My 2018 Kindle pw battery is very poor - Page 2

Wearever · 11-19-2018, 08:49 AM

One thing to keep in mind about battery problems, is that the batteries are replaceable on all kindles. The only exception being the Oasis 2. Even with the Oasis 1, you can find new replacement battery covers. If it's a new Kindle then it can be exchanged for another under warranty.

As far as expectations most folks will want their new devices battery to last as long as their last device that was acceptable to them.

C.S. · 11-19-2018, 01:03 PM

What is considered "normal" for the PW4 battery?

It doesn't seem to last as long as my PW2 did.

I got it on Wednesday the 7th (the day it launched), charged it up with wi-fi on, and started reading on it that night. Oddly enough, it was at 96% after I finished charging and turned wi-fi off, but it jumped up to 98% when I went to read it that night. I wonder if my PW4 is still "learning" the battery?

As of Sunday night/Monday morning (roughly a week and a 1/2 later), it is down to 48%. (The PW2, of course, never had a percentage indicator.) It seems to drain 2-3% every day, maybe more sometimes.

Some notes about my usage:

- I started with a clean slate and did not download any old books
- My light is set to 10
- I keep wi-fi off most of the time unless downloading new books
- Bluetooth is off and has never been used
- I download 1-2 new books per day (ones I buy, freebies, KU books, or older books I want to read)
- I definitely read more than the 30 minutes a day Amazon always uses as a benchmark

Disappointed that the battery life isn't as good as my PW2, but if what I'm describing is considered normal, I guess I'll have to live with it.

HLS · 11-19-2018, 01:52 PM

So far my Kobo Aura Edition 2 has the best battery life. I charged it weeks ago and the battery meter still shows full. The new paperwhite is better than the oasis but not as good as the older paperwhites or the voyage. I regret selling my voyage.

Wearever · 11-19-2018, 03:45 PM

My husband said he likes the Paperwhite 4, but the contrast is a little darker on the PW3. He has used it both with audible and without. The battery goes down faster with audio but not as bad as my Oasis 2. That's with the light off both. All and all he likes the new Paperwhite. He kept his PW3 and will use that as back up. He also likes that it's waterproof and has more storage.

I still like my Voyage too.

I now have a back up for my back up. There are still plenty of covers for them.

barryem · 11-19-2018, 07:45 PM

I also get better battery life on both my Kobos and my Nooks than on my Kindles. However I haven't noticed the battery life being any different on the PW4 than on the PW3. I haven't measured anything but if there's a difference it's not easily noticeable.

Barry

enaid1 · 11-19-2018, 08:11 PM

I am so glad to read other people are experiencing this battery issue. Since receiving the Kindle on Nov. 7, I’ve already had to recharge it once. I haven’t used Bluetooth or audio.

ramona11 · 11-19-2018, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enaid1

I am so glad to read other people are experiencing this battery issue. Since receiving the Kindle on Nov. 7, I’ve already had to recharge it once. I haven’t used Bluetooth or audio.

Wow this thread makes me reconsider to buy pw4. Are you a heavy reader ?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Paperbackstash · 11-19-2018, 10:17 PM

I've also found the battery a little weaker than the PW3. I'm curious to try it out at 100% side by side with a PW3, reading on both for an hour separately. May try it this weekend just for my own curiosity.

enaid1 · 11-20-2018, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramona11

Wow this thread makes me reconsider to buy pw4. Are you a heavy reader ?

Heavy? I have read two longish novels in the past two weeks, so let's say 10 hours of reading?

After two hours or so of reading over the past day my PW4 went from 57% to 48%.

HarryT · 11-20-2018, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enaid1

Heavy? I have read two longish novels in the past two weeks, so let's say 10 hours of reading?

After two hours or so of reading over the past day my PW4 went from 57% to 48%.

Amazon say:

Quote:

A single charge lasts up to six weeks, based on half an hour of reading per day with wireless off and the light setting at 13. Battery life will vary based on light and wireless usage.

So that works out at 6 x 7 x 0.5 = 21h reading time, which sounds pretty much on a par with what you’re getting.

enaid1 · 11-21-2018, 12:36 PM

Well, here's another anecdote: I charged my PW4 to 100% yesterday. Then I read about half of a shortish book (_A Darker Shade of Magic_ by VE Schwab). This morning the Kindle is at 92%.

Maybe nothing has changed, but this feels like a lot faster than my previous Paperwhite (no idea of version, bought refurb in 2016).

Shad Plante · 11-21-2018, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enaid1

Well, here's another anecdote: I charged my PW4 to 100% yesterday. Then I read about half of a shortish book (_A Darker Shade of Magic_ by VE Schwab). This morning the Kindle is at 92%.

Maybe nothing has changed, but this feels like a lot faster than my previous Paperwhite (no idea of version, bought refurb in 2016).

Going back to HarryT's point about the advertised battery life being about 21 hours. If you assume that is 21 hours from fully charged to 20%, then 8% would be approximately 2.1 hours of reading time which sounds somewhere in the ballpark for reading half of A Darker Shade of Magic.

That being said, you may very well be getting worse battery life than before. It is also possible that since you have a battery percentage, you are noticing the drain more than you did before. The firmware change that put the battery percentage on the Paperwhite came out about the same time as the PW4. Have you read much on the other Paperwhite with the battery percentage?

ilovejedd · 11-21-2018, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shad Plante

It is also possible that since you have a battery percentage, you are noticing the drain more than you did before. The firmware change that put the battery percentage on the Paperwhite came out about the same time as the PW4. Have you read much on the other Paperwhite with the battery percentage?

