Poor battery capacity of a new laptop

[AmanP21]

Dear Community members,

I had purchased a new laptop (HP Victus 16-r1776ng) which was delivered only 2 weeks back and the date that I turned it on for the first time was 09.12.2024. My capacity is already at 87% of the design capacity (as of 15.12.2024), I don't know the reason for it to be that less at an early stage. On the first day it was around 91% of the design capacity. Battery temperature is in ambient range (between 20-30 deg.C). Also the battery date as 02.09.2024, is this normal for a laptop purchased in December?

My BIOS and windows are up-to-date; I also tried to run calibration check but that option is not yet available for me. I need your help.

Your help can solve my problem for good as I have been very loyal HP customer, with this being my second laptop from HP. Thank you in advance!

[Raj_05 · Accepted solution]

Hi @AmanP21,

Welcome to HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

It sounds like you're experiencing a rapid decline in your HP Victus 16's battery health, which can be concerning, especially with such a recent purchase. Here are a few things to consider and try in order to address the issue.

Battery Age and Design Capacity

• Battery Manufacturing Date: The battery’s manufacturing date of 02.09.2024 is concerning because it's relatively old for a laptop purchased in December. It may have been stored for some time before shipment. While it shouldn't drastically affect battery performance, a battery that's been stored for a while could lose some charge capacity.
• Design Capacity: Batteries naturally degrade over time, but a 4% reduction in capacity in just a week of use is unusual for a new laptop. Typically, a healthy lithium-ion battery should maintain close to 100% capacity for the first few months.

Possible Causes

• Battery Calibration: While you've mentioned that the calibration option isn't available, it's possible that the system simply needs time to correctly calibrate the battery readings. Sometimes, the software doesn't initially report the battery health accurately.
• Power Management Settings: Check if there are any power management settings in BIOS or Windows that might be limiting battery charging (like "Battery Conservation" mode). HP laptops often have settings that prevent charging to 100% to extend battery lifespan, but this can sometimes cause confusion about battery health.
• Background Applications and Usage: High battery drain from background processes or settings like screen brightness, apps running in the background, and heavy usage (gaming or high-performance tasks) might affect battery life more quickly than expected.

What You Can Do

Run a Battery Report: You can generate a battery report from Windows to gain more insight into the battery’s health. Here’s how:

1. Open Command Prompt (as administrator).
2. Type powercfg /batteryreport and hit Enter.
3. The report will be saved as an HTML file in your user folder, typically C:\Users\[YourName]\battery-report.html. Open this file and look for detailed battery information like full charge capacity vs. design capacity.

Update HP Support Assistant: Ensure that you’re using the latest version of HP Support Assistant. It can check for battery issues and suggest updates for both the battery and system firmware.

Perform a Battery Calibration Manually: If calibration isn't available via HP's tools, try to do it manually:

1. Charge the battery to 100%.
2. Disconnect the charger and let the battery discharge completely until the laptop shuts down automatically.
3. Charge it back to 100% without interruption.

Check HP's Power Management Settings: Sometimes, the laptop's BIOS or Windows may have built-in power settings that limit the battery's charge to 85%-90% for longevity. You can check the BIOS settings for any such options or access them through HP Command Center in Windows.

Monitor Battery Health:

• Use the HP Battery Check utility in HP Support Assistant to monitor health over the next few weeks. This will help determine if the decline is stabilizing or worsening.

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a good day.

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Alden4

HP Support 

[AmanP21]

Hello ALDEN4,

Thank you for your help. The manual calibration process worked. Now the laptop is displaying the total capacity as 100% of the design capacity. The diagnostics check is showing OK for the battery and the BIOS and Windows are up-to-date.

This problem being I solved. I wanted to know, what should be done with the battery date issue?