Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Battle of the batteries – Barnes & Noble responds to Amazon over battery life of e-readers

By

amazon barnes and nobleIt’s a real sign of how tight things are getting in the highly competitve e-reader market when two major players in the field start fighting it out over battery life.

Last year, when Amazon released its latest generation Kindle e-reader, it proudly told the world that the device could be used for a month before needing a recharge. Then on Tuesday came the Nook Simple Touch e-reader, from bookseller Barnes & Noble. As highlighted in a Cnet report, the bookseller claims that its new e-reader has enough battery power to last an impressive two months, calling it the “longest battery life of any e-reader.”

Recommended Videos

On Wednesday, Amazon shot back with the release of an ad-supported Kindle 3G. And here’s the interesting part – in the time it takes to sneeze, the battery life of the Kindle doubled. Hey, two months! Just like the new Nook!

Related

OK, so it appears Amazon haven’t all of a sudden changed the battery to a more powerful model. It seems that the company has looked at how Barnes & Noble made its calculation, and saw that if they followed the same calculation, the Kindle could also run for two months.

According to Cnet, Amazon believes that Barnes & Noble arrived at its figure for battery life based on having the Wi-Fi turned off and reading for 30 minutes each day. Amazon’s original figures for the Kindle were based on having Wi-Fi off and reading for an hour a day. So the company adjusted its figures for the Kindle to bring it in line with Barnes & Noble’s calculation.

Barnes & Noble is apparently having none of it. President of Barnes & Noble Digital Products, Jamie Iannone, contacted Cnet and said the following: “With up to two months on a single charge, the all-new Nook has the longest battery life in the industry and superior battery performance to Kindle 3. In our side-by-side tests, under the exact same conditions, continuous use of the device resulted in more than two times Kindle’s battery life.” The statement then goes into more detail, talking about per-minute-page-turn rates and the like.

No doubt Amazon is preparing its response.

Before one of the companies claims its e-reader has a six-month battery life (based on reading for 10 minutes a day), it looks like we’ll need to see the results of some independent side-by-side testing. Only then can this ongoing battery spat be put to bed.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Does the OnePlus 13 have a 120Hz refresh rate?
A person holding the OnePlus 13 showing the screen.

OnePlus has just launched its latest flagship, the OnePlus 13, alongside its budget sibling, the OnePlus 13R. As well as packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and both an IP68 and IP69 rating that allows you to use the phone in the shower, it looks like we can expect great things from the OnePlus 13's 6.82-inch screen, particularly when it comes to the refresh rate.
Does the OnePlus 13 have a 120Hz refresh rate?
The OnePlus 13's screen looks set to impress, with a 2K resolution and peak brightness of 4,500 nits. It's the refresh rate we're most excited about, however. The flagship phone's display will boast a variable refresh rate of between 1Hz to 120Hz. That means the phone adjusts its refresh rate to suit the content displayed on the screen, ensuring a smoother display and saving battery life.
Does the OnePlus 13R have a 120Hz refresh rate?
The OnePlus 13R may retail for only $600, but we can confirm that the successor to the OnePlus 12R will also pack a variable 1 to 120Hz refresh rate, just like its flagship sibling and predecessor. This time around, expect a 6.78-inch AMOLED screen with 2,780 x 1,264 resolution and a peak brightness of 4,500 nits.
How higher refresh rates evolved and their benefits

Whether you're planning to pick up the OnePlus 13 or OnePlus 13R, or you have your eye on another 120Hz device, how much do you really know about the benefits of higher refresh rates and why you should shop for a device that offers them?

Read more
The Amazfit Active 2 was just announced, so the first model is on sale
A person running while wearing the Amazfit Active Smartwatch.

Investing in a smartwatch is one of the best ways to get on top of your daily, weekly, and long-term health and fitness goals. Big brands like Apple, Samsung, Google, and Garmin are the brains behind some of the top models on the market, but if you’re looking for a solid alternative, we recommend the Amazfit Active Smartwatch 35.9mm.

We also heard news at CES 2025 that we’ll be getting an Amazfit Active 2 reasonably soon, so it comes as no surprise that the O.G. model went on sale. Still, it’s one of our favorite smartwatch deals of the day, and it’s about time a company gave the Apple Watch a run for its money!

Read more
The Livall PikaBoost 2 turns any old bicycle into a powerful e-bike
Livall PikaBoost 2

E-bikes are great, but they're a lot more expensive than traditional bikes and often heavier, too. That's not to mention that they can require maintenance and suffer from technical issues. But what if you could turn your traditional bicycle into an e-bike? That's the idea behind the Livall PikaBoost, now in its second generation. It’s basically a small, motorized device that can attach to your bicycle to give it e-bike power.

I got a chance to check out the PikaBoost 2 on the show floor at CES 2025. Livall’s PR firm, WeBranding, flew me out to Las Vegas for CES 2025 to check out the PikaBoost 2, among its other brands’ devices, for myself — and I have to say, it seems to be a powerful yet inexpensive way to get the power of an e-bike without having to replace the bicycle you already have.

Read more