Go 7 battery life and button placement

apastuszak · 09-08-2026, 09:38 AM

My wife wants an e-reader with physical page-turn buttons. The Go 7 is on the list of devices to look at. Two things that concern me:

Battery Life - How is the battery life on Go 7. If my wife spends 3-4 hours a day reading, how many days of battery life can I expect? I got an estimated battery life of 9 to 10 days from a Claude calculation. But that's an LLM that can hallucinate. So, I'd like some real-world answers from people that use the device.
Page Turn Buttons - The page turn buttons and right on top of each other with no gap between them. Does this cause anyone issues with accidentally turning pages in the wrong direction?

Gormagon · 09-08-2026, 10:44 AM

Since nobody knows what app your wife will use for reading and if she needs the frontlight and/or Wifi, Bluetooth et cetera no on can really say how often a device has to be charged with 3-4 hours reading per day.
Also since it's Android there are usually some apps always active in the background (like the shitty Google apps). You can deactivate (or maybe deinstall) them via settings or adb if you don't need them. Plus you could use Saver Tuner: https://f-droid.org/packages/s1m.savertuner/ (although this requires an adb command to run).

apastuszak · 09-08-2026, 10:48 AM

1. She will probably use KOReader.
2. She will need the front light since she reads at night in the bedroom with the lights off. Assume 50% front light
3. No Bluetooth. But probably needs WiFi for KOReader sync.

Gormagon · 09-08-2026, 10:56 AM

I just looked into my crystal ball...and I see charging every other day considering that the battery should always be in the 20% to 80% range. What I couldn't see, though, was if your wife will use any plugins with KOReader.

Tomorrow I can take a look at my tea leaves if you like. Today it's too late for a cup of tea. If I find a dead duck on the streets I can look at the liver, they used to do that in ancient Rome. Call me Haruspex!

Harmon · 09-08-2026, 06:00 PM

I have a Go 7 Color and the page turn buttons have a gap between them. I can’t imagine that the B&W is any different. But I do have the previous iteration of the device (the Page) where the buttons are like what you talk about, so I wonder if you are looking at a picture of the Page.

bluepeter · 09-09-2026, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harmon

I have a Go 7 Color and the page turn buttons have a gap between them. I can’t imagine that the B&W is any different. But I do have the previous iteration of the device (the Page) where the buttons are like what you talk about, so I wonder if you are looking at a picture of the Page.

It isn't any different. I have a B&W Go 7, and there's a gap between the buttons.

I think (but am not certain) that the original Go7 had the buttons right next to one another, and that the separation was introduced with the Gen II.

Yapyap · Today, 09:05 AM

The Boox Go 7 BW and Boox Go 7 Color Gen II (both were released in spring 2025) have a gap between buttons.

The previous generation of these devices, which didn’t have the gap, were called the Boox Page (for the BW) and the Boox Go 7 Color.

As for battery .. it depends a lot on how it’s used. I have the Go 7 Color Gen II - nice device apart from the colour, which makes the entire device far too dark for my liking, so whenever I’ve used it, I’ve needed to have the frontlight halfway up.

I’d estimate that with wifi off (reading offline) and frontlight halfway up, I’ve got around 15 hours of reading time before charging it (this means battery dropping down to somewhere below 40%, low enough that I’ve wanted to charge it in order to not have to bother with it during reading the next book).

I’d think that the BW version, which likely needs the frontlight on less often / lower brightness, would get around 20 hours of reading time with wifi off.

I only have the wifi on for downloading a book (as I’ve only really used that Boox for library and subscription apps, so .. wifi on, browse for the next book, open it in the appropriate app, wifi off, read offline). I’ve set “turn off” at 2 days / 48 hours idle; when I’m reading on a regular basis, I don’t have it turning off but just let it stay on standby/sleep.

It takes a bit more battery power than dedicated e-readers do when on standby, but turning it on from “off” takes some time so I don’t like doing that every time (plus when it’s been “off”, it opens at the home/library/apps screen, not in the book I was reading; if it’s been on standby, it opens right back into the app/book).

It goes through battery quite fast at the very beginning - when you first turn it on, look around, tweak the various settings (and learn to know/use them), download the apps you need, download a system update, let it update etc. I understand Boox official say is that it takes more battery for the first day or two after a system update or when you first get it, as it runs various background processes to optimise stuff or what not, which it won’t do later on during regular use.

