MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Kobo Sage's Horrible battery: WHHHYYYYYYY????

Quoth · 05-17-2025, 09:36 AM

It's not totally horrible. I can certainly read from dusk to dawn, or vice versa and have charge left. Might be an issue camping for a week without a power bank or other charge source.

However I don't use WiFi, BT or Front light.

Note large text uses up charge faster on all ereaders as the page turns are most of the power consumption if everything else is off.

I don't charge more than about once a week, partly because I don't rush to disconnect after connecting to Calibre the 2nd time when adding more ebooks.

I read daily.

Certainly while it would be nice for a bigger cell and ditching the 6 or 8 stupid big magnets for the power cover (which by all accounts I've read is useless compared to a power bank), I'll not hold my breath. I recently bought a second Sage, because it seems more decisions are made by crayon dept than anyone with sense, so I figure an 8″ replacement of Sage will be fatally flawed.

There is space in theory for a bigger cell, but the stiffening ribs of the alloy chassis are in the way. If the battery (really a cell) dies I may try using "Dremel"-like tool to remove ribs to fit a larger cell. Of course that's a risk to screen and a larger area without ribs makes flexing and thus breaking the screen likely.

I do have a Libra 2, Libra (best for doing narration or reading speech because button turn is 100% reliable), 7.8″ Mars. I did have Aura HD H2O, Elipsa, reMarkable and still have a Sony PRS350, Kindle PW3, K3 and DXG. I've had a nook ST, Kobo touch, iRiver Storybook Cover, Binatone, Kindle PW1, Kindle Basic, Nia and Sony PRS-T2. Some died and some passed to others.

I find the Sage best compromise of size, weight, functions and don't find the shorter than Libra battery life an issue.

Note the 8″ at similar brightness to a 6″ model with frontlight will inherently use a bit more than twice the power for that lighting (area and less efficient light pipe to cover greater distance from edges with even light). Page turns should be less often at same size font, but take nearly twice the power of a 6″ model.

So yes, it should have a larger battery (cell), but I'd not notice the poorer battery life compared to the Libra models unless I measured it.

Reading without built-in light, BT, WiFi and paperback book size font mitigates charge run time.

05-17-2025, 09:36 AM	#3
Quoth Still reading Posts: 14,236 Karma: 105299897 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	It's not totally horrible. I can certainly read from dusk to dawn, or vice versa and have charge left. Might be an issue camping for a week without a power bank or other charge source. However I don't use WiFi, BT or Front light. Note large text uses up charge faster on all ereaders as the page turns are most of the power consumption if everything else is off. I don't charge more than about once a week, partly because I don't rush to disconnect after connecting to Calibre the 2nd time when adding more ebooks. I read daily. Certainly while it would be nice for a bigger cell and ditching the 6 or 8 stupid big magnets for the power cover (which by all accounts I've read is useless compared to a power bank), I'll not hold my breath. I recently bought a second Sage, because it seems more decisions are made by crayon dept than anyone with sense, so I figure an 8″ replacement of Sage will be fatally flawed. There is space in theory for a bigger cell, but the stiffening ribs of the alloy chassis are in the way. If the battery (really a cell) dies I may try using "Dremel"-like tool to remove ribs to fit a larger cell. Of course that's a risk to screen and a larger area without ribs makes flexing and thus breaking the screen likely. I do have a Libra 2, Libra (best for doing narration or reading speech because button turn is 100% reliable), 7.8″ Mars. I did have Aura HD H2O, Elipsa, reMarkable and still have a Sony PRS350, Kindle PW3, K3 and DXG. I've had a nook ST, Kobo touch, iRiver Storybook Cover, Binatone, Kindle PW1, Kindle Basic, Nia and Sony PRS-T2. Some died and some passed to others. I find the Sage best compromise of size, weight, functions and don't find the shorter than Libra battery life an issue. Note the 8″ at similar brightness to a 6″ model with frontlight will inherently use a bit more than twice the power for that lighting (area and less efficient light pipe to cover greater distance from edges with even light). Page turns should be less often at same size font, but take nearly twice the power of a 6″ model. So yes, it should have a larger battery (cell), but I'd not notice the poorer battery life compared to the Libra models unless I measured it. Reading without built-in light, BT, WiFi and paperback book size font mitigates charge run time.