Battery Problem

artemisblossom · 12-26-2014, 11:30 AM

I just got the Kobo Arc 7hd for Christmas. I have had it about 24 hours and have had to charge the battery 3 times. It seems to drain in an hour or so. Is this typical? I wanted it because it claimed a great battery life but so far I am pretty disappointed. I haven't even read any books I have just been setting it up and side loading a few books.

burnafterreading · 12-26-2014, 01:34 PM

one hour to drain the battery seems pretty fast. if you're sideloading, you're connected via USB to the computer, so that alone ought to recharge the Arc7HD even if slowly.

on my 7HD and 10HD, i removed most of the pre-installed bloatware, so maybe some of that [on your machine] is using up battery power? it could just be updating every app it has and burning through WiFi power and memory write power. if you go into Settings, Battery, you should be able to see which functions are using up most of the battery power. Screen is usually the top culprit, with everything else using quite a bit less. if you tap on the one that seems to be burning through power too quickly, you can then adjust it. i keep my screen at no more than 50% (evening reading it at 10% or less).

assuming you bought it at Future Shop / Best Buy, you can always exchange it if after a week it's still wonky. just have a receipt handy!

artemisblossom · 12-26-2014, 02:49 PM

I have the wifi turned off and uninstalled as many of the apps as it would let me. Several I cant seen to uninstall because they are not showing up in the settings where you have to go to uninstall them. The screen is showing the most usage. it was also fully charged last night when I went to bed and this morning it was so drained it wouldn't turn on. I didn't turn it off though I had the sleep function come on after 5 minute of no use

burnafterreading · 12-26-2014, 03:02 PM

it sounds like something one other person had (in the goodereader.com review of the 7HD, in the comments section). my 7HD / 10HD typically lose around 10% of battery per 24hr period if they're 'sleeping' with wifi off, so you might have a lemon. i'd consider doing a reset (reinstall firmware) in case some of the currently set up firmware isn't jiving right, and next step would be an exchange.

lemons happen. i'm sure i've had a lemon of some product in my lifetime. actually, yeah, i have - it was a $1500 tube preamp for my audio system about a decade ago. got replaced and has been fine since.

teija · 12-26-2014, 07:15 PM

Yeah, it sounds like you have a dud... I would first see if you can exchange it as I wouldn't imagine this should be an issue with another one. Best of luck with the next one!

Joeldmtl · 12-30-2014, 01:17 PM

I know this is a tough question to answer because of all the variables, but what is the typical battery life between charges for the Arc 7HD.

I bought a 7HD too and I'm fairly happy with it, but noticed that when I charged it fully, it displayed that I had 3 hours and some odd minutes of battery time left. Is this typical for a fully charged 7HD?

Secondly, I'm sure I was able to find where the 7HD shows how much battery life is left, but I can't seem to find it now. All I see now is how much battery time has been used. Can someone please let me know how to find time left on battery.

Thank you

burnafterreading · 12-30-2014, 02:00 PM

i'm gonna guess there's too many variables to say that you'll have X hours left. for example, i turn wifi off unless i'm actively downloading/updating my libraries. when reading, i use night-mode (white text on black background) all the time. those two alone probably change drastically how much life i can get out of a full charge compared to another user's scenario.

but absolute max would be 10 days if my "10% loss per 24hr on standby" is a nice constant. but then you're not actually using the device, so... that's irrelevant.

the biggest drain is always the screen. depending on what the main display content / color is (black, white, mid-tone), that'll have the largest effect on how many hours of actual use you get from the device.

no idea on an app or widget that would tell you how much time is left. the way i use my units i get more than enough time to get through a day, and just charge it at night.

artemisblossom · 01-02-2015, 08:58 PM

I took mine back and they were sold out of the 7hd. The sales person told me that he didn't know when the next shipment would be in but there had been at least 5 that he knew of at his store that were returned for the same issues I was having. I decided to go with the 10hd it is bigger than I wanted but it works much better and I am happy with it.

burnafterreading · 01-03-2015, 09:25 AM

interesting. i may have gotten lucky with my 7HD then, though mine does lock up and refuse to wake up on rare occasions. nothing that a reboot doesn't solve, though. the 10HD appears to be fine. i'm keeping them both, the 7 is better for carrying in my pocket when i leave the house (i'd not want to lug the 10 around).

nice thing about the 10 is that it has extra power saving options, and for book reading i set mine to run on just 2 cores (right-most setting). a bit annoying that the USB power jack is upside down from every other device i have, though...

Anthem · 01-06-2015, 11:02 AM

Maybe a bad batch at the store that you went too? That is not normal battery behavior by any means, especially on a brand new tablet.

Then again, what was the manufacturing date of those tablets... the 7 HD came out a good while ago. Late 2013, I believe. The battery should still have a year or two left in it even at that age... but it certainly is no spring chicken, at the same time.

I'm glad everything worked out well with the 10 inch model. It is nice to have a resolution to the problem in the end.

12-26-2014, 11:30 AM	#1
artemisblossom Groupie Posts: 161 Karma: 482 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Ontario Canada Device: Sony prs505	Battery Problem I just got the Kobo Arc 7hd for Christmas. I have had it about 24 hours and have had to charge the battery 3 times. It seems to drain in an hour or so. Is this typical? I wanted it because it claimed a great battery life but so far I am pretty disappointed. I haven't even read any books I have just been setting it up and side loading a few books.

