Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Firmware Update Improves Battery Life Significantly

Back in September Microsoft unveiled its next generation Surface tablets, the Surface 2 and the Surface Pro 2. Both tablets were released to the public on October 22nd. Soon after the Surface Pro 2 became available, Microsoft released a firmware update for the tablet. The update was meant to improve battery life, and it did so by quite a margin. Basically, through the update, the Marvell Wi-Fi solution in Surface Pro 2 was allowed to function on lower power states. This was bound to have an effect on the overall battery life, and tests run by Anandtech indicate a significant improvement.

Tests indicate that the battery is now good for almost 8.3 hours of web browsing on Wi-Fi, as opposed to the original 6.6 hours prior to the update. That’s a nearly 25 percent increase and well over the 8 hour target that Microsoft has internally set for web browsing on the Surface Pro 2. Battery performance during video playback also improves, up from 6.6 hours to 7.7 hours. While benchmarks are just a measure of how things have theoretically improved, the end results for users are likely to vary a bit seeing as how each one of us uses our devices differently. Have any of you, who owned a Surface Pro 2 prior to the firmware update, noticed a significant improvement in battery life? [Image via Anandtech]

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Tablets
Tags: Microsoft, Surface Pro 2