Agreed. Before, there was no way to quantify battery life unless you go from full charge down to empty and measure the number of hours spent reading or the number of pages/page turns.

I usually charged my PW3 once the battery bar was around midpoint. Whether that was 40, 50 or 60%, I couldn't really tell.

Really, only way to gauge without bias is to test side by side an older PW model and PW4 both running the same (or closest) firmware versions with same settings, library status and book being read, and note the battery drain for the same work.

rcentros · 11-21-2018, 01:45 PM

Does anyone know yet if they used a smaller battery in the PW4? That might explain a slightly shorter battery life.

ilovejedd · 11-21-2018, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcentros

Does anyone know yet if they used a smaller battery in the PW4? That might explain a slightly shorter battery life.

That's the thing. Afaik, Amazon used a slightly larger battery on the PW4 (1500 mAh) vs PW3 (1420 mAh?).

11-19-2018, 08:49 AM	#16
Wearever Wizard Posts: 1,063 Karma: 10944084 Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: New England Device: Oasis 2,Voyage, Kindlle hdx 8.9, Ipad mini 4. Air 2	One thing to keep in mind about battery problems, is that the batteries are replaceable on all kindles. The only exception being the Oasis 2. Even with the Oasis 1, you can find new replacement battery covers. If it's a new Kindle then it can be exchanged for another under warranty. As far as expectations most folks will want their new devices battery to last as long as their last device that was acceptable to them. Last edited by Wearever; 11-19-2018 at 03:30 PM.

11-19-2018, 01:03 PM	#17
C.S. Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 190438 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Parts Unknown Device: Kindle Paperwhite 4	What is considered "normal" for the PW4 battery? It doesn't seem to last as long as my PW2 did. I got it on Wednesday the 7th (the day it launched), charged it up with wi-fi on, and started reading on it that night. Oddly enough, it was at 96% after I finished charging and turned wi-fi off, but it jumped up to 98% when I went to read it that night. I wonder if my PW4 is still "learning" the battery? As of Sunday night/Monday morning (roughly a week and a 1/2 later), it is down to 48%. (The PW2, of course, never had a percentage indicator.) It seems to drain 2-3% every day, maybe more sometimes. Some notes about my usage: - I started with a clean slate and did not download any old books - My light is set to 10 - I keep wi-fi off most of the time unless downloading new books - Bluetooth is off and has never been used - I download 1-2 new books per day (ones I buy, freebies, KU books, or older books I want to read) - I definitely read more than the 30 minutes a day Amazon always uses as a benchmark Disappointed that the battery life isn't as good as my PW2, but if what I'm describing is considered normal, I guess I'll have to live with it. Last edited by C.S.; 11-19-2018 at 01:06 PM.

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11-19-2018, 01:52 PM	#18
HLS Wizard Posts: 2,027 Karma: 15107670 Join Date: May 2017 Device: Sage, Scribe, Boox Note 2 Plus, iPad Pros and Samsungs S6,S7,S8	So far my Kobo Aura Edition 2 has the best battery life. I charged it weeks ago and the battery meter still shows full. The new paperwhite is better than the oasis but not as good as the older paperwhites or the voyage. I regret selling my voyage.

11-19-2018, 03:45 PM	#19
Wearever Wizard Posts: 1,063 Karma: 10944084 Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: New England Device: Oasis 2,Voyage, Kindlle hdx 8.9, Ipad mini 4. Air 2	My husband said he likes the Paperwhite 4, but the contrast is a little darker on the PW3. He has used it both with audible and without. The battery goes down faster with audio but not as bad as my Oasis 2. That's with the light off both. All and all he likes the new Paperwhite. He kept his PW3 and will use that as back up. He also likes that it's waterproof and has more storage. I still like my Voyage too. I now have a back up for my back up. There are still plenty of covers for them.

11-19-2018, 07:45 PM	#20
barryem Wizard Posts: 2,459 Karma: 68781975 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Arkansas Device: Paperwhite 4	I also get better battery life on both my Kobos and my Nooks than on my Kindles. However I haven't noticed the battery life being any different on the PW4 than on the PW3. I haven't measured anything but if there's a difference it's not easily noticeable. Barry

11-19-2018, 08:11 PM	#21
enaid1 Member Posts: 12 Karma: 6256 Join Date: May 2017 Device: iPhone	I am so glad to read other people are experiencing this battery issue. Since receiving the Kindle on Nov. 7, I’ve already had to recharge it once. I haven’t used Bluetooth or audio.

11-19-2018, 10:17 PM	#23
Paperbackstash Wizard Posts: 1,589 Karma: 20086276 Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: Central Florida Device: Oasis 3, PW 3, 4, 5, Fire HD 2012, Fire HD 8 (8th Gen)	I've also found the battery a little weaker than the PW3. I'm curious to try it out at 100% side by side with a PW3, reading on both for an hour separately. May try it this weekend just for my own curiosity.

11-21-2018, 12:36 PM	#26
enaid1 Member Posts: 12 Karma: 6256 Join Date: May 2017 Device: iPhone	Well, here's another anecdote: I charged my PW4 to 100% yesterday. Then I read about half of a shortish book (_A Darker Shade of Magic_ by VE Schwab). This morning the Kindle is at 92%. Maybe nothing has changed, but this feels like a lot faster than my previous Paperwhite (no idea of version, bought refurb in 2016).

11-21-2018, 01:45 PM	#29
rcentros eReader Wrangler Posts: 7,441 Karma: 48453105 Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Boise, ID Device: PB HD3, GL3, Tolino Vision 4, Voyage, Clara HD	Does anyone know yet if they used a smaller battery in the PW4? That might explain a slightly shorter battery life.