Surface 2 - Poor battery life

[Tewy]

Hello - I have had my Surface 2 for a couple of weeks and overall am very impressed. I have one issue, this being poor battery life, typically draining by 20% per hour which seems poor to me

I have the screen turned down to around 30%, Bluetooth turned off and close all of the apps after using them. I have a 32gb micro sd card within with many photos etc - could this be an issue?

Other than this I am impressed but find the current battery life very limiting when compared to my iPad. Was there a recent update that seems to have worsened the battery life? This is my second unit as I returned the original due to a 'bruised' area on the screen, that unit had similar battery life also so it seems the norm for this unit?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[kundas1]

have you done all important updates? that might be impacting your battery, when I first got my S2 it had awesome battery, then after 8.1 update my battery went down hill but now after all the newer updates my battery got better again and my tablet lasts 2 days without charging and that's with heavy usage off and on... secondly you might have to condition your battery since you just got it so I would suggest draining the battery all the way and then fully charging it... do this for 3 charging cycles... then you will see your battery lasting longer... last but no least you have to realize how your using the S2 because it makes a difference how fast your battery drains, when I use Netflix the combination of wifi plus watching a movie drains the battery fast... that's normal

 

[Tewy]

Thanks for the reply, regarding updates - I have my unit set to update automatically so assume all is up to date. When I first got it (about two weeks ago) it performed many updates over the first few days etc and checking last night it seems I am up to date currently.

I have drained my battery at least once to below 10% and re-charged, it seems I may have to do this a few more times in an attempt to calibrate/condition based on what you are saying.

I appreciate if I'm using wifi and watching movies etc it will drain faster but my current usage figures are based on just browsing and email activities (using Outlook) so am still surpised to see this kind of drain.

I will drain the battery for 3 consecutive cycles and see how it goes. Thanks for the input.

 

[jnjroach]

Re-enable Bluetooth and you see your battery life improve significantly. This way the Surface 2 Connected Standby is configured it needs to be able to control the radios.

 

[kristalsoldier]

Re-enable Bluetooth and you see your battery life improve significantly. This way the Surface 2 Connected Standby is configured it needs to be able to control the radios.

Even though you (and others) have mentioned this many times here and elsewhere, this is very counter-intuitive! Not surprising that many new users will not be familiar with this. Btw, will the same principle apply for the SP3 given that it has the Connected Standby feature?

 

[jnjroach]

It would, as it is using the updated Marvell Wireless Card as the Surface 2....

 

[Tewy]

I typically fully close down my unit after each usage so can't magine the Connected Standby aspect is relevant?
I may be mis-understanding.

 

[jnjroach]

Connected Standby Systems have a very different Power Management Scheme, the system is using resources attempting to manage the radios but it can't so it actually stop attempting to go into Connected Standby (it enters usually with 2 minutes of non-use), as stated it is counter-intuitive but trust us who have been using these systems since 2012, enabling Bluetooth will significantly improve your battery life...

 

[kundas1]

I typically fully close down my unit after each usage so can't magine the Connected Standby aspect is relevant?
I may be mis-understanding.

Well YOU'RE the only person I know who fully closes their Surface which i find counter intuitive to using a tablet, it's made to have quick access and instant on... turning it off/on all the time sounds like a PITA... LOL

 

[Tewy]

I have now turned my bluetooth back on - initial signs aren't encouraging. 33 minutes of use over lunch resulted in a 11% drain so we shall see.
It is a shame I have gone past my 14 day exchange period (Staples) as I would return my SF2 and purchase an Asus T100.
Quite frankly, having less than 5 hours of free use is a deal breaker to me so am pretty dis-appointed, I will try and run down the battery a few more times and see if this helps.
I wanted to use the SF2 mainly for work related items and continue with my iPad for less involved stuff so is not working out.
Appreciate the assistance given so far.

 

[Tewy]

For those that may be interested - I have re-enabled Bluetooth, run down the battery twice and it has made no difference whatsoever.
Battery drain is typically 20% per hour when just browsing and using email with screen at around 30%.
As stated previously this is extremely disappointing to me when compared to stated figures.
I have become quite disenchanted with the SF2, it seems I am clock watching almost from the point following charging.
Overall a good machine but based on my experience is flawed by this issue.
If only I had properly monitored the usage within the first 14 days, I would then be over $600 better off and be in a position to buy something more suitable.

 

[jnjroach]

Something isn't right, are you using Adaptive Brightness or have you turned it off and set your brightness at 30%? I've used the Surface 2 since October and I get 8-14 hours of battery, if I'm using Miracast and streaming video I might only get 7 hours. I would do a full reset...