Kindle Paperwhite, charging

[49Kat]

Hello!

I have a new Paperwhite. After a few days, the battery was at 20%, so last night I put it on a charger. This morning it was at 100%. I woke the device up w couple of times to look at it and put it to sleep again. I woke it up to start reading and it was at 98%. While I was reading, I checked and it was down to 97%. Is that normal? The product description on Amazon says “a single charge lasts weeks, not hours” and I am thinking, umm... I don’t THINK so, not at this rate. I expected faster battery depletion when I was loading the library, but I have restarted it since then and I think it has had time to settle down now.

So what is “normal” for battery depletion? I charged it with a 5w charger, which I figured should be safe.

[j.p.s]

Have checked whether it is stuck indexing a book?

(Search on a nonsense string and see whether it returns not found or not finished indexing.)

[49Kat]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Have checked whether it is stuck indexing a book?

(Search on a nonsense string and see whether it returns not found or not finished indexing.)

Just did that, yes.

I have turned on airplane mode and turned down the backlight. It went down to 96% between the time I posted this and now.

I found this article, so I thought I would try a couple of things.

https://www.howtogeek.com/238880/how...th-of-reading/


Do you have a Paperwhite? If so, how often does yours need to be charged?

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by 49Kat

Just did that, yes.

I have turned on airplane mode and turned down the backlight. It went down to 96% between the time I posted this and now.

I found this article, so I thought I would try a couple of things.

https://www.howtogeek.com/238880/how...th-of-reading/


Do you have a Paperwhite? If so, how often does yours need to be charged?

I have a PW3, not PW4, and I do not use it much.

There have been mixed reports on PW4 battery charge life. quick draining is usually traced to stuck indexing, a spotty wifi connection, or a light set to bright. The light setting only affects the battery while the kindle is awake.

Some Kindles with early 5.12.x firmware versions went nuts trying to update even in airplane mode and that would drain the battery.

You have not written your light setting or whether your wifi connection is solid.

That howtogeek article looks reasonable for general tips.

[49Kat]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I have a PW3, not PW4, and I do not use it much.

There have been mixed reports on PW4 battery charge life. quick draining is usually traced to stuck indexing, a spotty wifi connection, or a light set to bright. The light setting only affects the battery while the kindle is awake.

Some Kindles with early 5.12.x firmware versions went nuts trying to update even in airplane mode and that would drain the battery.

You have not written your light setting or whether your wifi connection is solid.

That howtogeek article looks reasonable for general tips.

My light setting was pretty high. I just turned it way down. Wifi connection is good. I turned airplane mode on. That test I did as per your suggestion didn’t indicate any issues with indexing. My firmware version is 5.12.2, and since this Kindle is new, I think it would have checked and updated during setup.

[Deskisamess]

Amazon's estimates are based on 30 minutes of reading per day, with the light at 13.

From the Paperwhite's product page:

A single charge lasts up to six (6) weeks, based on a half hour of reading per day with wireless off and the light setting at 13. Battery life will vary based on light settings, wireless usage. Audible audiobook streaming over Bluetooth will reduce battery life.

Using their numbers, reasonable to expect 22-28 hours of useful battery life, depending on light setting and font size.

I wake up my Kindles numerous times over the course of a day, I use a large font, usually have the light all the way up unless the room is dark, and I read fast. So I get fewer hours on a charge than many other users. My current model Paperwhite has a good battery life, maybe 18-20 hours, my second gen Oasis gets maybe 15 hours. I leave the WiFi connected all the time, unless we are traveling. It makes syncing between devices work more dependably, and when reading non-fiction, I want access to Wiki.

I plug them in every 5 days or so, and don't pay much attention anymore to the battery life, unless I've downloaded a bunch of books, and I notice the battery being chewed up quickly.

[49Kat]

@Deskisamess:

Thank you, that’s reassuring. I just wasn’t sure what’s “normal” battery life for these readers, especially under realistic everyday use. Amazon’s conditions as they have written are not necessarily what everyone would do.
I do like my books syncing seamlessly between devices. So it would be nice to be able to leave wifi on.
I was playing around with the lighting and I see that in normal daylight, the backlight doesn’t need to be on. I’ll adjust according to what’s comfortable for me.

[49Kat]

BTW, my iPad mini goes through battery power very quickly, but I use it heavily and my display is bright. It will not last a day without a charge. I LOVE my iPad, but I wanted to be able to read outdoors. I am enjoying the Kindle and it is so light in comparison to the iPad, which I really like.

[BookCat]

iPads use a lot more power than eink ereaders because of the constant refreshing on the screen. Eink ereaders only refresh every few page turns depending on your settings. Have you adjusted the page refresh rate (via your Settings menu) so that the pages refresh only every four or so turns?

The biggest drain on battery occurs after you put books onto your kindle, especially if you load more that a couple at once. The books need to 'index' so that you can search them etc.

Indexing takes lots of power, and it's best to leave your kindle charging for an hour or so after loading books. I always side load books via usb and just leave the usb attached to the computer for a while.

Sometimes books get 'stuck' indexing; there's perhaps one causing problems and holding up the queue. The search mentioned by j.p.s involves going to the home page and doing a normal search for something like fghjk, tap the 'Search Everywhere' then 'Text in Books'. If books are indexing, you'll be told, otherwise the Text in Books option will be greyed out.

If books are still indexing after more than an hour, do a Restart. Sometimes this gives the indexing a kick up the bum. If this doesn't help, remove one of the books stuck indexing and see if this helps.

Or you could remove all but one, then wait for that to index. Load the others one at a time. This way you'll discover the problematic book.

Having wifi on is a big drain, I have mine in permanent aeroplane mode. Just switch on wifi when you want to directly download a book from Amazon, or check wikipedia.

Hope this helps.

[NullNix]

If you want an absolute maximum upper bound, from experience, an Oasis 1 with the backlight and wifi off and a fully-charged battery case can last for nearly sixty hours (!). This is very useful when you're at your sister's for a week and you've forgotten your charger...