by Martin Brinkmann on May 31, 2017 in Hardware - Last Update: March 14, 2019 - 7 comments
When it comes to saving battery, one of the things that you can do that is effective is to turn off the keyboard backlight of your Surface device. Note that other mobile devices will benefit from this as well, but that they may or may not support functionality to turn off the lighting of the keyboard.
If your notebook computer has a backlit keyboard, press the F5 key on the keyboard to turn the light on or off. It might be necessary to press the fn (function) key at the same time. If the backlight icon is not on the F5 key, look for the backlit keyboard key on the row of function keys. How to turn on/off the keyboard backlight - ThinkPad. SHOP SUPPORT. PC Data Center Mobile: Lenovo Mobile: Motorola Smart Service Parts COMMUNITY.
The Surface Pro ships with a sensor built-in that will activate the light on the keyboard to highlight the keys better. This is a useful feature as it helps you identify the keys on the keyboard which may be an issue in low-light environments.
This is not much of an issue if the Surface device is connected to a power outlet, but if it runs on battery, you will notice that the lighting makes the battery drain faster.
The guys over on Linus Tech Tips ran battery saving tests recently which concluded that turning off the keyboard backlight extends battery use before you need to recharge by about 16%.
Other beneficial battery saving tweaks included:
- Removing mouse and keyboard peripherals (20%-30% longer battery life on a single charge)
- Turning down the brightness of the display to 50% (16% longer battery life, turning it further own is less efficient).
Turn off the Surface Keyboard backlight
The Surface keyboard backlight turns on and off automatically using the built-in sensor. You have controls however to toggle the backlight manually as well, but it may not be available on older versions of the Surface keyboard.
The first two keys next to the Esc-key on the keyboard above, those with the function keys F1 and F2, control the keyboard backlight on the Surface device. If you just tap on the keys however, you will notice that nothing happens. Or, to be more precise, that you press F1 or F2, and don't toggle the keyboard lighting functionality.
You need to hold down on the Fn-key to access the special keys of the Surface keyboard. Fn is the function key that enables the underlying functionality. You may use it to control all special keyboard shortcuts that you see there (such as increasing or decreasing the volume, or toggling audio).
So, this is how you turn the backlight of the keyboard on or off:
- Increase the keyboard backlight on with Fn-F2
- Decrease the keyboard backlight off with Fn-F1
Activating the special keys increases or decreases the keyboard backlight on the Surface keyboard. You may need to activate the key multiple times to turn it off completely, to make it less bright, or brighter.
Verdict
If you need to squeeze the maximum battery duration out of your Surface device, you need to consider turning off the backlight keyboard of the Surface. While that may not be an option at all times, for instance in dark environments that make keys hard to identify, it is usually possible to at least turn the brightness of the lights down.
Now You: Do you have other power saving tips for mobile computers?
How to turn off the Surface keyboard backlight
Description
Find out how to turn off the keyboard backlight of the Surface, or change its brightness, to improve battery life of the device when it runs on battery.
Author
Ghacks Technology News
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Advertisement When traveling at night or attending a presentation in a dark room, you may find it difficult to see your laptop's keyboard. Select HP Pavilion models feature a backlight beneath the keyboard that illuminates each key. These models usually display a lighted keyboard icon on the left side of the space bar. With this feature enabled, you won't need to turn on the room light to type a letter, compose an email or work on a project. Depending on your laptop's model, you can activate the backlight in several ways.
Step 1
Power on your HP Pavilion and press the 'F5' or 'F12' key to turn on the keyboard backlight, depending on your model.
Step 2
Locate the 'Fn' key next to the Windows key on the bottom-left side of the keyboard. Press the space bar while holding the 'Fn' key to turn on the backlight.
Press the dedicated backlight key if your model has one. The dedicated backlight key is marked with three dots in a horizontal line. Some models with this key include the dv6-2022er, dv6-3250us and other laptops in the dv6 series.
Tip
- The keyboard backlight drains the laptop's battery. Turn the backlight off as soon as you no longer need it.
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