Battery life survey

[wynand32]

My mistake not really a mistake, just lazy. It definately sounds like you should be offered a replacement. 4 hours and this wouldn't be worth a consideration when shopping around, I'd be mad. Who knows what is happening next week, but I imagine that they still have enough sp4 stock left to make haggling for an upgrade fruitless. Give it a go by all means if you're within warranty, but I doubt you'll get an sp5. I've only read of such replacement a few times but it was generally sp1 to an sp3.

I don't think we'll see an SP5 next week. At most, we might see an SP4 refresh with Kaby Lake. I hear you about haggling for an "upgrade," but I've found such things to be possible with Microsoft Stores when you have Microsoft Complete. Gotta catch a manager in the right mood, but it's been known to happen.

In any event, if Microsoft doesn't introduced anything new for the SP4, then I'll definitely be swapping out for a new one. This battery life just isn't cutting it.

 

[wynand32]

Alrighty, after some additional analysis that has me convinced this thing is just a lemon, I have a replacement coming via advanced replacement. Hopefully they won't sent me something worse. Fingers crossed.

 

[kristalsoldier]

I have the i5/8/128 and get no less than 5 hours. I don't and likely won't use Edge anytime soon but if you like it, use the registry hack and a host file. I use Firefox with Adblock Plus. I also don't use the adaptive brightness. In my opinion those 2 items alone would make a big difference.

I also have a ton of background tasks/apps disabled.

This adaptive brightness has a negative influence on battery life? Can you please explain this a bit more? Thanks in advance.

 

[jnjroach]

This adaptive brightness has a negative influence on battery life? Can you please explain this a bit more? Thanks in advance.

In certain circumstances adaptive brightness can go up to 100% Brightness (say in a brightly lit room or outside) and that would drain the battery faster...

For the most part used normally it will help battery life....

 

[kristalsoldier]

In certain circumstances adaptive brightness can go up to 100% Brightness (say in a brightly lit room or outside) and that would drain the battery faster...

For the most part used normally it will help battery life....

That's what I thought too!!! Though I must add that post this most recent update (Insiders Preview), my SP4 is running a bit warm and it is not been the best performer where battery life is concerned. Just a few weeks back the battery life was much better.

 

[jnjroach]

That's what I thought too!!! Though I must add that post this most recent update (Insiders Preview), my SP4 is running a bit warm and it is not been the best performer where battery life is concerned. Just a few weeks back the battery life was much better.

Most Insider Builds negatively impact battery life as they have "Symbols" embedded in the code not found in any of the Release Builds (TH, TH2, AU, etc. ). These Symbols are used for debugging...

 

[wynand32]

Alrighty, I received the replacement SP4. Seems to be a decent unit, if it's not actually new you couldn't tell by looking at it. It actually has less light bleed than my original, so that's a plus.

First thing I noticed on running a battery report is that the battery is definitely from a different manufacturer. My original is by DYN, this one is by SMP. No idea how many manufacturers there are or if there's a difference between them, but I at least have something to consider in terms of differences between machines. This battery has two cycle counts, and I could tell from the original setup that it was tested before being sent to me--I'm sure Microsoft support wanted to make sure there were no obvious issues with the machine battery-wise before sending it along.

I'll report back after I've had a chance to check things out.

 

[awwshoot]

That's what I thought too!!! Though I must add that post this most recent update (Insiders Preview), my SP4 is running a bit warm and it is not been the best performer where battery life is concerned. Just a few weeks back the battery life was much better.

Kristalsoldier, Check your CPU speed, There was an issue after the AU Update that kept the CPU overclocked even when nothing was running. This built up heat and at times would get hot enough to engage the fan we have never heard run before. LOL End result was a warm Surface and shorter run time.

When this was an issue the Surface would always overclock when plugged in and still run real high when on battery. Someone on here posted a temporary fix where you could manual change the processor settings but updates mid August corrected this issue on all our Surface Pro 4s. We have 21 here at work and they have been doing pretty good this last month.

 

[wynand32]

Well, the saga continues. Turns out the replacement SP4 had a very yellowish screen and terrible contrast. So, that one's going back and I'll have to give it another try.

In defense of Microsoft here, it wasn't a hassle at all to reject the replacement unit. I called, gave them my issues, they accepted the rejection and are sending me a new expedited shipping label to return that unit. Now, I'll just have to kick off the process again once they receive it.

 

[GPCANA]

Well, the saga continues. Turns out the replacement SP4 had a very yellowish screen and terrible contrast. So, that one's going back and I'll have to give it another try.

In defense of Microsoft here, it wasn't a hassle at all to reject the replacement unit. I called, gave them my issues, they accepted the rejection and are sending me a new expedited shipping label to return that unit. Now, I'll just have to kick off the process again once they receive it.

Hello I got the same problem you have.. This is my second Surface Pro 4 and still having issues with battery.. I'm having it replace presty soon. It looks to me there is a issue and they know it, they just wont speak about it openly and just replace it until you get one that works. Is been very frustrating to me. I bought it to work overseas and now I have to wait until I get back to get the replacement. Have to carry the plug everywhere. I have to admit that the support service has been great. I just which they admit some computers came with battery issues.

 

[wynand32]

Hello I got the same problem you have.. This is my second Surface Pro 4 and still having issues with battery.. I'm having it replace presty soon. It looks to me there is a issue and they know it, they just wont speak about it openly and just replace it until you get one that works. Is been very frustrating to me. I bought it to work overseas and now I have to wait until I get back to get the replacement. Have to carry the plug everywhere. I have to admit that the support service has been great. I just which they admit some computers came with battery issues.

Well, my second replacement arrived today, so we'll see what's up. Fingers crossed that at least this one will have a decent screen--the biggest reason I got an SP4 is the screen quality, I won't accept one with yellowish whites.

 

[GPCANA]

I love this computer. But I decided to switch from mac. Imagine the frustration with the battery life. Hope all is well with yours that will give me some hope. Keep us inform please.