Battery life when using text to speech

ficbot · 01-18-2010, 10:31 PM

Are there reliable stats on how use of text to speech affects the battery? I charged my new Kindle on Friday overnight and didn't use it much on Saturday. Sunday I was out shopping and had it on (using text to speech) for most of the day. But this morning it was only down about half of the first bar. I used it for about 45 minutes (cumulative) today with text to speech on and now am reading it in normal mode. The battery is half-empty.

Is this normal? Granted, my marathon shopping day was a bit of an exception and I normally wouldn't have it on for quite that long. But half a bar in three days doesn't quite seem like 'go two weeks without charging' so I want to make sure everything is behaving normally. With half an hour a day of text to speech plus an hour or so of normal reading, how long will the battery last? Does its current depletement make sense given the use it has had over the last few days, or should I be worried.

TallMomof2 · 01-18-2010, 11:07 PM

I only use text to speech on trips and I find that the battery goes down faster but I usually carry a charger in the car so I can keep it charged on long trips.

CyberBiker · 01-19-2010, 10:05 PM

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I spent an entire day driving with my K2 in text to speech mode (about 8 hours). That took up over 1/2 the battery, but I guess I sort of expected that mode to significantly cut down on the battery life. It does last nearly a week if I don't use the wireless too much other than to check for new material from time to time.

ficbot · 01-19-2010, 10:38 PM

Thanks! Just wanted to make sure mine wasn't defective or something.

=X= · 01-20-2010, 06:11 PM

Yeah, I can't remember what Amazon documentation mentioned that TTS will shorten the battery life but it does and they warn you.

But it does make sense, the reason most eInk devices last so long is they are not using any CPU power to drive the video and very little CPU power to power the device. When you are listening to TTS you are using CPU power to convert the text to audio. Personally I was amazed at how little TTS eat the battery. I listened to TTS for about 15hrs before I had to recharge my battery. Which is close to your statistic.

=X=

ficbot · 01-20-2010, 07:22 PM

Yes, that does make sense, X. I guess since my Kindle is new I wanted to make sure that if it *was* defective, I could return it within whatever critical window. If this is just normal use and I will need to charge it more if I use this feature, that is fine. The feature is worth it to me and is why I bought a new reader. I love being able to go to the gym and have something good to listen to, I am not a huge music person and get bored with an ipod.

Sullivan · 01-22-2010, 07:14 PM

Mine also loses battery life a lot quicker, but it makes a lot of sense you are using far more power. Though at the same time it does last quite a while which is good.

01-18-2010, 10:31 PM	#1
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Battery life when using text to speech Are there reliable stats on how use of text to speech affects the battery? I charged my new Kindle on Friday overnight and didn't use it much on Saturday. Sunday I was out shopping and had it on (using text to speech) for most of the day. But this morning it was only down about half of the first bar. I used it for about 45 minutes (cumulative) today with text to speech on and now am reading it in normal mode. The battery is half-empty. Is this normal? Granted, my marathon shopping day was a bit of an exception and I normally wouldn't have it on for quite that long. But half a bar in three days doesn't quite seem like 'go two weeks without charging' so I want to make sure everything is behaving normally. With half an hour a day of text to speech plus an hour or so of normal reading, how long will the battery last? Does its current depletement make sense given the use it has had over the last few days, or should I be worried.

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01-18-2010, 11:07 PM	#2
TallMomof2 Kindlephilia Posts: 2,017 Karma: 1139255 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Snowpacolypse 2010 Device: Too many to count	I only use text to speech on trips and I find that the battery goes down faster but I usually carry a charger in the car so I can keep it charged on long trips.

01-19-2010, 10:05 PM	#3
CyberBiker Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kindle2	Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I spent an entire day driving with my K2 in text to speech mode (about 8 hours). That took up over 1/2 the battery, but I guess I sort of expected that mode to significantly cut down on the battery life. It does last nearly a week if I don't use the wireless too much other than to check for new material from time to time.

01-19-2010, 10:38 PM	#4
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Thanks! Just wanted to make sure mine wasn't defective or something.

01-20-2010, 06:11 PM	#5
=X= Wizard Posts: 3,671 Karma: 12205348 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Galaxy S, Nook w/CM7	Yeah, I can't remember what Amazon documentation mentioned that TTS will shorten the battery life but it does and they warn you. But it does make sense, the reason most eInk devices last so long is they are not using any CPU power to drive the video and very little CPU power to power the device. When you are listening to TTS you are using CPU power to convert the text to audio. Personally I was amazed at how little TTS eat the battery. I listened to TTS for about 15hrs before I had to recharge my battery. Which is close to your statistic. =X=

01-20-2010, 07:22 PM	#6
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Yes, that does make sense, X. I guess since my Kindle is new I wanted to make sure that if it was defective, I could return it within whatever critical window. If this is just normal use and I will need to charge it more if I use this feature, that is fine. The feature is worth it to me and is why I bought a new reader. I love being able to go to the gym and have something good to listen to, I am not a huge music person and get bored with an ipod.

01-22-2010, 07:14 PM	#7
Sullivan Connoisseur Posts: 65 Karma: 36 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: none	Mine also loses battery life a lot quicker, but it makes a lot of sense you are using far more power. Though at the same time it does last quite a while which is good.

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