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.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

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.

0 comments

1,459 additional answers

Anonymous

2016-08-05T18:57:04+00:00

I have posted my experience with my SP3 on my Face Book page to warn friends and family about this issue. A lot of people are shopping for back to school devices now and you know how things go viral on FB. I also posted on the Microsoft Face Book page. Hopefully this will rattle their cage a little.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2016-08-05T18:56:01+00:00

So, it's now getting even worse for me. I can have my SP3 fully charged. Then I connect to my dock and begin to work. The battery slowly depletes until my Surface goes to sleep (without warning!). After sleeping for about 30 seconds, it will power back on only to go back to sleep again in a few minutes (again without warning). This morning it disconnected a Skype for Business call that I was on with a client. Not good!

Disconnecting the dock and using the standard power adapter works (without the benefit of Ethernet, more USB ports etc.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2016-08-05T18:41:15+00:00

Add me please to this growing list of unhappy consumers.

My SP3 i7 battery life is unbelievable and of course I am out of my warranty.

Don't know if the Surface is a laptop replacement or MS should advertise it as a new expensive ultra thin desktop ?!......casue I need to have the power adapter plugged in ?! Anyway, I guess I am lucky cause I read about other consumers having issues even the SP3 is connected to the power adapter.

We've paid lots a money for a product from a well know company .....but here I am with a "Toys R Us" device ..... that is getting broke after 18 months of usage....

Hope Microsoft is listening to our voices and at least they can keep us updated with where are they with fixing this "SIMPLO" battery nightmare....

Microsoft ..... is your turn to respond to us, please.......
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2016-08-05T18:38:13+00:00
Looks like Microsoft over priced this surface pro 3. Looks like they decide to go cheap on most of the components that way they can re-sell for twice or more what is worth. Now is when everything is starting to explode.
1. The pen draw jagged lines when drawing diagonal lines slowly. NO FIX. (cheap technology)
2. The wifi card is garbage. Does not connect at decent speeds. (cheap chipset)
3. The camera on the back is fixed focus, can not be use for close up pictures. (cheap camera)
4. It over heats and consumes too much battery.
5. Screens get cracked just suddenly. (cheap screen)
6. The surface bends like a banana.
7. Now this cheap battery that doesn't hold the charge. I have an Ipad 3 that i bought in 2012 when it was released and the battery still strong, and ironically I use that Ipad more than the surface.
Am I missing another issue? I would never buy a surface again and I don't recommend them.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments