of a major issue with the batteries lasting just long enough to die when out of warranty and have failed to offer any fix, except pay them over $450 to get a reconditioned replacement. The batteries have a design capacity<br> of 42,157 mWh, but after a while, 100% charge can drop to as low as 144 mWh, rendering your device, completely useless as a tablet, unlikely to fully boot in a dock and will not last long if used on mains power, but with any peripherals attached to the USB<br> port. The batteries can not be replaced, as the Surface Pro has one of the worst maintenance ratings, that is effectively a status of unmaintainable, with all the internal equipment requiring the screen to be removed, that is fragile and glued in place. Check<br> out this forum post, just to see exactly what the issue you will be facing if you buy this device: http://answers.microsoft.com/

Known Serious Battery Issue

Microsoft are aware of a major issue with the batteries lasting just long enough to die when out of warranty and have failed to offer any fix, except pay them over $450 to get a reconditioned replacement. The batteries have a design capacity<br> of 42,157 mWh, but after a while, 100% charge can drop to as low as 144 mWh, rendering your device, completely useless as a tablet, unlikely to fully boot in a dock and will not last long if used on mains power, but with any peripherals attached to the USB<br> port. The batteries can not be replaced, as the Surface Pro has one of the worst maintenance ratings, that is effectively a status of unmaintainable, with all the internal equipment requiring the screen to be removed, that is fragile and glued in place. Check<br> out this forum post, just to see exactly what the issue you will be facing if you buy this device: http://answers.microsoft.com/

![](http://fud.community.services.support.microsoft.com/Fud/FileDownloadHandler.ashx?fid=e42a0a6a-b772-45cb-ae5b-51f131f6d8d4)

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Anonymous

2016-08-10T15:58:46+00:00

I'm in the same boat, my battery has been degrading over the last month...yesterday I cannot even keep the SP3 in the docking station anymore, it just shuts down. My standard power cable will keep it on but that limits my USB usage.

This is lame Microsoft!!!

And oh, by the way MS...this is my 3rd and FINAL SP!!! Great product but when you ignore your loyal customers like this, it's very poor business.
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