My 2018 Kindle pw battery is very poor

Armybrat · 11-16-2018, 03:13 PM

There is much to like about the new Kindle especially since I replaced an older one which was minus some of the new features. What is not to like is the poor battery life. I have done all the right things but no change. It goes down about 20% in a day or so with moderate reading and no wifi.
I looked at the product homepage on Amazon and searched user comments and there are many with the same issue.
I am not returning it yet, hoping there might be an update due to the high number of buyers with this problem. Also an early replacement might result in getting another K with the same issue.
There are some reviewers praising the battery but the critics outnumber them. I would appreciate any comments and feedback from others. I have not posted a review on Amazon but will soon. Thanks everyone.

rcentros · 11-16-2018, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armybrat

...There are some reviewers praising the battery but the critics outnumber them. I would appreciate any comments and feedback from others. I have not posted a review on Amazon but will soon. Thanks everyone.

Have you checked to see if it's still indexing books? This is a common issue with Kindles when you first move books (especially a lot of them) into it. Until the books are indexed it uses up a lot of battery. Several here have suggested leaving your Kindle plugged in while it's indexing because it will go much faster.

To check to see if books are still indexing, do a search for a nonsensical string of letters, like dkadjeoidjkd (anything that won't actually be found). If the Kindle is indexing it should let you know — sometimes it gets stuck on one book.

Other than that I couldn't tell you why the battery would be weak.

tomsem · 11-16-2018, 04:37 PM

Note: to check indexing it is sufficient to search for ‘.’ (period). One need not strain the brain trying to come up with a ‘nonsense’ string.

Atunah · 11-16-2018, 05:22 PM

or just hit a few letters in a row on the keyboard. The bottom one with no vowels. Not much thinking involved.

rcentros · 11-16-2018, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomsem

Note: to check indexing it is sufficient to search for ‘.’ (period). One need not strain the brain trying to come up with a ‘nonsense’ string.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atunah

or just hit a few letters in a row on the keyboard. The bottom one with no vowels. Not much thinking involved.

Well, it's my nature to make things hard on myself. Thanks for the advice (to both of you). Since the period works I'll just use that in the future. Thanks.

j.p.s · 11-16-2018, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomsem

Note: to check indexing it is sufficient to search for ‘.’ (period). One need not strain the brain trying to come up with a ‘nonsense’ string.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcentros

Well, it's my nature to make things hard on myself. Thanks for the advice (to both of you). Since the period works I'll just use that in the future. Thanks.

This is the first I've heard of "." as a nowhere search string. I'm somewhat curious why it works.

pendragginp · 11-16-2018, 10:31 PM

Yes, I am too.

patrickt · 11-17-2018, 04:50 AM

I'm a compulsive reader. Always have been.I have fond memories of my dad screaming, "Put the damn book down and go out and play ball with the other kids." I have the good fortune, though, to live where we have a steady supply of electricity. So, if my Kindle lost 20% in a day I'd plug it in when I went to bed.

I'm amazed at the problems Kindle owners who don't read have. It amazes me even more that people who can report how much their idle Kindle battery goes down each day worry about it.

I have three Kindle Paperwhite 3s. I'm giving one away to someone who reads but I'd noticed at times the charing light would turn green but the Kindle would show a charge of 95%, more or less. One Kindle charged to 100% and, oddly enough, it was the oldest of the three.

I left the two plugged in for a bit after the light turned green and they all went back up to 100%. Most inportantly to me, is that I can still read a novel with reacherging.

Pizza_Cant_Read · 11-17-2018, 05:43 AM

Thanks for the report, I was thinking about buying one for a friend. Smaller battery leads to more power cycles and a shorter lifespan. I have freak issues with my Oasis v2 battery as it is...water proof is nice but I miss that battery cover. Never would have upgraded from the v1 without the 7 inch screen. Just makes me happy <3

ilovejedd · 11-17-2018, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pizza_Cant_Read

Smaller battery leads to more power cycles and a shorter lifespan.

Iirc, the PW4 has slightly higher battery capacity compared to the PW3. I think it's got a dual-core processor, though, so that might use more power.

HLS · 11-17-2018, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armybrat

There is much to like about the new Kindle especially since I replaced an older one which was minus some of the new features. What is not to like is the poor battery life. I have done all the right things but no change. It goes down about 20% in a day or so with moderate reading and no wifi.
I looked at the product homepage on Amazon and searched user comments and there are many with the same issue.
I am not returning it yet, hoping there might be an update due to the high number of buyers with this problem. Also an early replacement might result in getting another K with the same issue.
There are some reviewers praising the battery but the critics outnumber them. I would appreciate any comments and feedback from others. I have not posted a review on Amazon but will soon. Thanks everyone.

it is stuck indexing _ have a tad over 400 books and it took 5 days for the kindle to stop indexing. also it has a power save feature under settings after it takes the most current update

rcentros · 11-17-2018, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patrickt

I'm amazed at the problems Kindle owners who don't read have. It amazes me even more that people who can report how much their idle Kindle battery goes down each day worry about it.

