NOOK Color Battery Life vs Kindle Fire

demingite · 05-24-2013, 10:35 AM

I purchased a used Nook color not long ago. While I have been enjoying it for the most part, I have noticed an issue with battery life. If I put the reader to sleep, rather than turn it all the way off, the battery is dead in about 24 hours, with or without the WiFi turned on. I recently received a Kindle Fire from a relative that decided that it was not for her, and I realized that the Fire battery lasted indefinitely without turning it completely off. Is there something wrong with my Nook Color or is there a fundamental difference in power management between the devices?

geertm · 05-24-2013, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by demingite

I purchased a used Nook color not long ago. While I have been enjoying it for the most part, I have noticed an issue with battery life. If I put the reader to sleep, rather than turn it all the way off, the battery is dead in about 24 hours, with or without the WiFi turned on. I recently received a Kindle Fire from a relative that decided that it was not for her, and I realized that the Fire battery lasted indefinitely without turning it completely off. Is there something wrong with my Nook Color or is there a fundamental difference in power management between the devices?

Sounds like a bad battery.
When sleeping the battery should only lose a few percent of total power per day.

Apache · 05-24-2013, 08:54 PM

I agree. both of mine last quite awhile in sleep mode.
Apache

Asawi · 05-26-2013, 03:56 AM

There must either be something wrong with your battery or there is something still running in the background (I have noticed some games don't turn off the way the should and kee drain battery).
With WiFi off the Nooks (Color, Tablet, HD) I have had have at most lost a couple of perdent. like others have said.

RAH · 05-28-2013, 07:11 AM

I agree with what others are saying about your battery. Meanwhile, there is an App which you can use to see what is running and to stop apps from running. It is called App Killer. You can read about it here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/app-...=2940043905710

and download it directly to your Nook device.

demingite · 05-30-2013, 01:50 PM

RAH - I tried that app you recommended and it did seem to help. Battery life is greatly improved in sleep mode. I guess it has to be run every time I restart the Nook to kill the unwanted processes?

RAH · 06-02-2013, 07:05 AM

I think you would not have to run it every time. I think it would depend on what apps you ran while you were using the Nook. I mean, for example, say you have some calendar app that always runs in the background. If you kill it, depending on its settings, it might not start automatically when you wake the Nook up again - you might have to start it manually after killing it. So if you don't start it, you won't have to kill it again.

It obviously depends on which apps we are talking about. One nice thing about App Killer is that you can examine which apps are restarted when you wake the Nook up again by looking at the App Killer list and seeing what is running each time.

The trouble is, it is very difficult to find out which, if any, apps are hurting your battery life.

I have a pretty old Color Nook (at least 2 years old) and its battery behavior mystifies me. Sometimes it will drain in say 3 or 4 days (but never in 24 hours, as you reported), even if I am careful to turn wifi off and just let it sit on a shelf. But other times it will only get down to about 70% after 4 days of non-use. Very strange.

I kind of wonder if it has to do with which screen you leave it on when it goes to sleep. I have had good luck leaving it on the Apps screen (the one that shows all your installed apps), as opposed to say leaving it on the browser screen. In other words, the last thing I do is press the N button at the bottom and select the Apps entry. Then I put it to sleep by pressing the left-side button briefly.

But, as I say, it is mysterious and hard to figure out. But you should definitely get at least 3 or 4 days out of a charge, I think.

demingite · 06-14-2013, 09:58 AM

I just wanted to thank you for your tip about the App Killer utility. After stopping a few unrecognized processes, my Nook now lasts much longer in sleep mode. I suspect a recently installed Spider Solitaire app.

RAH · 06-23-2013, 09:38 AM

Glad the App Killer app helped.

I mentioned above that I sometimes have rapid battery-drain problems with my old Color Nook. But it's never been serious enough to investigate much (unlike your very rapid drain).

However, I've been paying more attention lately and noticed that it often drains quickly after it's been charged, going from 100% down to about 75% over night (sleeping; WiFi off). Then it seems OK for say 3 or 4 days.

I had a very bad rapid drain problem with my Nook Simple Touch (which I have posted a lot about in other threads), and that was solved by rebooting (turn completely off by holding the power button in, etc) after each recharging. So I wondered if rebooting like this might help the Color Nook. Well, it does seem to help. If I reboot the Color after recharging, it doesn't do that rapid initial drain over the first night asleep. It drains in a more even fashion and lasts about 2 days more, giving me about 5 or 6 days, depending on how much I use it.

The trouble is that with a Simple Touch, I only have to recharge it every 3 or 4 weeks, whereas with the Color I have to recharge it every 5 days or so, so that is a lot more rebooting with the Color. Anyway, batteries are mysterious beasts...

