Kindle battery question

[GA Russell]

Would I extend the life of my Kindle battery if I kept it plugged in all the time?

Thanks!

[mpeg2]

Probably not (probably will shorten the life). LiIon batteries are typically happiest if kept within the range of 20%-80% charge.

Might be better to simply charge it when needed.

[tekkasit]

* Never let your Kindle out of battery. Don't let it die over weeks or months.
* Even if it's not your daily driver, periodically turn it on to check the battery level at least once a month.
* Avoid full charge. Anything above 80% will accelerate battery aging and shortens battery life.
* LiPo battery doesn't have a memory effect. You may charge as frequently as you need.
* Battery doesn't like heat. Don't leave it in a car under the scorching sun; leave it on the beach under the sun or in any similar condition.

My preference is around 40-70%.

[monophoto]

I generally agree with the advice others have offered.

Last year, I went through a rather torturous issue with a cell phone battery that caused me to become a bit paranoid about batteries in general. So this is something that I worry about (probably too much).

Unfortunately, the battery charge status is not displayed continuously on a Kindle (I wish it were). So periodically (every two or three days), I 'pretend' to want to go to the Library page just to turn on the battery display. When I see that the battery level is below 40%, I put it on the charger and leave it until the green LED comes on. That seems to happen around 95%, and I try to be alert enough to stop charging when that happens. However, sometimes my attention is distracted and it does continue to charge for a while, but I try not to get hyper about that.

Kindles are notoriously frugal when it comes to battery consumption, and my experience is that I only need to charge about once a week, even though I may use my Kindle several hours every day. You can extend the charging cycle by putting your device into 'airplane mode' which turns off both WiFi and Bluetooth. I don't do that when I'm at home because our home WiFi is on all the time, but I have developed the habit of going to airplane mode if I'm going to be traveling from one location to another for several hours. This practice is based on my cell phone experience that batteries drain faster when a phone is outside cell coverage; I suspect a similar phenomenon applies to Kindles and WiFi.

Kindles weren't designed to allow battery replacement, and Amazon doesn't recommend replacement even though there is at least one battery supplier who sells replacement batteries. That supplier has produced a YouTube video illustrating how to disassemble a Kindle to access the battery - in my opinion, the disassembly process is close to being destructive, so I would not try it myself. The information I have seen suggests that the battery in a Kindle should last many years. Given that new models are being introduced every couple of years, and the price of a new Kindle is not that much greater than the price of a replacement battery, it seems to me that replacing the device when the battery ages to the point where it can no longer hold a charge, is probably the optimum ownership approach.

[NullNix]

Originally Posted by monophoto

Unfortunately, the battery charge status is not displayed continuously on a Kindle (I wish it were). So periodically (every two or three days), I 'pretend' to want to go to the Library page just to turn on the battery display.

Uh, you can just tap on the upper half of the screen. No need to go all the way out to the library page

[GA Russell]

Thanks very much, everyone!

I'll be charging my Kindle much less frequently from now on.