09-08-2026, 09:38 AM	#1
apastuszak Fanatic Posts: 530 Karma: 125599 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Bensalem, PA Device: Kindle Scribe, Nook Glowlight 4, Apple iPad Pro 12.9"	Go 7 battery life and button placement My wife wants an e-reader with physical page-turn buttons. The Go 7 is on the list of devices to look at. Two things that concern me: Battery Life - How is the battery life on Go 7. If my wife spends 3-4 hours a day reading, how many days of battery life can I expect? I got an estimated battery life of 9 to 10 days from a Claude calculation. But that's an LLM that can hallucinate. So, I'd like some real-world answers from people that use the device. Page Turn Buttons - The page turn buttons and right on top of each other with no gap between them. Does this cause anyone issues with accidentally turning pages in the wrong direction?

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09-08-2026, 10:44 AM	#2
Gormagon monstrous mythical beast Posts: 172 Karma: 5078180 Join Date: May 2023 Location: Klopstokia Device: Tab Ultra C, Meebook P78 Pro, Viwoods AIPaper Reader, various NXTPAPER	Since nobody knows what app your wife will use for reading and if she needs the frontlight and/or Wifi, Bluetooth et cetera no on can really say how often a device has to be charged with 3-4 hours reading per day. Also since it's Android there are usually some apps always active in the background (like the shitty Google apps). You can deactivate (or maybe deinstall) them via settings or adb if you don't need them. Plus you could use Saver Tuner: https://f-droid.org/packages/s1m.savertuner/ (although this requires an adb command to run).

09-08-2026, 10:48 AM	#3
apastuszak Fanatic Posts: 530 Karma: 125599 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Bensalem, PA Device: Kindle Scribe, Nook Glowlight 4, Apple iPad Pro 12.9"	1. She will probably use KOReader. 2. She will need the front light since she reads at night in the bedroom with the lights off. Assume 50% front light 3. No Bluetooth. But probably needs WiFi for KOReader sync.

09-08-2026, 10:56 AM	#4
Gormagon monstrous mythical beast Posts: 172 Karma: 5078180 Join Date: May 2023 Location: Klopstokia Device: Tab Ultra C, Meebook P78 Pro, Viwoods AIPaper Reader, various NXTPAPER	I just looked into my crystal ball...and I see charging every other day considering that the battery should always be in the 20% to 80% range. What I couldn't see, though, was if your wife will use any plugins with KOReader. Tomorrow I can take a look at my tea leaves if you like. Today it's too late for a cup of tea. If I find a dead duck on the streets I can look at the liver, they used to do that in ancient Rome. Call me Haruspex!

09-08-2026, 06:00 PM	#5
Harmon King of the Bongo Drums Posts: 1,633 Karma: 5927225 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Excelsior! (Strange...)	I have a Go 7 Color and the page turn buttons have a gap between them. I can’t imagine that the B&W is any different. But I do have the previous iteration of the device (the Page) where the buttons are like what you talk about, so I wonder if you are looking at a picture of the Page.

Today, 09:05 AM	#7
Yapyap Guru Posts: 978 Karma: 5555555 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Estonia Device: Kindle Oasis 2, Boox Go 7 Colour Gen II, Boox Go 10.3	The Boox Go 7 BW and Boox Go 7 Color Gen II (both were released in spring 2025) have a gap between buttons. The previous generation of these devices, which didn’t have the gap, were called the Boox Page (for the BW) and the Boox Go 7 Color. As for battery .. it depends a lot on how it’s used. I have the Go 7 Color Gen II - nice device apart from the colour, which makes the entire device far too dark for my liking, so whenever I’ve used it, I’ve needed to have the frontlight halfway up. I’d estimate that with wifi off (reading offline) and frontlight halfway up, I’ve got around 15 hours of reading time before charging it (this means battery dropping down to somewhere below 40%, low enough that I’ve wanted to charge it in order to not have to bother with it during reading the next book). I’d think that the BW version, which likely needs the frontlight on less often / lower brightness, would get around 20 hours of reading time with wifi off. I only have the wifi on for downloading a book (as I’ve only really used that Boox for library and subscription apps, so .. wifi on, browse for the next book, open it in the appropriate app, wifi off, read offline). I’ve set “turn off” at 2 days / 48 hours idle; when I’m reading on a regular basis, I don’t have it turning off but just let it stay on standby/sleep. It takes a bit more battery power than dedicated e-readers do when on standby, but turning it on from “off” takes some time so I don’t like doing that every time (plus when it’s been “off”, it opens at the home/library/apps screen, not in the book I was reading; if it’s been on standby, it opens right back into the app/book). It goes through battery quite fast at the very beginning - when you first turn it on, look around, tweak the various settings (and learn to know/use them), download the apps you need, download a system update, let it update etc. I understand Boox official say is that it takes more battery for the first day or two after a system update or when you first get it, as it runs various background processes to optimise stuff or what not, which it won’t do later on during regular use.