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12-26-2014, 01:34 PM	#2
burnafterreading Groupie Posts: 192 Karma: 1237440 Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Ottawa, Canada Device: Kobo Glo, Arc7HD/10HD, smartphones	one hour to drain the battery seems pretty fast. if you're sideloading, you're connected via USB to the computer, so that alone ought to recharge the Arc7HD even if slowly. on my 7HD and 10HD, i removed most of the pre-installed bloatware, so maybe some of that [on your machine] is using up battery power? it could just be updating every app it has and burning through WiFi power and memory write power. if you go into Settings, Battery, you should be able to see which functions are using up most of the battery power. Screen is usually the top culprit, with everything else using quite a bit less. if you tap on the one that seems to be burning through power too quickly, you can then adjust it. i keep my screen at no more than 50% (evening reading it at 10% or less). assuming you bought it at Future Shop / Best Buy, you can always exchange it if after a week it's still wonky. just have a receipt handy!

12-26-2014, 02:49 PM	#3
artemisblossom Groupie Posts: 161 Karma: 482 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Ontario Canada Device: Sony prs505	I have the wifi turned off and uninstalled as many of the apps as it would let me. Several I cant seen to uninstall because they are not showing up in the settings where you have to go to uninstall them. The screen is showing the most usage. it was also fully charged last night when I went to bed and this morning it was so drained it wouldn't turn on. I didn't turn it off though I had the sleep function come on after 5 minute of no use

12-26-2014, 03:02 PM	#4
burnafterreading Groupie Posts: 192 Karma: 1237440 Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Ottawa, Canada Device: Kobo Glo, Arc7HD/10HD, smartphones	it sounds like something one other person had (in the goodereader.com review of the 7HD, in the comments section). my 7HD / 10HD typically lose around 10% of battery per 24hr period if they're 'sleeping' with wifi off, so you might have a lemon. i'd consider doing a reset (reinstall firmware) in case some of the currently set up firmware isn't jiving right, and next step would be an exchange. lemons happen. i'm sure i've had a lemon of some product in my lifetime. actually, yeah, i have - it was a $1500 tube preamp for my audio system about a decade ago. got replaced and has been fine since.

12-26-2014, 07:15 PM	#5
teija Gadget fiend Posts: 354 Karma: 2111100 Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Kobo Clara HD, Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite 2021, Sony PRS-350	Yeah, it sounds like you have a dud... I would first see if you can exchange it as I wouldn't imagine this should be an issue with another one. Best of luck with the next one!

12-30-2014, 01:17 PM	#6
Joeldmtl Connoisseur Posts: 85 Karma: 12716 Join Date: Jan 2014 Device: Kobo Touch	I know this is a tough question to answer because of all the variables, but what is the typical battery life between charges for the Arc 7HD. I bought a 7HD too and I'm fairly happy with it, but noticed that when I charged it fully, it displayed that I had 3 hours and some odd minutes of battery time left. Is this typical for a fully charged 7HD? Secondly, I'm sure I was able to find where the 7HD shows how much battery life is left, but I can't seem to find it now. All I see now is how much battery time has been used. Can someone please let me know how to find time left on battery. Thank you

12-30-2014, 02:00 PM	#7
burnafterreading Groupie Posts: 192 Karma: 1237440 Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Ottawa, Canada Device: Kobo Glo, Arc7HD/10HD, smartphones	i'm gonna guess there's too many variables to say that you'll have X hours left. for example, i turn wifi off unless i'm actively downloading/updating my libraries. when reading, i use night-mode (white text on black background) all the time. those two alone probably change drastically how much life i can get out of a full charge compared to another user's scenario. but absolute max would be 10 days if my "10% loss per 24hr on standby" is a nice constant. but then you're not actually using the device, so... that's irrelevant. the biggest drain is always the screen. depending on what the main display content / color is (black, white, mid-tone), that'll have the largest effect on how many hours of actual use you get from the device. no idea on an app or widget that would tell you how much time is left. the way i use my units i get more than enough time to get through a day, and just charge it at night.

01-02-2015, 08:58 PM	#8
artemisblossom Groupie Posts: 161 Karma: 482 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Ontario Canada Device: Sony prs505	I took mine back and they were sold out of the 7hd. The sales person told me that he didn't know when the next shipment would be in but there had been at least 5 that he knew of at his store that were returned for the same issues I was having. I decided to go with the 10hd it is bigger than I wanted but it works much better and I am happy with it.

01-03-2015, 09:25 AM	#9
burnafterreading Groupie Posts: 192 Karma: 1237440 Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Ottawa, Canada Device: Kobo Glo, Arc7HD/10HD, smartphones	interesting. i may have gotten lucky with my 7HD then, though mine does lock up and refuse to wake up on rare occasions. nothing that a reboot doesn't solve, though. the 10HD appears to be fine. i'm keeping them both, the 7 is better for carrying in my pocket when i leave the house (i'd not want to lug the 10 around). nice thing about the 10 is that it has extra power saving options, and for book reading i set mine to run on just 2 cores (right-most setting). a bit annoying that the USB power jack is upside down from every other device i have, though...

01-06-2015, 11:02 AM	#10
Anthem Guru Posts: 704 Karma: 1622328 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle Oasis, OnePlus Nord	Maybe a bad batch at the store that you went too? That is not normal battery behavior by any means, especially on a brand new tablet. Then again, what was the manufacturing date of those tablets... the 7 HD came out a good while ago. Late 2013, I believe. The battery should still have a year or two left in it even at that age... but it certainly is no spring chicken, at the same time. I'm glad everything worked out well with the 10 inch model. It is nice to have a resolution to the problem in the end.

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