I recently noticed that the estimated charge times that Amazon lists for Kindles doesn’t seem very accurate. I’ve noticed how the Kindle Oasis charges a lot faster than other devices and I was wondering why Amazon doesn’t advertise this fact.
I did some charging tests of my own on all three of the latest Kindles to confirm the inaccuracy and the results were surprising.
On the description page for the Kindle Oasis it says this:
Fully charges in approximately 3 hours from a 5W power adapter or computer via USB cable.
On the description page for the entry-level Kindle is says the same thing except it’s 4 hours instead of 3 hours.
The Kindle Paperwhite 4 has a slightly different description:
Fully charges in approximately 4 hours from a computer via USB cable or fully charges in less than 3 hours with a 5W USB power adapter.
I can’t ever remember it taking 4 hours to charge a Kindle, and it certainly doesn’t take anywhere close to 3 hours to charge the Kindle Oasis, so I did some tests and these were my results.
To charge these Kindles I used Amazon’s 5w power adapter (I did a second test with their 9w adapter just to see if there was any difference but there was not).
I did these charge tests twice for each model and both times the end results were nearly identical.
Kindle Charge Times
It should be noted that I charged these Kindles as soon as the battery warning popup displayed, which happens when the battery meter hits 10%. It’s not good to completely deplete the battery between every charge so it doesn’t make sense to measure average charge times from 0%.
Kindle Oasis 4 – 65 minutes
Kindle Paperwhite 4 – 2 hours 10 minutes
Kindle – 2 hours 50 minutes
When is a Kindle Fully Charged?
Knowing when a Kindle is “fully charged” is a bit trickier than I thought when I started this test. I always figured a Kindle was fully charged when the light next to the USB port turned green, but it turns out it will still charge for a long and seemingly variable time after the light comes on, which happens when the battery meter hits 94%.
On the second test with the Kindle Oasis it stopped charging at 97%. I left it plugged in for an hour longer but it would not go above that number so I stopped count when it hit 97%.
When charging the Kindle Paperwhite the second time, I considered it fully charged when the battery meter hit 100%, but I noticed that the charging icon remained active for another 15+ minutes so it’s hard-telling what that’s supposed to mean.
It takes Kindles considerably longer to charge the last 10% or so than it does to do a quick charge. The Kindle Oasis hit 75% after just 30 minutes on the charger. The Kindle Paperwhite hit 90% after 90 minutes, but then it took another 40 minutes to charge the remaining 10%. The entry-level Kindle was similarly at about 87% after 2 hours.
My Oasis 4 gets to about 98% and quits charging, and that’s with it plugged in for four hours. I thought that kind of strange, but guess it’s the norm for Kindles. I wonder if it’s actually charged to capacity, or not.
That sounds about right on the Oasis. I just got one for Black Friday and noted the charge time.
What do you expect Actual battery life is with an “average” lighting setup??
It’s hard to say because of all the variables. Here’s my take on it from a battery life test I did a couple months ago: Kindle Oasis Battery Life is Excellent and Terrible at the Same Time.
Your charge speed seeming to taper off in the last 10% is not in your head. This it the proper way to quickly charge a lithium-ion battery. At a low state they can be charged quickly, but you don’t want to do that near max capacity because it can damage the battery. That’s the reason that Tesla only advertises the superchargers charging time up to 80%. My electric motorcycle will charge the first 87% in the same amount of time it takes to charge the last 13%.
I don’t know how you or others handle charging Kindles and other e-readers, but I just plug them in when I notice they are low and that seem to work fine. If it only makes it to 50% before I unplug it, I’ll usually have charged it again before its low enough to worry about even on the Oasis. I use it every day and don’t actually remember when I charged it last but its at 82%. The Nova Pro is at 65% and same story, I can’t remember when I charged it
Hello,
I’ve also noticed that my Oasis 2 charged faster than Amazon says.
When it is between 33 and 50%, it takes really not much time to have the green light.
I guess better to hedge their bets and overestimate the charge time than the other way around. I did notice that it didn’t seem to take long, but I didn’t think much of it, as I usually just plug it in and walk away.
I wonder, since you used the same charger on all of these, if charge time is about battery capacity. It should take longer to charge a higher capacity battery at the same charging rate, or at least it seems so to a non-expert like me.
It’ll take longer to fill a washtub than a bucket if the water is pouring at the same rate for both.
Barry
This is WAY more complicated then that.
What is a Kindle Oasis 4? So far as I know there have only been 3 Kindle Oasis.
There’s only 3.
Is no one bothered that they don’t charge to 100%??? I got Oasis a month ago and now even when left overnight it won’t charge more than 98%. Isn’t this a sign that the battery is not performing sub par? Brand new device should have a battery that works and max capacity otherwise we’re bound to get poorer performance and possibly stop holding charge completely round about the warranty runs out.
Most modern devices do this now. It helps with battery longevity. It’s better not to fully charge them.
My Oasis always charges to 100%. (I’ve owned it for approx. 6 months)
Is it true that ‘its better not to fully charge them? Way is there no warning for this?
Can I use a quick charger for kindle oasis? Does this influence the battery life?
I too want to know if it’s harmful to charge my kindle oasis on a QC 3.0 quick charger
It’s unlikely to cause a problem but it’s not going to improve charging speed on a Kindle.
You always have all the answers. 🙂 I was surprised when my oasis 3 charged from 34% to 81% in 23 minutes! I used a 5.2V charger. I hope it doesn’t affect battery life.
Going to Europe for 24 days, will my kindle paper white last, without taking a charger along ?
Take a charger or plan to buy one in Europe.