I've had this e-reader for about a year now and it was perfect for reading on my long commutes & but lately, it freezes up midway through chapters. I rely on it because physical books take up too much space in my bag, and I can't always access my phone's battery for reading apps. I've tried restarting it multiple times and even did a factory reset once, but the issue persists, especially with larger files. Storage is almost full, but I've deleted some books. I'm limited to Wi-Fi at home for updates since data is expensive. Any troubleshooting steps or settings I might have missed?
I had the same freezing problem with my e-reader especially on larger files after a year of use and tried everything from restarts to factory resets without luck until I upgraded. The Kindle Paperwhite fixed it for me thanks to its 32GB storage that handles my big library without filling up and its faster processor that prevents any lag though it's a tad more expensive it was totally worth it for smooth reading on commutes.
Hey and sounds frustrating with the freezing, especially on those long commutes. I've dealt with similar issues before, and one thing that helped was checking for any software updates when you're on Wi-Fi at home. Sometimes old firmware causes glitches with bigger files.
Also, try clearing the cache if your device has that option in the settings menu. And make sure you're not running too many books or apps at once; closing everything out before reading can free up some memory. Worked great for me after that.
If it's still acting up, maybe experiment with different file formats – converting to something lighter might ease the load. Hang in there, you'll get it sorted.
I had recurring freezes that turned out to be one corrupt file sending the indexer into a loop. I removed the last batch of books I had added & did a long restart until the logo came up, then added them back one at a time and found the troublemaker which, yeah splitting that big PDF into smaller chunks and lowering image weight fixed it.
If you can,, clear more space than you think you need and let the device sit plugged in and idle to finish background work. Then read with airplane mode on during the day. Keep at least a couple gigs free and try a plain text novel as a baseline. If that is smooth, the issue is the heavy files, not the reader. Worth a try.
Free up space and disable auto sync or other background tasks that hog resources. Then do a full drain and uninterrupted recharge to recalibrate the battery and smooth out the lag.
Near full storage plus big files can make these readers choke while they index. Try freeing a lot more space than a few books so at least a good chunk of the storage is empty. Clear out old samples and periodicals, archived downloads, screenshots, extra dictionaries, and check if there is a trash or archive folder that still holds deleted items. Do a long power hold restart rather than a quick reboot, then leave it plugged in and idle on Wi‑Fi for a while so indexing can finish but then took a night. Once it settles, switch to airplane mode during commutes to stop background sync from stealing resources.
If freezes happen mostly with image heavy PDFs or giant omnibus files, convert them on a computer to a lighter format or split them into smaller parts, and reduce image resolution. Re download any book that crashes repeatedly in case it is corrupted. Test with a small novel to confirm the device itself is stable. In settings, turn off any animated page transitions, keep fonts simple, reduce brightness, and disable extra features that build vocab lists or reading stats. Keeping the home screen tidy with fewer items shown can help too since huge libraries on the main view can slow things down.