I think it becomes a problem when you have a certain expectancy for a product and it fails to meet that expectancy. People who own Kindles can expect them to be stay charged for (at least) a couple weeks (without use). When they don't meet that expectation, they're not working as advertised.

I read a lot too, but I don't always use the same eReader. If I pick up a Kindle that's gone dead in a week (without use) then there is an issue with its battery. Actually the Sonys are best in this regard, probably because they completely shut down after a specified amount of time.

patrickt · 11-17-2018, 06:24 PM

"I think it becomes a problem when you have a certain expectancy for a product and it fails to meet that expectancy."

Absolutely. That was a problem for me when I got married, went to college, and went into the military. That darned gap between expectation and reality.

Now, I live with my dog and read on my Kindle.

NiLuJe · 11-18-2018, 11:38 AM

@ilovejedd: They kept the dual-core as an Oasis only thing. The PW4 uses the same CPU as the PW3

.

Armybrat · 11-19-2018, 08:44 AM

I am the OP.
Expectations have pitfalls. So do comparisons such as comparing my new Paperwhite with my 2013 Paperwhite (cost $0) which had dramatically better battery life than my new one
(cost $249). This is another First World problem for me. Thanks for the suggestions.

11-16-2018, 03:13 PM	#1
Armybrat Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 6256 Join Date: May 2018 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	My 2018 Kindle pw battery is very poor There is much to like about the new Kindle especially since I replaced an older one which was minus some of the new features. What is not to like is the poor battery life. I have done all the right things but no change. It goes down about 20% in a day or so with moderate reading and no wifi. I looked at the product homepage on Amazon and searched user comments and there are many with the same issue. I am not returning it yet, hoping there might be an update due to the high number of buyers with this problem. Also an early replacement might result in getting another K with the same issue. There are some reviewers praising the battery but the critics outnumber them. I would appreciate any comments and feedback from others. I have not posted a review on Amazon but will soon. Thanks everyone.

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11-16-2018, 04:37 PM	#3
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,464 Karma: 25996225 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Note: to check indexing it is sufficient to search for ‘.’ (period). One need not strain the brain trying to come up with a ‘nonsense’ string.

11-16-2018, 05:22 PM	#4
Atunah Wizard Posts: 1,817 Karma: 23400001 Join Date: May 2012 Location: USA Device: K1/K3/BasicK Voyage/Oasis1/Oasis3	or just hit a few letters in a row on the keyboard. The bottom one with no vowels. Not much thinking involved.

11-16-2018, 10:31 PM	#7
pendragginp Guru Posts: 985 Karma: 4567263 Join Date: May 2009 Location: The End Of The Earth Device: Several	Yes, I am too.

11-17-2018, 04:50 AM	#8
patrickt Wizard Posts: 1,221 Karma: 8381518 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Oaxaca, Mexico Device: Paperwhite 4 X 2	I'm a compulsive reader. Always have been.I have fond memories of my dad screaming, "Put the damn book down and go out and play ball with the other kids." I have the good fortune, though, to live where we have a steady supply of electricity. So, if my Kindle lost 20% in a day I'd plug it in when I went to bed. I'm amazed at the problems Kindle owners who don't read have. It amazes me even more that people who can report how much their idle Kindle battery goes down each day worry about it. I have three Kindle Paperwhite 3s. I'm giving one away to someone who reads but I'd noticed at times the charing light would turn green but the Kindle would show a charge of 95%, more or less. One Kindle charged to 100% and, oddly enough, it was the oldest of the three. I left the two plugged in for a bit after the light turned green and they all went back up to 100%. Most inportantly to me, is that I can still read a novel with reacherging.

11-17-2018, 05:43 AM	#9
Pizza_Cant_Read Sentient Sauce Posts: 460 Karma: 2519794 Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: China Device: 9th Gen Oasis	Thanks for the report, I was thinking about buying one for a friend. Smaller battery leads to more power cycles and a shorter lifespan. I have freak issues with my Oasis v2 battery as it is...water proof is nice but I miss that battery cover. Never would have upgraded from the v1 without the 7 inch screen. Just makes me happy <3

11-17-2018, 06:24 PM	#13
patrickt Wizard Posts: 1,221 Karma: 8381518 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Oaxaca, Mexico Device: Paperwhite 4 X 2	"I think it becomes a problem when you have a certain expectancy for a product and it fails to meet that expectancy." Absolutely. That was a problem for me when I got married, went to college, and went into the military. That darned gap between expectation and reality. Now, I live with my dog and read on my Kindle.

11-18-2018, 11:38 AM	#14
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,477 Karma: 26012492 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	@ilovejedd: They kept the dual-core as an Oasis only thing. The PW4 uses the same CPU as the PW3 .

11-19-2018, 08:44 AM	#15
Armybrat Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 6256 Join Date: May 2018 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	I am the OP. Expectations have pitfalls. So do comparisons such as comparing my new Paperwhite with my 2013 Paperwhite (cost $0) which had dramatically better battery life than my new one (cost $249). This is another First World problem for me. Thanks for the suggestions.