Kindle 'Paperwhite' battery life tip

[Yorkie]

I've had a Kindle Paperwhite for two or three years, which I use spasmodically. Sometimes, I may use it several times a week for maybe 20 - 30 mins at a time, or I may go for a week or two and not use it. Either way, the battery life seemed quite short to me and it ran down when not in use. I was surprised at that as it's a lithium ion battery, which generally hold their charge for months when not in use. This model has wi-fi enabled, so you can browse for books and download them anywhere should you wish to.

I googled 'short battery life between recharging Kindle'. I was surprised to discover that when you close the lid to switch off the Kindle, the wi-fi is still enabled, so it slowly runs the battery down. Given that you only need the wi-fi facility when browsing or downloading books, to conserve battery life it make sense to switch the wi-fi off. You'd think there'd be a tab which says 'wi-fi on/of?' No - it's not as logical as that. To switch the wi-fi off, you have to switch 'airplane mode' on. 'Airplane mode' is for when the pointless announcements are made prior to take-off to say 'all devices must be switched off' (or what - the plane will nose dive into the sea?).

So if you or a member of your family has a wi-fi enabled Kindle and the battery life seems short between the need to recharge, the answer is to switch 'airplane mode' on, and only turn it off (and hence the wi-fi back on), when browsing or downloading books. My Kindle is still almost fully charged after having switched 'Airplane mode'  on about a month ago. You'd think they'd alert users to this.

Hope that might help someone.

[Radio Fixer]

My Kindle (one of the early ones) has Wi-Fi but I rarely use it as it also has Cell Net connectivity and that has always worked anywhere I've been in the world. I always remember to turn that off after buying something, usually the Daily Telegraph on holiday.

I manually shut mine down after a read. I had thought of buying a Paper White but I'm told the pics and maps are unlikely to be better ... pretty useless on mine. The other asset might be the back light ...

cheers Gary

[peter scott]

The PaperWhite is nicer to read but you no longer get the free 3G web access of the old Kindle unless purchasing from Amazon.

Peter

[Yorkie]

Just a clarification - when I said 'wi-fi' I should really have said 3G.

I think that it's only on 3G enabled Kindles where this battery discharge is a problem.