kobo touch battery help?

digital punk · 02-17-2014, 05:25 AM

Hi

My new kobo touch battery lasts around 3 days. Is that really normal for the kobo or should I try and get it replaced? Or is there some bug that's causing it to use more power than it needs?

It lasts about 3 days no matter how much i'm reading or not reading it. It also doesn't give any low battery warnings. One day I'm looking at a battery logo that is half full. Next time I pick it up the screen is frozen and only a hefty recharge brings it back to life.

this can't be normal surely?

dgvirtual · 02-17-2014, 05:42 AM

Mine, which is now almost two years old, lasts far far longer, so i do think you should get it replaced. But first do try upgrading the firmware.

On the other hand, it seems to be a common problem, that the ereader dies when the battery indicator has just been showing a charge above 30%. You can find my tests in this forum, just search for „kobo touch battery"

robko · 02-17-2014, 10:48 AM

That's NOT a normal battery life. I would 2nd the suggestion to make sure you have up to date firmware (do a sync) because there was a bug with some specific devices showing what you are seeing. The other option would be doing a factory reset in case you've ran into the rare situation that a book you've added is causing the issue.
Return/exchange is definitely in order if it doesn't get better.

dakini · 02-17-2014, 12:40 PM

There are a lot of factors that influence battery life. If you're connected to wifi, that will drain the battery faster. If you're reading a large book -- like one with a few MB rather than one that's only a few hundred KB -- that will influence drain. I read a 12 MB book (had a lot of photos in it) and it drained the battery over a few days of normal reading. Mostly, I can go a few weeks without a recharge, as long as I keep wifi off and am reading average-sized files.

I'm sure others here can add other factors that would speed up battery drain. Before assuming it *is* the battery, which it could be, check if it's something that you're doing to cause the drain.

TechniSol · 02-17-2014, 09:16 PM

As I recall, from other posts I've read, Kobo loads the entire file into memory assuming it fits... It makes me wonder if the memory system is segmented in terms of being powered up? If so, it might help explain why larger books seem to drain the battery faster while reading, and perhaps in standby as well if they must keep a larger portion of the memory powered up to preserve the contents... I'm not very well informed regarding the hardware, but it sure would be interesting to look the memory up and see if the chip(s) supports a segmented power scheme of some sort.

As a test, anyone experiencing excessive battery drain might consider looking at the eBook file and using Calibre or an editor to split the file by chapters and see if they get better battery life.

digital punk · 02-18-2014, 10:25 PM

This is quite new so I'm presuming that the firmware was updated when I activated the device? (it logged on to kobo and did some stuff).

The abysmal battery life is also not the only problem. This thing crashes way too much. It will even crash while i'm reading. It doesn't show a sleep message in this case. It takes holding both buttons down for a long time to get it back. When it comes back it the pages are at a wildly different location.

I guess I'm going to write to kobo about it. I'm pretty annoyed. What a waste of time.

davidfor · 02-18-2014, 10:55 PM

With those problems, it could be a faulty device. It could also be a problem with the firmware install when you set the device up. We have had a few reports of weird problem with new Kobo devices. Doing a factory reset and letting the device go through the setup again has fixed a lot of these. If this doesn't help, it is probably a hardware fault and you should ask for a replacement.

digital punk · 02-22-2014, 10:55 PM

I've done now two or three factory resets in total over the last few weeks. No improvements. This thing has some serious problems. Waiting for kobo to write back.

jackastor · 02-23-2014, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by digital punk

I've done now two or three factory resets in total over the last few weeks. No improvements. This thing has some serious problems. Waiting for kobo to write back.

Bring it back to the store you purchased it at, and exchange it for a new unit.

