How do I get better battery life ?

[smalba]

Hello all. I bought a surface pro 3 i5 last December and I'm loving it. But when I read the reviews people said that it gets around 8 hours of battery. I'm only getting 4 to 5 hours of use oN mine.

Are the any settings I should look into or what are some tips to extend battery life. I use the surface for just normal web browsing and some video watching. Let me know if 4 hours is normal for Web browsing or if I should do something .

 

[Bolimomo]

You can do a search in this forum on "battery" and there have been tips posted on how to prolong your usage time between charges. The main things to remember:

- Dim down your display brightness when unplugged
- Turn off wifi if not using the Internet connection
- Try to minimize CPU usage, minimize having multiple applications open and multiple webpages open when not actively using all of them. Many webpages these days are not optimized for mobile devices and contains lots of animations and videos (commercials). Some suck up CPU time even if you are not watching them.

Watching video... that's a tough on. Whenever there is video involved, your CPU and graphics processor need to work hard to decode the data from compressed format to some format that can be used (to minimize the network bandwidth required during transmission). Thus those are CPU/GPU intensive by nature, and thus use more power, compared to, say, you are just using Word to type up an essay where the CPU is idle most of the time waiting for your input.

 

[N_LaRUE]

There are some tips here - Microsoft Surface Pro battery and power | Recharge Surface Pro

Keep in mind the screen is by far one of the biggest battery drains. That goes for any battery device with a large screen.

Check for any apps that may be running all the time in the background.

 

[The_Vermonster]

I have been getting about 5-6 hours out of mine. I keep the screen at half brightness and am always running multiple apps and 2 active accounts. I'd rather be able to use it the way I would like for 6 hours than have to constantly be thinking about saving battery for 7.

 

[CliveSinclair]

Without knowing exactly what Apps you have installed, your antivirus...... etc, etc. How bright your screen is and numerous other parameters, no one can say if your battery duration is good or bad.

All I can add is that Google Chrome is a battery killer and that some days my battery seems to last forever, others around 8 hours of 'my use' - which is acceptable to me.

 

[nasellok]

Best way to get good battery life is as follows:

1. Don't use Chrome, its a battery hog, use the modern UI version of IE, its more touch friendly, and less resourceful on your cpu. If you need desktop features, use IE. I only use Chrome if I need to use Hangouts for something.
2. If theres an APP for what your trying to do, use it..............streaming Pandora through the desktop IE, or Chrome extension is going use more battery than using PRadio, XBOX music, etc. If theres no app - pin the modern ui webpage to your startscreen (some even support live tiles)
3. Look at your tray, and see what's running - if Chrome is running in background, kiss your battery goodbye. Make sure Adobe update isn't constantly looking for updates, same thing with your other cloud software - if your using Desktop versions of Box/Dropbox/Google Drive, etc - those are gonna keep syncing, and using your battery. Best to use an APP, or map a network drive to your cloud storage other than Onedrive, or just switch to Onedrive, its better anyways. Java update is also a constantly running update that you want to disable. Check the startup tab in your control panel, and disable everything you don't use daily. Basically, the same thing goes for any other random desktop software you could have installed, or mistakingly clicked on - the whole reason that they made Windows RT - to prevent people from installing crapware by clicking on things whilst using the internet, or for those whom don't know how to manage the software they use...........but unfortunately, crappy tech review sites, and OEM's decided to kill WinRT, and we are forced to use good ole legacy supporting Windows.........not that theres anything wrong with that.
4. Always install Windows updates, including all optional updates from MS.
5. Keep your screen brightness down if your in a well lit space, its better for your eyes anyways
6. if your not using it, shut it down, W8.1 Surface Pro gets decent standby battery life, but if your not using it, shutdown, it takes all of 10 seconds to re-boot it.
7. Close your apps when your done using them - if you leave IE/chrome running with multiple tabs, its gonna use battery.........
8. Check what apps are running in the background - its in settings, you can allow some, and dis-allow others. Only allow what you want to sync.
9. Don't run your battery down less than 20% unless you have to - plug it in and charge it before it goes down below 50% - It will degrade the battery. Your better off charging it every night even if your at like 70%. Going from 100% and running it all the way down will decrease the longevity of your battery life. I always thought it was better to go all the way, but some wise people taught me otherwise, and my battery capacity is still pretty close to the design capacity.