Last Updated on January 9, 2023 by Ernests Embutnieks and Saad
The Kindle has cemented itself as one of the most popular eBook readers out there. However, when you are out and about trying to get some pages in, you wouldn’t want your Kindle battery to drain fast. If that’s happening to you, no worries; there are a few ways you can fix it.
- Checking your case for obstructions
- Reducing your brightness
- Turning your WiFi off
- Turning off Page Refresh
- Restarting your Kindle
- Replacing your battery
In this article, we’re going to go over exactly why our Kindle battery may be draining fast, alongside all the ways you can fix it.
How Long Does A Kindle’s Battery Last?
Before we talk about the battery, it is integral to realize how long a Kindle’s battery lasts in the first place. All Kindles last for different periods depending on their battery size and whether they have a backlight or not. Here’s a quick table that I’ve drafted from my usage of all these models to help you get an idea:
| Device Name | Battery Timing (Normal Usage) |
| Kindle Oasis | 3 weeks 2 days |
| Kindle Paperwhite | 7 weeks 3 days |
| Kindle | 17 days |
If your battery life is a few days off, then you don’t have any reason to worry. However, if say, your Kindle is running for 7 days instead of the usual 17, then your battery is draining fast. If so, refer to the fixes down below.
How To Fix Kindle Battery Draining Fast
We’re going to go over all the fixes we’ve tried and tested on our Kindles over the years. We’ll be going from the most probable fix to the least probable, alongside discussing reasons as to why something like this may happen in the first place.
Check Your Case
The most probable as to why your Kindle is draining battery fast is if it isn’t going to sleep due to your case. If you are using a third-party case or haven’t clipped an official one on properly, it’ll interfere with your Kindle’s ability to sleep since it’ll assume that you are still using the device.
I’ve had this issue myself; I tend not to press the power button when I am finished reading and rely on my case to shut the Kindle off. While that works most of the time, if the case is not fixed in properly – it’ll keep the screen on, thereby reducing your battery significantly.
The quickest fix to this is to clip your case on properly. If the error still persists, then remove your Kindle from your case and opt for another one instead.
Check Your Brightness
If you have a device with an in-built light, brightness is one of the reasons why your Kindle may drain its battery fast. You see, E-ink displays are not like the IPS panels we are used to on our phones. In essence, they don’t need to go that bright to still be readable.
Therefore, if you are indoors, I recommend turning the brightness down by about 20-30%. Do note, though, regardless of how low you keep your brightness, still have much lower battery life on a Kindle without an onboard light to begin with.
Check Your WiFi Strength / Turn Your WiFi Off
Your Kindle is a reading device. Reading devices do not always need to be connected to the internet. Unlike phones, there are no urgent notifications that you need to tend to, which require constant connectivity on the internet. When you are connected to WiFi, there are two things that happen:
- If Your Router Is Far Away: When your router is far away, your Kindle has to push extra hard to get that internet connectivity. With all that push, it takes a toll on your battery, leaving your Kindle to get fast battery drain issues.
- If You Have Internet On: Regardless of the proximity of your router, an internet connection is not great for a Kindle primarily because it doesn’t need it.
So, turn your WiFi off and give your Kindle a well-needed rest. You really don’t need every update as soon as it drops, and neither does your Kindle need the internet.
Restart Your Kindle
Ah yes, the classic IT solution to everything, “just turn it on and off again”, you’d be surprised, though – I’ve often faced battery drain issues with my Kindle. And, most of the time, when it happens, and I have no clue why a simple restart fixes all my woes.
The Kindle remains turned on for long durations of time. Couple that with the weeks it goes if you’ve put it on sleep, software bugs and glitches are bound to occur. A background download may get stuck, or your device may be processing something that doesn’t need to be; in any case, a restart fixes all of these issues.
I recommend restarting your Kindle once every week. These help ensure that your Kindle doesn’t go through any software bugs or glitches as you’ll often tend to see weird glitches and ghosting pop up after a few months of consecutive usage without any restarts.
Turn Off Page Refresh
Page refresh allows you to eliminate screen tearing and ghosting. It is great for an immersive reading experience, and I can’t live without it! But, it is also a battery drainer, for what it is worth. And turning it off will lead to ghosting and artifacts showing up. But, if you get used to them – they aren’t all that bad.
Here’s how you can turn off page refresh on Kindle:
- Open the Settings menu
- After doing so, scroll down to Page Refresh and turn it off
Note: Your Kindle will still refresh pages occasionally. Generally, this is done after every chapter rather than every page once you turn the setting off.
You Have A Faulty Battery
If you’ve been reading on your Kindle for a while, you may have a faulty battery. Lithium-ion batteries decay after a certain period of time; it’s only natural. So, if you’ve followed all these steps and still have a battery that’s draining fast, a replacement is in order. Sadly, you can’t really check your Battery Health on a Kindle. So, you’ll have to take a gamble with it.
Conclusion
The Kindle generally does not suffer from battery drain issues. There are some common charger issues. But, if you’ve been using a device for so long, you are bound to run into some errors now and again. Thankfully, a quick battery replacement is all you need to have your device last a long time.
I love tech and all about it. I'm interested in finding ways how they can make my life more productive, and I share my knowledge with my blog readers. I'm an iPad Pro, iPhone, MacBook, and Apple Watch user, so I know a thing or two about these devices and try to write helpful content around these topics.
Saad is excellent at what he does. He's a tech fanatic. He strives to improve himself wherever he can. He tries to make each article he writes a little better than before. He explains difficult things in a very simple way.
