PW3: Do Adverts run down battery?

[Quoth]

Someone else's PW3/2015 model.

Battery life was very poor.

No WiFi (Aeroplane mode) and display of adverts was blocked by replacing a directory (folder) with a file.
So I swapped it with my newer PW3/2015 bought in October 2018 as I mostly use original Kobo H2O.

I deregistered both and re-registered with users swapped. Found that on my Amazon account the "newly registered" model still had "Special Offers". Probably illegal under GDPR. Also they charge £10 to remove this even though the subsidy was years ago. I think it would be illegal behaviour for phone operators in EU who now must unlock a phone for free after a certain time to recover subsidy.

Battery life still not perfect not dreadful, more like what would be expected with an older built model.

So did more recent Firmware add a "secret wake & fetch adverts via WiFi mode" or was it the advert display blocking that made battery life so poor that not even one evening was supported?
Or could it have been a particular book? Books removed and easily swapped via Calibre as user always downloads from Amazon via USB and makes backups, thus reloaded.
I presume the actual downloads or any direct to Kindle KFX would be specific to serial number and thus not transfer to "new" reader without fresh download or DRM removal via Calibre plug in due to different serial numbers.

Copyright good. DRM is evil. I've deleted all the other person's titles from the exchanged Kindle.

[ilovejedd]

Iirc, advert blocking has been circumvented by Amazon for a while now. The firmware deletes the file and just creates the folder again.

On my PW4 (non-SO), it's very aggressive phoning home and checking for OTA updates (1-2% per hour battery drain if I forget to disable wifi). Battery life on my PW4 is normal as long as airplane mode is enabled. Also, "Prevent OTA Updates" via KUAL Helper+ fixed it even when I forget to turn on airplane mode.

None of my Kindles, however, disable airplane mode by themselves. I have a PW2 with SO and if I leave it on airplane mode long enough, it just displays a generic screen instead of ads.

Mind, if you recently loaded a bunch of books to the reader, do note that search indexing uses up a lot of processing power ergo battery. That said, battery on the exchanged PW3 might just be more worn out. It's not just age but reading habits, too. For example, I expect a Kindle used at high brightness and large font size would require more frequent charging than low brightness and small font size hence a difference in battery wear levels.

[Quoth]

Best to leave connected to laptop or charger after a big copy of books.
It certainly wasn't displaying adverts since the file replaced folder. Still had space at bottom of home screen and swipe to unlock when waking. Both those gone now. Home set to list mode of books. Both Kindles had the current FW and the new Filter & Sort headings on home screen. The owner wasn't loading a lot of books, but maybe it was a particular book. We'll see as the replacement maybe now has all the previous books, though via Calibre import rather than copy of the Downloads from Amazon to laptop. We all download to Laptop and then make backup copies to our personal folders on our server. Also external USB HDDs are used to make backups.

A mystery.

[BookCat]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

It's not just age but reading habits, too. For example, I expect a Kindle used at high brightness and large font size would require more frequent charging than low brightness and small font size hence a difference in battery wear levels.

This may seem a silly question, but does using a large font and higher brightness increase battery usage? I can see that larger fonts entail more page turns, but was unaware brightness mattered.

[Quoth]

Brightness uses LEDs thus far more power than reading. However it depends on the brightness setting.
I and others in the house only read in ambient lighting good enough for reading old paper books. So we never use the "front light LEDs".

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by BookCat

This may seem a silly question, but does using a large font and higher brightness increase battery usage? I can see that larger fonts entail more page turns, but was unaware brightness mattered.

You must have missed this thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=293683
"Voyage frontlight battery drain measurements"

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

...
At setting 20, the Voyage frontlight is using half the power and at setting 24 it is using over twice as much as everything else.
It looks like Voyage frontlight power usage is negligable below setting 11 or so, which is reported to cut battery life in half on the Oasis 2. I plan to eventually make frontlight power measurements for the Oasis 2.

Interesting. Much as I'd expect.

[BookCat]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

You must have missed this thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=293683
"Voyage frontlight battery drain measurements"

Yes, it was a little too technical for me to follow.

[BookCat]

Originally Posted by FrustratedReader

Brightness uses LEDs thus far more power than reading. However it depends on the brightness setting.
I and others in the house only read in ambient lighting good enough for reading old paper books. So we never use the "front light LEDs".

Makes sense really, like having a brighter light bulb uses more electricity. I have to use the frontlight because the house lighting is so bad; been meaning to change the light fixtures for a long time.

[John F]

Originally Posted by FrustratedReader

Brightness uses LEDs thus far more power than reading. However it depends on the brightness setting.
I and others in the house only read in ambient lighting good enough for reading old paper books. So we never use the "front light LEDs".

In practice, I'm not sure how much of a difference the LEDs make on power consumption? I went from a Kobo Touch to a Glo, and I didn't noticed a significant difference in battery usage (and I always have the light on). Depending on reading speed, I wouldn't be surprised if "reading" used more power than the LEDs (but I may be wrong).

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by John F

I wouldn't be surprised if "reading" used more power than the LEDs (but I may be wrong).

If you have the light set to a high brightness level, the light is the biggest power drain on a Kindle by a considerable margin, with WiFi second. To maximise battery life, turn WiFi off and use the lowest comfortable light setting.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

You must have missed this thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=293683
"Voyage frontlight battery drain measurements"

Originally Posted by BookCat

Yes, it was a little too technical for me to follow.

Feel free to ask (in that thread) any questions you have. It may seem overwhelming as a whole, but each bit is pretty simple and straight forward if explained.

[John F]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If you have the light set to a high brightness level, the light is the biggest power drain on a Kindle by a considerable margin, with WiFi second. To maximise battery life, turn WiFi off and use the lowest comfortable light setting.

What is considered "high brightness" on a Kindle?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by BookCat

This may seem a silly question, but does using a large font and higher brightness increase battery usage? I can see that larger fonts entail more page turns, but was unaware brightness mattered.

Yes to both. The larger font requires more pages turns and the increased brightness requires more electricity to run the LEDs.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by BookCat

Makes sense really, like having a brighter light bulb uses more electricity. I have to use the frontlight because the house lighting is so bad; been meaning to change the light fixtures for a long time.

I don't know how your house is setup in regards to your light fixtures. But part of your light problem could be the light bulbs. Try a daylight LED bulb. You get a much brighter light then you do with a warm white type of bulb. I replaced two warm white bulbs in the bathroom fixture with a single daylight LED bulb (60watt type) and it was much brighter then the two warm white bulbs.