Microsoft Confirms Surface Book 2 Battery Can Discharge Even When Plugged In

Microsoft Surface Book 2 owners might have noticed an issue that rears its head if you try to game on the computer. With an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU inside, the machine is certainly capable of moderate gaming. You might expect the battery to drain quicker when on the go if you play video games, but you wouldn't expect the battery to drain even when plugged in.

That is exactly what has been happening; the base battery inside the Surface Book 2 is draining during gaming session when the machine is plugged in. The drain occurs with some games when power settings are configured to maximum performance. Microsoft issued the following statement regarding the battery drain:

Surface Book 2 was designed to deliver unmatched power and performance for anyone who needs a powerful machine to work and create, making it a great option for STEM professionals (designers, developers, engineers). The Surface Book 2 Power Mode Slider is provided as a means to give the user control over the range of performance and battery life. In some intense, prolonged gaming scenarios with Power Mode Slider set to ‘best performance’ the battery may discharge while connected to the power supply provided in-box with Surface Book 2. However, through power management design, the battery will never drain entirely, ensuring that users are able to keep working, creating or gaming.

The reason for the battery drain is that the Surface Book 2 has a 102-watt charger inside the box, but only 95-watts of that juice reach the notebook. The GTX 1060 and Intel Core processor when running wide open consumes more than that 95-watts of power leading to battery drain. As of now Microsoft hasn’t noted if any fix is coming.