Does the Surface 3 have a slow charging problem?

saintforlife

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I have read on multiple sites people complaining about the Surface 3's slow charging. Some of them are saying it only charges 5% every hour? Is it because something is wrong with the charger or it is an inherent weakness of the microUSB port? For folks that already own one, what has your experience been so far? How long does it take to charge your Suface 3 tablet?
 

Tsang Fai

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When I use the original charger (2.5A), the charging speed is very satisfactory (approx. 20% per hour).

When I use other USB chargers (2.1A, 1.5A, 1A), charging is rather slow. I noticed that it is <10% / hour. I did turn off the device during charging but it is still rather slow.

If you are using the Surface 3 while charging with <2.5A charger, most probably the battery level will still drop as the charging rate cannot catch up with the consumption rate.

So I guess the charging speed depends on the current of charger. Most probably you need a charger with output current of 2.5A (just like the original charger). Even 2.1A is still not satisfactory.
 

coolqf

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They're using weak chargers. Like Tsang Fair mentioned, you need to use the right charger. This is universal with all USB charging devices. The more power it consumes, the stronger the charger will have to be. It's like trying to charge an iPad with an iPhone charger..... Very very slow.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 

P_Devil

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As others have said, the charging speed all depends on what charger you are using. It also depends on what you are actually doing with the Surface while charging. Microsoft's charger is rated to deliver up to 13 watts. However, the Surface 3's micro-USB port normally takes in 9-9.5 watts only. That discrepancy accounts for a 1 watt inefficiency but also for a loss of something else. It appears that the Surface 3's software is limiting its ability to charge using more than 13 watts using the MS adapter. Others have tried charging the Surface 3 using the Dell Venue Pro 11 charger which supplies 24 watts over micro-USB and it charges the Surface 3 much faster. The long term effect of doing this is not known though.

You can drain the Surface 3's battery faster than MS's adapter can fill it if you really use the CPU. For example, I was encoding a 1080p, mpeg-4 AVC video last night. The video bitrate was around 2500Mbps (it varied), the framerate was 24fps, and I was encoding two audio tracks (one 128kbps stereo AAC and the other 650kbps 5.1 AC3). CPU usage for a single-core jumped up to 100% and the Atom X7 was clocking in at 2.4GHz. My Surface 3 was plugged in during this (with the official MS adapter) and charging speeds drastically decreased. The battery was at 54% when I started and, after two hours of encoding (the whole job took 5 hours), the battery was up to 58%.

I wouldn't really say that it's a problem as most people aren't going to push the Surface 3 to the limits when they use it. Stick with the MS charger and you'll be fine. They can always release a firmware/software update to allow the Surface 3 to charge faster. On a side note the charger for the Galaxy S5/Note III charges the Surface 3 just as fast as the Microsoft adapter (both supply 9 watts). Go figure.
 

roop27

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regarding your last comment about the samsung chargers, I used my Note 4 (fast charger) and it still took 9 hours to go from 35% to 91%. I am yet to try the MS charger but find this degates the whole idea of Micro USB. You'll still have to carry your charger with you just like the SP3 if youre looking for decent charging time.
 

P_Devil

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2500 mbps? Are you sure?

Whoops, sorry. I meant 2.5Mbps (2500kbps). It fluctuates from 1.5-3.5 depending on the complexity of the video at the time (it was Guardians of the Galaxy so the space scenes used a low bitrate while the action scenes used a higher bitrate) but the overall average bitrate was 2.5Mbps.

regarding your last comment about the samsung chargers, I used my Note 4 (fast charger) and it still took 9 hours to go from 35% to 91%. I am yet to try the MS charger but find this degates the whole idea of Micro USB. You'll still have to carry your charger with you just like the SP3 if youre looking for decent charging time.

Yeah, the Note 4 charger won't work because it either outputs at normal USB standards (1A, 5V) or the lower amperage, higher voltage for QuickCharge 2.0 (which I want to say is 0.7A, 9V but I don't have my charger in front of me). The Note III/S5 charger outputs up to 2A, 5.3V (10.6 watts). The Note 4's and Note Edge's charger (which is what I currently have) will only slowly charge the Surface 3 since it isn't QuickCharge compatible and defaults back down to 5 watts. But the S5's charger will charge it faster because the Surface 3 will take in 9 watts out of the 10.6 that the charger is capable of. The Surface 3 charger can output up to 13 watts but people with volt and amperage meters are only measuring 9-9.5 watts of actual output. So the Galaxy S5's charger, which is the same as the Note III's charger, will actually charge it almost just as fast as the MS one.
 

