Bad news for the Kobo battery.

[speedhump]

DIY Kobo battery replacement? Why not? Instead of all you guys complaining use your energy to DO IT YOURSELF. I must admit that I have not yet found a cheap (i.e. under $10), suitable battery yet, but I have buggered up the battery connection. That's easy to do! So take my tip: - If you do get a new battery for it do not attempt to unplug the connection. Mine would not unplug, but it did break off beautifully. So make the new connection by using the already attached wiring, leaving that tricky little board connection well alone. Good Luck!

[Ken Maltby]

The connectors can be tricky. If I have no information on how the connection is made, I usually end up probing the connection with a toothpick to find where the parts separate. For my AuraHD the battery connector appears to lift straight up off the PCB, not slide out towards the leads, as many connections are made.

Instead of a cheaper replacement, I would be looking for a better battery.

Luck;
Ken

[Julie Lake]

I've had my Kobo Glow for less than 2 years and already the battery has to be recharged far more frequently. And I have very rarely used the in-built light, too. It's an excellent e-reader but I do think the battery ought to be a little longer-lived - the cheap Hanvon I had before didn't have to be recharged nearly so often. I agree the technology changes regularly but for those of us who only want e-reader on which to download and read books, we really don't need changes that are too frequent.

[Conductor]

I really appreciate Mobile Read Forums and the cast of Experts and Amateurs willing to offer their experiences and knowledge. I fall into the latter category, but I wanted offer what I've found is a great source of information on things electrical--especially the good and bad of various battery types. It's 'rathah British, don't you know' but very informative.
It's on the web as "The Electropaedia", and found at mpoweruk.com/index.htm.
No product sales, just info.

[danskmacabre]

We have 4 Kobo Ereaders in our house.
2 Kobo touches and 2 Kobo Glos

Now obviously as the Kobo Glos are still fairly new (less than a year old I think), battery life is still great, but then they're still pretty new.

But I bought the Kobo Touches very close to when they were released in the USA (I imported them).
They are still used daily, as my wife and I gave them to our kids when we got Kobo Touches.
Battery life on the Touches are still fantastic. I can't put numbers on it, so all I can say is I've not felt that they have reduced battery life.
I expect I wouldn't notice a 20% reduction in battery life anyway.
I DO know my kids read them in bed at night and mornings and quite a bit over the weekends at any time.
They generally never get fully run down and get charged up every few weeks.
Say 3 on an average, sometimes more sometimes less.
Usually more frequently on school holidays.

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by taming

I get that on a purely theoretical level--but given how the technology is changing and the price points we are seeing, I really doubt that I will want to use a 3 year old reader anyway.

PS: Spending $60 for a battery when one paid the price that Amazon was charging in 2007 was one thing. Paying it now, after getting 3 years of service out of it and given the price drop is just different.

Some of us though just collect the things out of a pure physical OCD need to do so, and some of us well with ebay cheap batteries are only a postal service away from us in China.

regards

Jack

[bookgrrl]

I have a two-year-old Kobo Glo with a battery life that's already shot.

I have to charge it at least once a day, since the battery level goes from 100% to 60% after a couple hours of reading. I do use the backlight (that's why I got a Glo) and so I wasn't expecting the battery to last one month, but I wasn't expecting to have to charge it once a day.

The battery loses its charge even when the device is in sleep mode. If I charge the battery to 100% and leave it in sleep mode overnight, the next morning the battery level is down to 80%.

[samhy]

Originally Posted by bookgrrl

The battery loses its charge even when the device is in sleep mode. If I charge the battery to 100% and leave it in sleep mode overnight, the next morning the battery level is down to 80%.

Can you see something touching the screen while the device is in sleep mode? There's a thread regarding this issue.

[filmo]

That bug was caused by a cover with inside pocket that would touched screen while reader was going into sleep mode or off. More likely to happen if reader was turned off by magnet in cover because inside pocket was touching screen. Reader would go into endless loop trying to register touch and couldn't turn off causing the battery to discharge quicker. Power and sleep setting to auto turn off never was user fix you can try. This bug was fixed by a firmware update but this wouldn't be first time a Kobo bug returned with new firmware update.

[vandafc]

Originally Posted by chas0039

I was looking into Kobo as a viable reader and when I asked questions about battery replacement, I was told there is no option for this and Kobo will not replace the battery. She said that you are expected to throw it away and buy a new one every 3 years.

I guess you could just figure it is like a set of tires, but even Amazon will replace your Kindle battery for $60. Maybe I am getting old, but the idea of so many battery powered gadgets with a 3 year life until it is trashed just seems wrong.

$60 is the price of a new kindle right?

[062604]

I have an original Kobo that is now 5 years old. I only use it for knitting patterns, not reading anymore, but the battery is still great (and I probably use it at least 5 times/week for a couple of hours at a time). I think I still charge it less than once a month.

My glo gets a lot of use and is about 2 years old. I maybe charge it every 6 weeks or so.

[Julie Lake]

No matter what anyone says I still think the Kobo battery life is NOT long enough, or else there should be some easy and cheap recharging/replacement option. I'm not worried about imrovements to the technology within three years - I like my Glo fine the way it is (mostly); don't need to upgrade and as these devices are expensive I can't afford to, either. Next time I shall look at any ereader that offers a better battery experience.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

I think most readers on here have problems not upgrading their reader every year so I think battery degradation is the least of our concerns!
With that said, I have no idea how long my Kobo readers last but I know that they last long enough that the infrequent times that I have to charge them it doesn't bother me at all.

[Stephjk]

My Glo is 18 months old and I have to charge it roughly once a week. I do read for several hours a day though so, as the advertised reading time per charge is about 15 hours, I'm still pretty happy with it.

[ExpatVietnam]

I'm late to the game on this thread, but for others that still find themselves here allow me to add my anecdotal information.

I have a Kobo Glo that has a failing battery after 2.5 years. I read approximately 500 hours a year on it and don't charge until it drops below 25%. I use the light for probably 90% of my reading, however always set at 1% -- it is way, way too bright in a lightless room otherwise (e.g., reading in bed with the lights out).

Now it leaps downward from 100% to 70-something percent and so on until it hits the warning stage of "your battery is at X% please plug in to continuing using" [where 'X' is less than 10%] in a matter of days. When I plug it in it immediately jumps to a charge in the 30% range, i.e., the battery is clearly failing.

As others have said, I'm not in a position to pay $135 (original price) every 3 years for a new reader. I realize there are less expensive ones now, but I'm happy enough with my b/w Glo intended solely for reading books.

In short, sigh. A reader shouldn't go to the landfill every couple of years b/c of new technology. AKA unless Kobo adds a battery option, when this one fails I'll be buying from their competitor.