8.1 Pro and RT: Battery life changes?

[someoneinwa]

I installed Windows 8.1 on my Surface Pro and 8.1 RT on my Surface RT. There are several differences I've noted in how that process went. First I gave the RT a 10 minute head start on the download and install and the Pro still beat it by nearly another 10 minutes. No big deal there. After the install, I had the same problem that several others have reported here that some of my apps on the RT did not install correctly and showed error messages on the live tiles. Some would try to install on their own after each restart, but none were successful. I did a refresh of the RT and this did not change the situation; many apps still indicated errors and some but not all were listed in the Store as having failed to download. Finally, I did a full remove and reinstall. I knew doing this wouldn't remove 8.1 and return me to 8.0 but this process worked and all of my apps were there, properly installed and ready to go. Not one error indicator. I did not have anything similar installing 8.1 on the Surface Pro except that the new 8.1 apps- Sound Recorder, Calculator, Movie Moments and Reading List needed to be uninstalled and then manually reinstalled after the update before they showed on the Start Screen without error indicators. The bit of fussing required with the Pro wasn't an issue for me as this is Beta software after all, but I thought the hassles I went through with the RT were a bit much.


And I've noticed another problem with the RT since the install of 8.1 that is far more serious. I haven't seen any other posts about this in the places I've checked, so maybe it is just my unit. My battery life has declined markedly. Prior to 8.1, my Surface RT would could stay on standby for several days. On those days I was carrying the Pro to work and the RT stayed home, I just didn't worry about the RT if I had forgotten to plug it in over night or while at work. After the upgrade process that I described above, I set the RT aside for a few days and worked with the Pro. When I grabbed the RT two days later I was stunned to find it wouldn't turn on because the battery had discharged so far. I plugged it in and it started up right away. I thought this was odd but wondered if maybe it had been on battery for longer than I had thought. I charged it fully over night and then tested it again. Unplugging it fully charged before work in the morning on July 3, I returned home to check it and found it at about 60 percent battery life. On July 5, at the end of a full 48 hours since being unplugged, the RT would not start up on battery but did so immediately on being plugged in. This is a serious degradation in the standby time of the RT. I haven't checked its operational time, but I have to assume that has also degraded.

I am not seeing any similar degradations on the Surface Pro with 8.1. Anyone else seeing battery issues with 8.1 RT?

 

[SeeVuPlay]

i am currently experiencing the same...the battery life took a hit

 

[rangerdogy]

No, it's not just you. I have two RT's. One has been updated to 8.1, the other remains at 8.0. After charging it yesterday, I just checked and it is completely drained, even though it was not used. The 8.0 is only down a quarter, and has been used in the last day. It usually lasts several days without a charge, depending on use.

 

[gibbyhome]

Not any issues here
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express

 

[anon(5316299)]

See what happens if you don't set up outlook...supposedly that's the big issue. I've just started hitting shutdown instead of sleep.
Sent from my RM-860_nam_usa_100 using Board Express

 

[stephen_az]

....and again, is anyone letting Microsoft know?

 

[R S]

I too have rapid standby battery drain on my 8.1 Preview RT - way worse than 8.0. It is the biggest issue as I cannot rely on it being available for use two days running without plugging in. I have set up Outlook and suspect it might be the cause - but though it is configured I still get the drain when it isn't running. If it is doing anything in the background, it isn't obvious what as it only updates the mailbox when started up - doesn't pop up toast that I've noticed.

In Outlook under Send and Receive > Define Send/Receive Groups, by default the send and receive group for all accounts is defined to check for mail every 30 mins. I've turned this off to see if it makes a difference. There is also an offline mode which is worth trying.

 

[RTGent]

FWIW, happy here with no evident/extraordinary battery drain on a new RT 64. I purchased it on 29 June and installed 8.1 Preview the same day. My battery is lasting all day, exploring/learning 8.1, surfing, and playing my downloaded Xbox music several hours straight. I'm shopping for a new bike or two, streaming many videos, and the battery seems to last at least as long as on my prior RT. (Loving IE 11, by the way.)

