Battery Life

[DrivingTest]

The battery in my Kindle Paperwhite needs charging more and more frequently. Does anyone know if it's possible to replace the battery or is it a case of having to buy a new Kindle?

[monophoto]

Kindles were not designed to support battery replacement. They are assembled with adhesives, not screws, so they have to be pried apart to get to the battery, and then putting them back together is a problem. Amazon does not sell replacement batteries, nor do they offer a battery replacement service.

There are companies who sell retrofit batteries for Kindles, but they are pretty pricey compared with the cost of replacing a Kindle, especially with Amazon's trade-in program that gets you a nice discount on the replacement. And then there is the matter of actually doing the replacement. My neighbor brags that he has four kids with cellphones, so he's become an expert at disassembling phones and tablets to replace batteries and screens. Good for him - I'm a DIYer, but I wouldn't attempt to replace a Kindle battery. option is to go to one of those cell phone repair kiosks you see in shopping malls and airports.

Battery life is finite and eventually the internal electrochemical reaction slows to the point where it can no longer accept charge - the best measurement is the number of charge/recharge cycles that it can support. Apple has said that they specify the batteries in their devices to last a minimum of 500 cycles, but I haven't seen a similar figure for any other manufacturer. Amazon is particularly silent on this point.

Kindles in general are pretty miserly when it comes to battery use. You will see claims that they only need to be charged every 8-10 days - that's BS. Charging frequency is a function of how much you read, whether you keep it in airplane mode, how bright you set the screen, ambient temperature, whether you leave it on the charger after it is fully charged, and age. Mine is coming up on three years old, and I read a lot; I need to recharge every 3-4 days.

[Quoth]

Only if you think $10 to $15 is pricey. Some Kindles such as DX and KK3 are easy to open, others harder and some are almost impossible.

The Oasis might be almost impossible. There are 5 or 6 sorts of Paperwhite. Some might be popped open.

Sadly the Lithium cells also age with time and temperature, not just notionally complete cycles which can be 100 to 1000 depending on quality and temperature.
My PRS350 must be close to 12 years old and still reasonable life. I've had to replace KK3/K3 and DXG batteries (really cells) about 9 years old and phone batteries only 5 years old.

Phones batteries can have the worst life due to needing charged far more often.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Only if you think $10 to $15 is pricey. Some Kindles such as DX and KK3 are easy to open, others harder and some are almost impossible.

The Oasis might be almost impossible. There are 5 or 6 sorts of Paperwhite. Some might be popped open.

Sadly the Lithium cells also age with time and temperature, not just notionally complete cycles which can be 100 to 1000 depending on quality and temperature.
My PRS350 must be close to 12 years old and still reasonable life. I've had to replace KK3/K3 and DXG batteries (really cells) about 9 years old and phone batteries only 5 years old.

Phones batteries can have the worst life due to needing charged far more often.

Thanks for reminding me: I have a Kindle Touch ('KT4'), which is amenable to battery replacement, and needs one. A '5 minute job' according to iFixit.