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I'm having an issue regarding my Mi Gaming Laptop 2019, and I hope somebody here could help me. The issue is with the battery. It charges slowly, to the point that it actually manages to lose charge while being plugged in! This happens if I launch some demanding games, I tested it on Kingdom Come Deliverance and RDR2. I don't think this is normal, so I brought it to the service center. They said they replaced the battery altogether, and it should work fine now, however nothing changed and the issue is still here!

The power adapter is first party and has following output specs. Could it be that is just can't charge the laptop fast enough?

  • 180 W
  • 19.5 V
  • 9.23 A

What I already tried (and nothing worked):

  • Replaced the battery.
  • Replaced the power adapter and wire.
  • Installed the driver package for this model from Xiaomi official site.

Could you give some advice please?

Thanks!

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  • Well a 2060 mobile can draw up to 115W, and the i7 is up to 45W which puts those two alone at 160W peak, then you have screen, memory, presumably SSD and other devices so 180W could be on the cusp for certain loads. I've heard of gaming laptops in the past that actually have two power bricks for gaming...
    – Mokubai ♦
    Commented Jun 26, 2020 at 21:39
  • In an addition to @Mokubai's comment, many laptops, most commonly gaming laptops will be prone to this. On top of that, many laptops have technology in place to not overcharge batteries, so they will charge up to say... 90% and then stop the charger in order to prolong the battery life.
    – LPChip
    Commented Jun 26, 2020 at 22:30
  • So you think it is working as intended? It does not go just to 90%, it will go all the way to 0 if not interrupted (in 6-8 hours)
    – Flatternschu
    Commented Jun 26, 2020 at 23:10
  • On top of the fact that your power brick is pretty close the power rating of your components its output will be well above the voltage used by those components. Those components will all have their own power conversion circuits which may (at best) be 90% efficient, and possibly worse with multiple stages of conversion. That means for 160 to 180W needed by components, the PSU will need to be 180 to 200W or even more. This puts you past the power budget available and will begin draining the battery as well.
    – Mokubai ♦
    Commented Jun 27, 2020 at 19:53

1 Answer 1

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That is common if the OEM power delivery system wasn't designed to run full-tilt full-time (either due to OEM value engineering, or thermal constraints). As mentioned above, 180W power brick is not quite enough for some gaming laptops and they will in fact lose charge over time while heavily loaded for long periods.

AFAIK, currently the highest powered bricks made for laptops are around the 330-350 watt range. (I think 230 watts may be another common brick size.) It doesn't hurt to over-spec your power supply as it will generally run cooler and last longer due to it being less stressed, but if your laptop's power delivery circuitry can't make use of the additional power provided by an upgraded brick, there may be no point in upgrading to a heavier-duty power supply brick in the first place.

Additionally, you will need to confirm the correct DC voltage, physical plug dimensions (inner diameter, outer diameter, pin diameter, depth, etc.), and plug polarity (center positive, barrel positive, etc.) of whatever "upgraded" brick you consider getting if you go that route.

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  • If I remember my physics correctly, P = I*V, therefore having more power means I'll need to have bigger current (11.8A). Won't that make my laptop explode or something (that's where my physics ends)?
    – Flatternschu
    Commented Jun 27, 2020 at 11:27
  • Yes, in general power is equal to current x voltage, however your laptop will only draw as much as it needs. As long as the voltage is the same, you can go up in total power supply wattage without issue and the laptop will only draw what it needs. Just remember, there are a number of limiting factors, such as BIOS, CPU hardware locks imposed by the CPU manufacturer, system management controller locks imposed by the OEM, VRM capabiltiies and cooling, and more. Just because you give your laptop more power does not necessarily mean it will be able to take full advantage of it. :(
    – Maleko48
    Commented Jun 27, 2020 at 13:55

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