Oasis Battery Life Concern

[mezzanine]

Originally Posted by NullNix

Nah. The Oasis always runs from its internal battery, but if it's attached to the cover the cover will top it up as and when the magic gnomes in the software see fit (normally around 85%, but sometimes as low as 70% before getting topped right back up to 94). There is an I2C protocol
between the cover and the Oasis itself on two of the cover pins. God knows what's passing down there, though some of it appears to be DRM to try to stop third-party cover manufacturers who might undercut them on price (God bless our new anticompetitive tech overlords, though given the quality of Chinese chargers half those cheaper covers would probably set your hands on fire too).

In practice you don't care: it's 'as if' it runs from the case battery, because the usable capacity of the thing in the cover is equal to the capacities of both batteries added together.

That's great info. Thanks.

I disagree about the equivalence between using the case battery as the primary vs. the device itself. I was hoping that the device used the case battery first and am concerned about the life expectancy of the internal battery because it's so small. I realize I'm in a small minority in worrying about this issue.

My prediction is that we'll see some controversy over batteries going bad in the Oasis prematurely in the next couple of years.

[JSWolf]

The solution is don't buy the Oasis. Buy a Voyage or PW3 instead.

[issybird]

Members are not to engage in attacks on other members. It's notably egregious when a member has not participated in a discussion.

[Waitingforatrain]

Here is an article that might be useful to this discussion:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...ased_batteries

Battery degradation is a real issue -- especially for those in our smartphones. My last phone had issues after just a year. I was one to typically put it on the charger at night while sleeping. Extended time sitting at 100% capacity is NOT good for long term battery life. Battery cycles get used up quickly that way. Current phone is rarely charged higher than 80% and I try to charge it when it is at 20-30% left. I get 4+ hours of screen on time (which is plenty for me). Now our kindles, I would think, are gentler on the battery (reading isn't so battery intensive) and you aren't charging it every day or even every week so it would take quite a bit longer to use up the 300 to 500 lifetime cycles. Most of a full battery cycle is used when the battery is <20% or charging to > 80%. Because of my experience with my last phone I would be less inclined to keeping my Oasis in its' cover for an extended period of time when possible. I have a Voyage and it seems like weeks go by before I have to charge it and even then I just charge it for an hour or so most of the time and seldom wait for the light to go green (unless traveling).

Now we also have a hybrid car so it'll be interesting to see how long that battery lasts (if we keep it long enough that is). I believe that I saw something on that web site about how car manufacturer's have the car systems set to not let the battery charge beyond a certain point to prolong battery life. That would make sense for such an expensive battery. I've never seen the battery meter go past ~80% before the gas engine kicks in.

My Lenovo laptop has a conservation mode setting to limit charging the battery past 60% when connected to AC for the same reason. This has worked out well for me. I can charge to 100% when I really need the extra juice.

[knc1]

Your hybrid car has a much, much more sophisticated battery management than any hand held or portable device can afford.

Staying below 80% (or 60%) does cut down on the fire hazard.

Of interest here to portable equipment users, the DRY Li-Ion battery:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQrklCHmt3Y
Skip forward to 30:50