Also have a Pro; but on that one, I'll be waiting for the Final 8.1.

I'm installing a 64GB card today and will report if that makes any difference.

Best battery life to all/

 

[GreenScrew]

For sure nobody is alone on this one and for sure MS has to be aware or they have their head in the sand!

http://www.zdnet.com/how-do-i-keep-...from-draining-when-its-not-in-use-7000010284/

 

[SeeVuPlay]

....and again, is anyone letting Microsoft know?

no, we are hoping MS is reading these forums....

 

[testement]

No problems with my battery on my Surface RT since downloading 8.1 preview, if anything it might be a bit better.
Although I haven't set up Outlook.

 

[johninsj]

For sure nobody is alone on this one and for sure MS has to be aware or they have their head in the sand!

How do I keep my Surface RT battery from draining when it's not in use? | ZDNet

You should see no more than 0.5%/hour drain, or 8 days of doing nothing to go from full charge to totally flat. That's bad, but it is what it is, and is the expected behavior - I'm sure they would love to have 30 day standby times like the iPad, but I don't know if that's a goal.

On 8.1 (at least in the preview), the method of closing a Store App has changed. In 8.0 you would just drag it down to close it. In 8.1 preview, drag it down, don't let go when it changes to a thumbnail... Hold it for a couple seconds... when the thumbnail flips over to a gear on a blue background the process has terminated. That *may* impact battery life slightly if you have several open store apps you thought were closed.

I am using Outlook 2013 on mine, no Mail/Cal/People Store App (uninstalled it) and I don't leave Outlook running when I'm not using it. My standby time seems to be pretty much the same. I would expect it to be a little worse on the preview because it's a preview and isn't fully tuned yet.

 

[landwomble]

what does powercfg /sleepstudy from an elevated command prompt give you? "Microsoft UART V2 Driver" at 100% in sleep?
I suspect this is something that'll get fixed in RTM. Remember 8.1 is a *preview*, it's not finished code...

 

[oktoberrust11]

My battery life since purchasing my Surface RT 64GB has been very underwhelming. Both while using it, or while it's in standby mode, the drain is at a very fast pace. I found the Battery Report command on another forum ("powercfg /batteryreport" in non-elevated CMD and look at the report in C:\Users\*username*), attached is a screenshot from that.

Basically what this shows it, at 4:30pm on 07/10, I took my Surface off of AC power, charging all day, 100% charge. I purposely didn't use it at all to see how the drain was in standby mode. By 7:00am on 07/11, it was down to 61%. By 5:30pm on 07/11, it was at 28%. And by 7:00am on 07/12, it was dead (this shows 10%, but that's because it was charging for a bit before I did this report).

Now, the 8.1 preview had just come out when I got my Surface, so I immediately installed it, and set up Outlook, so it's been running ever since. Looks like all of the users here with battery drain issues do have 8.1 & Outlook set up.

Any other user reports would be greatly appreciated.

Matt

 

[nokialove]

I'm also having the rapid battery drain issue on my RT. I configured Outlook, as well. I deleted my Outlook profile in the Mail settings, but that hasn't helped. Are we positive Outlook is causing this?

That's what I get for installing beta software. Very irritating.

 

[oktoberrust11]

Are we positive Outlook is causing this?

Not at all. I was hoping to come up with a correlation between the two.

Considering uninstalling 8.1..

 

[berty6294]

8.1 has killed my battery! That's just because I set my Start screen background to my desktop and my desktop has a 10 second slideshow of about 12 pictures for the wallpaper! (BTW the effect is incredibly beautiful!)

When I turn the slideshow off, 8.1 is only slightly worse than 8. Honestly its beta right now so I definitely expected it. The final version of 8.1 will probably have better battery life than 8 once they fine tune everything.

 

[Leo Hein]

With 8.1 my tablet uses a lot of battery in standby.
Even with wifi and live tiles turned off.

Loss of +-15% over a 12 hour periode.

 

[windu]

It is a preview OS. **** battery life is to be expected.

 

[inteller]

well they have a lot of work to do between now and RTM then in just a few short weeks!