Quote:
Originally Posted by mezzanine
Does that mean that the battery status indicator could show that the Oasis itself is at 100%, even though it's only maybe at 75% in actuality, in order to increase the number of charge cycles before it's capacity becomes reduced?
The battery is small enough that the idea that they wouldn't use it's full charge capacity seems unlikely. It would reduce what is already a smart phone-like discharge rate.
Thanks for weighing in, induna. I considered contacting Amazon directly about this question, but figured I wouldn't get the kind of detailed technical explanation you've provided.
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The battery status indicator is controlled by software and can show anything the programmer wants it to. It could easily show a 100% charge even if the battery's maximum charge was limited to 90%. I personally don't think the capacity of the small, internal battery is that critical since it is designed to work in concert with the case/charger. It really only needs to last long enough for one reasonably long session. Once put back in the case, it is automatically recharged rather rapidly. Amazon advertises the battery capacity and duration based on the combination of the small internal, and much larger external battery. A 10%-20% reduction in the capacity of the smaller battery would not significantly reduce the combined capacity and would allow the smaller battery to support a significantly higher number of charge/discharge cycles. That's the way I would design it.
Maybe one of our experience Kindle hackers can chime in with what they know, if anything, about how what the charge levels are. The levels will be expressed in volts, with approx. 4.2 representing a 100% charge on most lithium ion cells. Some can go as high as 4.35. If the target maximum charge is less than that, say 4 volts, that would indicate the battery is being charged to less than it's maximum capacity to, presumably, increase the number of cycles it can support.
Cell phone batteries are inevitably cycled through 100% of their capacity since on screen time is a very important feature for users. Much more important than how many cycles the battery will endure.