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

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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.

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-08-20T11:20:02+00:00

    You are talking about company laptops, but most of us spent our hard earned money on a premium product and by right expecting a Surface that just works. The concept is nice but I didn't pay nearly SGD 2K to be a beta tester. I have had the following issues:

    1.) Parts of the screen not responding to touch or pen. (Unit exchanged under warranty)

    2.) Keyboard not putting the device to sleep (got a new keyboard)

    3.) OEM Samsung SSD performance issue (a patch fixed it)

    4.) Sytem/system interrupts high CPU usage (MS says they fixed it)

    5.) Audio device isolation process CPU usage (think still happens)

    6.) Batterygate

    There may have been more these are off the top of my head. Think we have every right to be furious and should not put up with the promise of an alleged fix some time soon. MS should recall these units and sell later as refurbished. Given the price paid, I truly hope this is the last major **** up with this model.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-08-21T00:44:05+00:00

    I went to the park meadows store today to get my Simplo SP3 replaced.  They gave me a new one - LGC battery with only 15 cycles.  Good news I thought.  Well, this one is stuck at 54% battery plugged in not charging.  Won't run unless plugged in.  Dies immediately if I unplug it.  Won't boot without a power cord.  I tried 2 power cords with the same result.  This is my 3rd defective SP3.  About ready to ask for a refund to buy somebody else's product.  I'm out of patience.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-21T00:49:33+00:00

    What is the EDD on software fix? I have a $2000 device, 18 months old, with 7 minutes of battery life that MS wants $450 to replace. So this device is slaved to the wall. Disappointed and terribly unsatisfied are understatements.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-21T02:17:38+00:00

    Yea... stuck at a certain battery level (mine was something like 92% and 84%) with plugged in and not charging seems to be a precursor to this battery degradation. I didn't pay too much attention back then when it happened because when shut down it would charge to full 100% and also, I wasn't using the SP3 outside or in the filed. So when I realized that **** hit the fan it was too late.

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