Surface Pro 3 battery degradation

Anonymous
2016-05-11T07:37:37+00:00

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.

Surface | Surface Pro | Power and battery

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
2016-07-26T21:31:16+00:00

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.

Was this answer helpful?

100+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

1,459 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2016-07-25T23:27:11+00:00

    Here is the important part of the report that EVERYONE should check...  At the two arrows below show the original design capacity in mWh (milliwatt hours) and the full charge capacity in mWh. What my report shows is that is was designed to charge to 42,157 mWh but it actually has reduced itself to full charge of 144 mWh which equates to minutes after being unplugged.  Today, when I unplug, it shuts off.

    ![](http://fud.community.services.support.microsoft.com/Fud/FileDownloadHandler.ashx?fid=24899819-7ae8-495a-a800-407ea89a7d8e)

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2016-07-25T23:14:06+00:00

    OK, so this is more widespread than I could have imagined.  Today after about my tenth phone call to support since my battery started degrading 2 months after the warranty expired , I was ready to give in, but then...

    I was told by support that I would need to pay $450, I knew this from many other phone calls and was ready to give in since I use this for my business.  Then they told me I would have to send it in and wait form my new used (refurb) Surface Pro 3 somewhere between 8-10 business days after they receive it.  Now, just imagine me running my business from my iPhone (because I ditched my Windows phone about 6 months ago).

    Can anyone tell me how we can start a class action lawsuit while I order my new MacBook Pro?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2016-07-25T21:35:25+00:00

    I'll add my voice as well.  Just recently started seeing rapid discharge of battery.  I ran the battery command, and sure enough I have the simplo battery as well.  I find it unacceptable that Microsoft would charge to fix a massive battery issue they are facing.  I hope that they will rectify this shortly, as now I will not be encouraging others to purchase a Microsoft product.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2016-07-25T18:51:26+00:00

    I want to add my voice to this apparent growing problem.

    I have a surface pro 3 with the SIMPLO Batter which now shows a Full Charge Capacity of 144 mWh. 

    It is a couple months out of warranty so I'm in the same boat of many people here with a device designed for portability that is no longer fit for purpose.

    My attempts to talk to Microsoft regarding this have been met with pay-walls for service when trying to do so from home via phone or online.  Luckily I have a Microsoft store within an hour's commute to talk to their support staff at no cost.  This resulted in an offer of a replacement (in store) for a cost of $550 Canadian. I insisted on seeing the powercfg /batteryreport output of the replacement before agreeing. It also had a SIMPLO batter installed and with only a 90 day warranty on that device with no opportunity to extend the warranty, this was an offer to replace a known defective device with a known defective device.

    The blank looks or silence when mentioning that this is a much talked about, discussed and apparently a widely spread issue, are very disappointing.

    I was planning on purchasing a second device for my wife to use because she likes it so much.  Given the way Microsoft has dealt with what appears to be a ticking time-bomb of faulty hardware that only happens to become evident after the warranty expires, I can't justify spending another cent on Microsoft hardware.

    I also can't recommend to my employers any surface devices for their mobile computing... though I expect they treat their business customers a little better than regular consumers.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments