We’re happy to announce a new software update to the reMarkable paper tablet. Over the last three months, we’ve have been working hard to enhance some important capabilities related to power management.
Improved stability and increased battery life
We know battery life is something that deeply affects how people interact with and use their devices every day. We also know that this is an area that has potential for improvement. That's why, for the last few months, our best engineers have been working to improve power management for the reMarkable tablet. In this new software update, we’ve have made significant advancements in how the different hardware components consume electricity. As a result, after installing this update, the stability and battery life predictability will be notably improved. In addition, these enhancements will also give most users (especially those who’ve experienced short battery life) an extra 40-50% of battery life to enjoy.
In plain words, this means that the battery will not suddenly drop, or run out, and users will experience that the capacity of the battery capacity lasts as long as it should, every time.
We’re looking forward to further boosting power management and introducing several other functionalities in upcoming software updates. But in the meantime, we hope all our customers will enjoy the benefit of some extra juice from their reMarkable paper tablets.
Important to know before you update your device
Before installing this update, it's important that you charge your device for at least an hour and keep your device connected to the charger when updating. If you haven't charged it enough, the device will start to update, but then run out of battery in the process. When restarting starting it again after, the device will revert to the old software version as a security measure. If this occurs, don’t worry. All your files are safe and sound, But following this step will give you a smoother updating process.
Bottom line is - as long as you make sure to charge your device properly and ensure it stays in the charger -, and you shouldn't have any problems getting the latest update.
Improved
Improved reliability when charging with USB
The reMarkable will now check if it is actually charging and not only connected to a charger or a computer with USB. This implies that a device which is connected to USB, but does not charge, behaves as if no USB cable is connected when it reaches a low battery level and shuts down.
Increased predictability of the battery life
The remaining battery capacity is now predictable and linear.
Increased power reliability
We have added necessary reliability improvements to ensure the reMarkable works flawlessly during high load even when the remaining battery capacity is low.
Optimised operating voltage
We reduced the system voltage from 3.3V to 3.1V to squeeze out more battery time and to operate more components within their sweet-spot.
Fixed
- Due to uncontrolled shutdown or very low remaining battery on the device, the reMarkable would sometimes enter a state where the battery was drained completely, even if it was displayed as powered off.
- The fuel gauge, responsible for measuring and reporting battery information, was not correctly optimised for the reMarkable battery. This resulted in an unpredictable battery capacity.
- In addition to these changes, our team have made numerous bug fixes and adjustments to the overall battery performance, so that the device works for longer on a single charge.