Regards

Jack

02-17-2014, 05:25 AM	#1
digital punk Member Posts: 10 Karma: 12048 Join Date: Jan 2014 Device: kobo + kindle	kobo touch battery help? Hi My new kobo touch battery lasts around 3 days. Is that really normal for the kobo or should I try and get it replaced? Or is there some bug that's causing it to use more power than it needs? It lasts about 3 days no matter how much i'm reading or not reading it. It also doesn't give any low battery warnings. One day I'm looking at a battery logo that is half full. Next time I pick it up the screen is frozen and only a hefty recharge brings it back to life. this can't be normal surely?

02-17-2014, 09:16 PM	#5
TechniSol GranPohbah-Fezzes r cool! Posts: 1,056 Karma: 3151024 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Nook STRs, Kobo Touch, Kobo Glo	As I recall, from other posts I've read, Kobo loads the entire file into memory assuming it fits... It makes me wonder if the memory system is segmented in terms of being powered up? If so, it might help explain why larger books seem to drain the battery faster while reading, and perhaps in standby as well if they must keep a larger portion of the memory powered up to preserve the contents... I'm not very well informed regarding the hardware, but it sure would be interesting to look the memory up and see if the chip(s) supports a segmented power scheme of some sort. As a test, anyone experiencing excessive battery drain might consider looking at the eBook file and using Calibre or an editor to split the file by chapters and see if they get better battery life. Last edited by TechniSol; 02-17-2014 at 09:18 PM.

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02-17-2014, 05:42 AM	#2
dgvirtual Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 2848 Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Lithuania Device: Kobo Glo	Mine, which is now almost two years old, lasts far far longer, so i do think you should get it replaced. But first do try upgrading the firmware. On the other hand, it seems to be a common problem, that the ereader dies when the battery indicator has just been showing a charge above 30%. You can find my tests in this forum, just search for „kobo touch battery"

02-17-2014, 10:48 AM	#3
robko Wizard Posts: 2,454 Karma: 5469320 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo	That's NOT a normal battery life. I would 2nd the suggestion to make sure you have up to date firmware (do a sync) because there was a bug with some specific devices showing what you are seeing. The other option would be doing a factory reset in case you've ran into the rare situation that a book you've added is causing the issue. Return/exchange is definitely in order if it doesn't get better.

02-17-2014, 12:40 PM	#4
dakini not "it" Posts: 236 Karma: 1687996 Join Date: Aug 2012 Device: Kindle 7th gen	There are a lot of factors that influence battery life. If you're connected to wifi, that will drain the battery faster. If you're reading a large book -- like one with a few MB rather than one that's only a few hundred KB -- that will influence drain. I read a 12 MB book (had a lot of photos in it) and it drained the battery over a few days of normal reading. Mostly, I can go a few weeks without a recharge, as long as I keep wifi off and am reading average-sized files. I'm sure others here can add other factors that would speed up battery drain. Before assuming it is the battery, which it could be, check if it's something that you're doing to cause the drain.

02-18-2014, 10:25 PM	#6
digital punk Member Posts: 10 Karma: 12048 Join Date: Jan 2014 Device: kobo + kindle	This is quite new so I'm presuming that the firmware was updated when I activated the device? (it logged on to kobo and did some stuff). The abysmal battery life is also not the only problem. This thing crashes way too much. It will even crash while i'm reading. It doesn't show a sleep message in this case. It takes holding both buttons down for a long time to get it back. When it comes back it the pages are at a wildly different location. I guess I'm going to write to kobo about it. I'm pretty annoyed. What a waste of time.

02-18-2014, 10:55 PM	#7
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,907 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	With those problems, it could be a faulty device. It could also be a problem with the firmware install when you set the device up. We have had a few reports of weird problem with new Kobo devices. Doing a factory reset and letting the device go through the setup again has fixed a lot of these. If this doesn't help, it is probably a hardware fault and you should ask for a replacement.

02-22-2014, 10:55 PM	#8
digital punk Member Posts: 10 Karma: 12048 Join Date: Jan 2014 Device: kobo + kindle	I've done now two or three factory resets in total over the last few weeks. No improvements. This thing has some serious problems. Waiting for kobo to write back.