One of the biggest positives of the Kindle e-reader is its long battery life. It is measured in weeks instead of the days or even hours that many of the latest generation smartphones often tend to last. Unfortunately, this can be especially true of flagship phones where the myriad of features and conveniences can be counterproductive in that they end up draining the battery faster than otherwise.
Interestingly, this has come to define one of the most pressing issues we have come to face with one of the most used devices of recent times, that is battery anxiety with smartphones. This again makes for a mixed scenario. While on one hand, we have smartphones that have become almost an inseparable part of our lives, there is also no denying the clock ticking in the back of our minds constantly reminding us of the imminent danger zone the battery might be heading into.
Be it socializing, watching movies, listening to music, playing games, ordering stuff online, consulting the map, checking emails, or the almost countless other things that we tend to accomplish with the smartphone, all of it boils down to just one aspect, how much juice the phone’s battery is holding at that moment in time. Things can be a lot more tricky for music or movie buffs or those addicted to gaming on smartphones as such kills the battery faster.
Interestingly, while demand for battery power has been ever on the rise, smartphone manufacturers seem to have devised a workaround to the issue, partly by introducing larger capacity batteries but more by introducing fast charging tech. So, the situation now stands like this, all the bells and whistles that your smartphone comes with will continue to be a bane on your battery though the only consolation here is that it is going to recharge faster than it used to take before.
Companies also have introduced enough tweaks to the operating system to ensure longer-lasting power. Take for instance a new feature on Android 13 that will let you have an idea of which apps are draining more battery power so that you can take necessary remedial steps. However, these are preventive steps at best and do not bring about a revolutionary change in battery life as the Kindle does. So, the max you have here is you will have less time hooked on to the wall outlet. You will still have to be in the vicinity of a power source though.
A Kindle, in contrast, can keep you going for days without having to worry about a battery top-up. While it’s true a Kindle – or for that matter, any E Ink-based device – does not make for a direct comparison with a smartphone given that the latter is designed to perform a variety of tasks while a Kindle serves the specialized purpose of reading an e-book or listening to an audiobook, the two devices can be enough to highlight the stark differences in the manner the battery lasts in each device category.
Does the Kindle cause battery anxiety? The answer is almost always on the negative considering that E Ink-based devices are always extremely frugal on battery power. There is no backlight involved to keep the display glowing. Also, the display draws power only when it refreshes. All of this ensures there is the least draw on power. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2021 model comes with just a 1420 mAh sized battery and yet, Amazon is claiming a battery life of around 10 weeks on a single full charge.
Can the Kindle’s battery life be replicated on a smartphone? The answer to this is a clear no, not with the level of technological advancement currently available. Switching to an E Ink display on a smartphone won’t work given that it has a low refresh rate compared to OLED or LCD panels. Further, E Ink is essentially monochrome and even the most advanced color E Ink display is nowhere near what LCD or OLED screens have to offer in terms of color saturation, brightness, and contrast, among several other parameters.
E Ink displays are best suited for rendering static content like the page of a book. Watching videos or playing games is the last thing you will ever want to do on an E Ink device. Photography, a huge draw with most smartphones and which can make or break a smartphone purchasing decision is never going to be the same on an E Ink display. In other words, an E Ink display might be best for reading digital content or consulting maps, or playing games that are largely static at best. Beyond that, you are more likely to opt for a proper smartphone featuring traditional display tech -read OLED or LCD.
So where does thing stand at the moment? A Kinde is going to remain as an e-reader and is not likely to see its scope enhanced to that of a smartphone anytime soon. We have a different device category, the e-notes but those can’t be seen as a replacement for tablet devices as yet. As for smartphones, fast charging tech seems to be the best we have at the moment, that is until a longer-lasting battery tech comes to our rescue, one that can last weeks instead of days as is the case with the Kindle.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