05-24-2013, 10:35 AM	#1
demingite Connoisseur Posts: 70 Karma: 400000 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New Mexico Device: Aluratek Libre Pro (gifted), Ectaco Jetbook Lite	NOOK Color Battery Life vs Kindle Fire I purchased a used Nook color not long ago. While I have been enjoying it for the most part, I have noticed an issue with battery life. If I put the reader to sleep, rather than turn it all the way off, the battery is dead in about 24 hours, with or without the WiFi turned on. I recently received a Kindle Fire from a relative that decided that it was not for her, and I realized that the Fire battery lasted indefinitely without turning it completely off. Is there something wrong with my Nook Color or is there a fundamental difference in power management between the devices?

05-30-2013, 01:50 PM	#6
demingite Connoisseur Posts: 70 Karma: 400000 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New Mexico Device: Aluratek Libre Pro (gifted), Ectaco Jetbook Lite	Thanks for replies RAH - I tried that app you recommended and it did seem to help. Battery life is greatly improved in sleep mode. I guess it has to be run every time I restart the Nook to kill the unwanted processes?

06-02-2013, 07:05 AM	#7
RAH Guru Posts: 611 Karma: 575652 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Hampton, NH Device: Color Nook; Nook Touch	I think you would not have to run it every time. I think it would depend on what apps you ran while you were using the Nook. I mean, for example, say you have some calendar app that always runs in the background. If you kill it, depending on its settings, it might not start automatically when you wake the Nook up again - you might have to start it manually after killing it. So if you don't start it, you won't have to kill it again. It obviously depends on which apps we are talking about. One nice thing about App Killer is that you can examine which apps are restarted when you wake the Nook up again by looking at the App Killer list and seeing what is running each time. The trouble is, it is very difficult to find out which, if any, apps are hurting your battery life. I have a pretty old Color Nook (at least 2 years old) and its battery behavior mystifies me. Sometimes it will drain in say 3 or 4 days (but never in 24 hours, as you reported), even if I am careful to turn wifi off and just let it sit on a shelf. But other times it will only get down to about 70% after 4 days of non-use. Very strange. I kind of wonder if it has to do with which screen you leave it on when it goes to sleep. I have had good luck leaving it on the Apps screen (the one that shows all your installed apps), as opposed to say leaving it on the browser screen. In other words, the last thing I do is press the N button at the bottom and select the Apps entry. Then I put it to sleep by pressing the left-side button briefly. But, as I say, it is mysterious and hard to figure out. But you should definitely get at least 3 or 4 days out of a charge, I think. Last edited by RAH; 06-02-2013 at 07:12 AM.

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05-24-2013, 08:54 PM	#3
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,132 Karma: 89858112 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	I agree. both of mine last quite awhile in sleep mode. Apache

05-26-2013, 03:56 AM	#4
Asawi Gadgetoholic Posts: 1,462 Karma: 2731820 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Sweden Device: Kobo Libra2, Tolino Vision 6	There must either be something wrong with your battery or there is something still running in the background (I have noticed some games don't turn off the way the should and kee drain battery). With WiFi off the Nooks (Color, Tablet, HD) I have had have at most lost a couple of perdent. like others have said.

05-28-2013, 07:11 AM	#5
RAH Guru Posts: 611 Karma: 575652 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Hampton, NH Device: Color Nook; Nook Touch	I agree with what others are saying about your battery. Meanwhile, there is an App which you can use to see what is running and to stop apps from running. It is called App Killer. You can read about it here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/app-...=2940043905710 and download it directly to your Nook device.

06-14-2013, 09:58 AM	#8
demingite Connoisseur Posts: 70 Karma: 400000 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New Mexico Device: Aluratek Libre Pro (gifted), Ectaco Jetbook Lite	I just wanted to thank you for your tip about the App Killer utility. After stopping a few unrecognized processes, my Nook now lasts much longer in sleep mode. I suspect a recently installed Spider Solitaire app.

06-23-2013, 09:38 AM	#9
RAH Guru Posts: 611 Karma: 575652 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Hampton, NH Device: Color Nook; Nook Touch	Glad the App Killer app helped. I mentioned above that I sometimes have rapid battery-drain problems with my old Color Nook. But it's never been serious enough to investigate much (unlike your very rapid drain). However, I've been paying more attention lately and noticed that it often drains quickly after it's been charged, going from 100% down to about 75% over night (sleeping; WiFi off). Then it seems OK for say 3 or 4 days. I had a very bad rapid drain problem with my Nook Simple Touch (which I have posted a lot about in other threads), and that was solved by rebooting (turn completely off by holding the power button in, etc) after each recharging. So I wondered if rebooting like this might help the Color Nook. Well, it does seem to help. If I reboot the Color after recharging, it doesn't do that rapid initial drain over the first night asleep. It drains in a more even fashion and lasts about 2 days more, giving me about 5 or 6 days, depending on how much I use it. The trouble is that with a Simple Touch, I only have to recharge it every 3 or 4 weeks, whereas with the Color I have to recharge it every 5 days or so, so that is a lot more rebooting with the Color. Anyway, batteries are mysterious beasts...