Kobo Sage charging experience

[AxelH]

Hi folks!

Since I'm a true Kobo-fan I happily purchased the brandnew Kobo Sage as a nice addition to my Forma and his smaller brother Libra. So yesterday it arrived, I happily unpacked, installed the latest SW update, configured it to my well known needs and loaded it with my calibre library. So far, so good.
Today I wanted to charge the battery to 100 perecnt once, grab me one of my well working USB-C cables ( note: the Sage has USB-C !!! ), plugged it into the power plug, expecting that it would charge as fast as my Forma and my Libra.
But... it didn't...
So I told myself to be patient - meanwhile I found that also the Forma needed a charge - and went back to ma work in the HO. Cam back after ca. 1 hour, Forma fully loaded, Sage still around 89 percent - didn't charge much as it seemed. So, as the smart boy I am :-) , I simply tried another plug. Same result. It was getting interesting, so then I used the oroginal cable coming with the decvice, and voila...it pumped the juice into the battery as expected.
Then played a bit with it and other USB-C cables, and it seems that the Sage only works well using the original cable, even does not really work with another USB-C cable with my powerbank

So does anybody have experienced something like that? Or even know what's the different between the original Sage cable and other USB-C cables could be?

Thanx in advance!

Axel

[MGlitch]

Mine charged from near 0 to full in approx 2hrs using a USB C cable from a Nintendo Switch and a power block from Anker. Currently running it down to 0 again before charging, when I do I'll try and get a more exact time. But that's at least comparable to my Forma, if not a little faster.

[anacreon]

Charging with Kobo cable, Samsung wall plug, from circa 0 to 99% = 50 minutes. Full charge (100%) = 70 more minutes, in all 2 hours.
Just like when I calibrated the Sage, it went down rapidly to 1%, but I could read for a few hours (didn't measure) until the device turned itself off. All is in the last percent.

[hobnail]

Sounds like a dodgy cable to me. Do you live near the ocean? If so maybe there's corrosion. But you did say you tried more than one C cable.

[Lynx-lynx]

I can't recall if I've read somewhere in the Kobo forum discussion re Kobo changing it's charging protocol to 85% capacity as the healthiest (?) battery option

Or at least slowing down the charge at that point.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

I can't recall if I've read somewhere in the Kobo forum discussion re Kobo changing it's charging protocol to 85% capacity as the healthiest (?) battery option

Or at least slowing down the charge at that point.

That's an argued about principal for any LiIon battery. The longer a LiIon battery spends at the extremes of the charge levels, the worse it is for the battery and the overall life will be less. For the longest lasting battery, it is recommended to keep the charge level between something like 30% and 70%. But, its a trade-off with runtime. If you do that, it means you can't run the device for as long between plugging it in. And you also need to manage the charge level.

My opinion has always been to just use it. Anything you do to extend the lifetime of the battery basically means you are not actually using the battery for what it is, are a pain to implement and don't necessarily extend the battery lifetime by enough to be worth it.

[Uncle Robin]

FWIW (~0), I've had no issues charging my Sage with any of the several USB-C cables I've tried, both with charging bricks plugged into the wall and portable powerbanks. Just as well, given that its battery life is measured in picoseconds

[coffee123]

Do you recall which power adapter you used to charge your Kobo? I believe Kobo e-readers have an issue when charging with power adapters with programmable power supply (PPS) protocol support. Every PPS USB-C charger I’ve tried has this same issue with the Kobo where it will stop charging after a 10-20% increase. Non-PPS chargers, such as Apple’s 87w USB-C charger, charges to 100%.

[DNSB]

I've used quite a few different power adapters with my Sage. I haven't seen any issues with stopping charging after a 10-20% increase when using a PPS charger. One of those chargers can charge my Lenovo laptop or a MacBook Pro using PD 3.0/PPS.

[rashkae]

Originally Posted by davidfor

My opinion has always been to just use it. Anything you do to extend the lifetime of the battery basically means you are not actually using the battery for what it is, are a pain to implement and don't necessarily extend the battery lifetime by enough to be worth it.

I think the important point is to not deliberately do the hurtful things all the time. Some people charge their devices on a daily basis to keep them all ways 100%. Other people, still reliving the days of NiCd Rechargelable batteries, always try to use them to completion before charging.

[John F]

Originally Posted by rashkae

I think the important point is to not deliberately do the hurtful things all the time. Some people charge their devices on a daily basis to keep them all ways 100%. Other people, still reliving the days of NiCd Rechargelable batteries, always try to use them to completion before charging.

And there is this:

For the longest lasting battery, it is recommended to keep the charge level between something like 30% and 70%.

For people who would like to do this, it would be nice if the battery % was updated.

[Quoth]

It's total cycles (i.e. 4 x 25% discharge = one cycle), temperature and time that sets the life of the cell. The 30% to 70%, or 33% to 66%, is really only for storage or shipping. A decent charge controller won't lett the cell be overcharged or over discharged.

Don't leave it on a windowsill or in a vehicle. Elevated temperature is bad. Freezing can be bad.

[HLS]

Battery is average with normal use but writing and note taking consumes a lot of battery power it seems.