Faye S

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Yes, it is extremely slow, but little better with charger that comes in the box. It seems the problem might be, that at times even though plugged in, it says plugged in but not charging. Then few minutes later it says plugged in and charging. It's been my experience that this happens throughout the charging process, this is why it takes so long to charge. I'm not sure if this is something that can be fixed in an update, but not hardly, if it's the bad design of the hardware itself. So I try to charge overnight.
 

seremify

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But the S5's charger will charge it faster because the Surface 3 will take in 9 watts out of the 10.6 that the charger is capable of. The Surface 3 charger can output up to 13 watts but people with volt and amperage meters are only measuring 9-9.5 watts of actual output. So the Galaxy S5's charger, which is the same as the Note III's charger, will actually charge it almost just as fast as the MS one.

In theory then the Apple iPad 10w/12w chargers should do the trick just fine then too?
 

P_Devil

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Yes, in theory it should work just fine. It may not be as fast as the MS charger (just like the Samsung one) but it will be fine as a secondary, portable charger.
 

Leo Z

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Try use the cable from MS when you use an external battery or another charger.

I have a 10000 mAh 3.6V external batter pack rated with 5.1V 2.1A output, when I try to charge the Surface 3 with it, it is rather slow and the USB cable connector one the batttery end does not get warm. Then I tried to use the cable that comes with the Surface 3 Charge, the charging speed is much faster, and both the battery and the cable connector get significantly warmer.
 

Lokified

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Ok.... I would like to point out 2 things here. 1. Normal everyday use (Not encoding video for example) the battery will last around 10 hours. I normally see the < 10% warning at or just over 10 hours of use. IF that is what the device is being used for then would you really need to take the charger with you? 2. the Idea behind using the micro usb port to charge is to allow the device to be charged with many different chargers. I can and have charged my S3 using my Cell phone's car charger. It worked... it was ugly.... but it worked. Its in the vein of "break glass in case of emergency" use any charger that will fit. The best way to charge any device is to turn it off and use the designed charger. MS just wanted to make sure that if you needed it... you can use whatever you can get your hands on.
 

P_Devil

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Even then there are other 3rd party chargers that are able to output power at the same rate or close to what the MS official charger does. The charger for my Galaxy S5 charges my Surface 3 pretty much just as fast as the MS charger seeing as how the Surface 3 draws about 9 watts of power from both.

I do think other charges, ones that can't keep up with a higher charge rate, fit the "in case of emergency break glass" situation. It's nice having a unit that doesn't need a proprietary charger and can, if needed, be charged using something that smartphones and other tablets have been using for 5 years now.
 

ClintRo

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Plus Micro USB on the road is CHEAPER if you forget your charger and need to power your device. You can pick on up at almost any store now, even most roadside convenience stores.
 

Dewg

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It's more than just the charger - it's the combo of the charger and the cable. Use a charger that can output 2.5 amps, and use a Micro USB cable rated as 24 AWG. Most Micro USB cables are 26 or 28 AWG and can't handle the extra amps (usually rated around 1-1.5A).
 

Leo Z

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I don't know how some people can squeeze 10+ hrs on a Surface 3... no matter how light I try to keep my usage at, i can only get 7 hrs pretty much guaranteed, but anything beyond 7 is quite difficult.

anyway, some of my unscientific observations are: (when Surface is stable, with no app running)
1. stock charger + stock cable, the charge rate is around 6500mW
2. Mi 10000 mAh battery pack (5V 2.1A) + stock cable, rate is around 5700mW
3. Mi 10000 mAh battery pack + Nexus 7 stock cable, rate is around 4700mW
4. Apple 12W charger (2.4A) + Orico 3A cable, virtually same rate as the MS stock combo
5. A power strip comes with USB socket (rated 2A Max) + stock cable, charge around 5500mW

So, a $19 Apple 12W charger is smaller and cheaper than a MS charger, and you can get a 2.5-3A USB to MicroUSB cable online with very little cost. So, if you need a quality second charger to leave at your office or stuff in your bag, this may be a good choice.
 

Chris Pumphrey

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Yes, sometimes, I leave my surface 3 on the original charger overnight, and it doesn't charge. I also have a slow charging issue. Planning to take it into MS store this week.
 

JeffAmels

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For those with a Surface 3 (the little guy great for travel, little brother to the PRO), if you're having charging problems - get a 20AWG USB cable. It's not your wall charger or some fault in design. I just suspect the 24AWG shipped with the device is too sheepish to carry the load and/or wrapping up a 24AWG repeatedly for travel lessened it's load ability.
 

DALEcz

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Have a look at the PortaPow products. I have couple of the Crystal USB Mains Chargers ("4.2A (21W) of total power and the ability to output all of it from any single USB socket or shared between the four.") and some of the 20AWG cables and I didnt have any issue since I started using them (MS charger is in a drawer) - charges faster and works every time (+ price is not that bad...)
 

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