Surface Pro 2 firmware update packs a big battery boost

Subpar endurance is the Surface Pro 2's biggest Achilles Heel--or at least it was before an update boasting beefy battery life improvements

A firmware update for Microsoft's Surface Pro 2 appears to have drastically improved battery life, addressing one of the beefy tablet's biggest weak points.

Microsoft issued the firmware update shortly after the Surface Pro 2 launched. According to AnandTech, web browsing on Wi-Fi jumped to 8.33 hours, compared to 6.68 hours before the firmware update. Video playback also got a boost, from 6.65 hours to 7.73 hours.

Another test by The Verge yielded 8 hours and 51 minutes of battery life when cycling through web pages and still images. That's a 20 percent improvement over the 7 hours and 33 minutes achieved in the site's previous testing.

AnandTech says the update allows Surface Pro 2's Marvell Wi-Fi solution to reach lower power states than before. It's unclear why this functionality wasn't included at launch. In any case, the firmware update appears to validate Microsoft's claims of a 75 percent battery improvement over the original Surface Pro. The first-generation Pro lasted for about four or five hours on a charge, so a 75 percent improvement would put Surface Pro 2 battery life in the seven- to eight-hour range.

We're in the process of checking out the improved battery life using a real-life scenario, by keeping multiple browser tabs open, word processing, and using Twitter in Windows 8.1's Snap view. This type of use previously yielded a little under six hours on a charge at 50 percent brightness. While that's certainly enough for an evening on the couch or an afternoon working at a coffee shop, it's not quite the all-day battery life we were hoping for from the upgrade to Intel's "Haswell" processor.

Surface Pro 2 users don't need to do anything to get the update, as it should have installed automatically by now. You can check which updates have been installed by opening the Settings charm and going to PC settings > Update and Recovery > Windows Update and clicking "View your update history."

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.

Tags MicrosofttabletsBatterieshardware systemstablet PCsComponentsBatteries / fuel cellsSurface

Keep up with the latest tech news, reviews and previews by subscribing to the Good Gear Guide newsletter.

Jared Newman

PC World (US online)
Show Comments

Most Popular Reviews

Latest Articles

Resources

PCW Evaluation Team

Cate Bacon

Aruba Instant On AP11D

The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.

Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti

Aruba Instant On AP11D

Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.

Tom Pope

Dynabook Portégé X30L-G

Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.

Tom Sellers

MSI P65

This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.

Lolita Wang

MSI GT76

It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.

Featured Content

Product Launch Showcase

Don’t have an account? Sign up here

Don't have an account? Sign up now

Forgot password?