Apple watch 3 weak battery life. Is it worth it?

[Vermifuge]

You can't turn off 'GPS' then, is it just always occuring?? How would you turn off LTE I wonder??

To turn off GPS tracking for the Workout app on Apple Watch Series 2:

• On your iPhone, go to: Settings > Privacy > Location Services > Apple Watch Workout > select Never.

I believe the GPS is only active if you are in 'workout' mode when NOT connected to an iPhone. (could be wrong) however you can set it to never. This should give you theoretically 10 hours of music playback. I'm sure there is a toggle to turn off LTE as well. but i can't confirm that yet. hopefully apple posts a help doc soon.

 

[GoFlex]

To turn off GPS tracking for the Workout app on Apple Watch Series 2:

• On your iPhone, go to: Settings > Privacy > Location Services > Apple Watch Workout > select Never.

I think the GPS is only active if you are in 'workout' mode without it connected to an iPhone. (could be wrong) however you can set it to never. this should give you theoretically 1 hours of music playback. I'm sure there is a toggle to turn off LTW as well. but i can't confirm that yet. hopefully apple posts a help doc soon.

Yeah I was thinking, what if I'm out, don't have my phone on me, and just want to use it for LTE. I guess we'll wait.
[doublepost=1505403793][/doublepost]

I would say that defeat the purpose in Apple claim, 40 million songs on your wrist. I think we are afraid too much. When the review comes in it will be alright.

I worded it wrong, sorry. I mean people are complaining about it only being 4 hours battery life but that's STREAMING music, which I think most people will switch between downloaded music and LTE anyway.

 

[Vermifuge]

I would say that defeat the purpose in Apple claim, 40 million songs on your wrist. I think we are afraid too much. When the review comes in it will be alright.

Why double the capacity to 16 gb on the LTE models then?

 

[matrix07]

Yeah I was thinking, what if I'm out, don't have my phone on me, and just want to use it for LTE. I guess we'll wait.

If you're not in outdoor workout mode the GPS won't kick in.

Why double the capacity to 16 gb on the LTE models then?

To be sure it's useful but streaming is streaming. If you have to concern yourself about downloading songs you want beforehand all the time it defeats the purpose.
Of course someone might want to go to take a hike and that's when you need all the songs before you travel but everyday life in the city?.. nah..
[doublepost=1505404241][/doublepost]

I worded it wrong, sorry. I mean people are complaining about it only being 4 hours battery life but that's STREAMING music, which I think most people will switch between downloaded music and LTE anyway.

To be clear again, right now the information from Apple is also 4 hours with LTE and GPS.[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]

 

[Vermifuge]

I worded it wrong, sorry. I mean people are complaining about it only being 4 hours battery life but that's STREAMING music, which I think most people will switch between downloaded music and LTE anyway.

Right. The S0 was limited to 2GB of music (~500 songs) The S0 itself had 8 gb capacity. The new S3 (LTE model not GPS only) has 16 GB total capacity and I HOPE improved capacity for stored songs.

 

[edhchoe]

If the LTE warch doesnt work out i will return it. Thats why i am ordering it from apple. 14 day return policy.

 

[richard371]

I wonder how long it will last on LTE via standby if you went to work and left your phone at home. The one thing I do agree on with many is I have no interest in phone calls but for emergencies or in a pinch but standby of messages etc could be crucial. If I can't get through a day where I left my phone at home its pretty useless.

 

[Vermifuge]

I wonder how long it will last on LTE via standby if you went to work and left your phone at home. The one thing I do agree on with many is I have no interest in phone calls but for emergencies or in a pinch but standby of messages etc could be crucial. If I can't get through a day where I left my phone at home its pretty useless.

4 hours. If LTE is on you get 4 hours standby and 1 hour of talk.

 

[matrix07]

I wonder how long it will last on LTE via standby if you went to work and left your phone at home. The one thing I do agree on with many is I have no interest in phone calls but for emergencies or in a pinch but standby of messages etc could be crucial. If I can't get through a day where I left my phone at home its pretty useless.

I don't think it's designed to be iPhone replacement, but for activities that you don't want to take the phone along. Swimming. Surfing. Hiking. Running.. for example.
[doublepost=1505405274][/doublepost]

4 hours. If LTE is on you get 4 hours standby and 1 hour of talk.

4 hours with LTE and GPS (from Apple).

 

[Vermifuge]

I don't think it's designed to be iPhone replacement, but for activities that you don't want to take the phone along. Swimming. Surfing. Hiking. Running.. for example.
[doublepost=1505405274][/doublepost]

4 hours with LTE and GPS (from Apple).

Not sure why that's important. The GPS is redundant if the LTE is activated. The watch models are divided into two models. Model A (GPS) and Model B (GPS + Cellular) That may be confusing when reading the apple battery details web page. Bottom line is... if your Apple Watch S3 (GPS + Cellular) is NOT paired to an iPhone

An Apple Watch (GPS + Cellular) With LTE on you get 4 hours regardless of GPS being activated.)

An Apple Watch (GPS + Cellular) With LTE OFF (With GPS ON) You can have 5 hours of workout battery life.

An Apple Watch (GPS + Cellular) With LTE OFF (With GPS OFF) You can have 10 hours of workout (indoor) battery life. 1. I believe this is to stress the fact that outdoor workouts with GPS OFF are inaccurate.

We can infer the following

An Apple Watch (GPS + Cellular) With LTE OFF (With GPS OFF) Gets 10 hours of music playback

An Apple Watch (GPS + Cellular) With LTE OFF (With GPS ON) Essentially workout mode gets an undetermined amount of music playback

An Apple Watch (GPS + Cellular) With LTE ON (With GPS ON/OFF) Gets 4 hours of standby time. The impact of playing music is not defined. AT MOST 4 hours of music playback, however likely less

Would you agree?

 

[matrix07]

Would you agree?

Not sure where you get this on/off information but this simple sentence is pretty clear to me.
"Up to 4 hours outdoor workout with GPS and LTE"

Notice the word "and".

Like I said, from Series 2 testing we already know outdoor workout with GPS is around 5 hours so the battery life doesn't seem to degrade much.

 

[Vermifuge]

All from here

https://www.apple.com/watch/battery.html

Not sure where you get this on/off information but this simple sentence is pretty clear to me.
"Up to 4 hours outdoor workout with GPS and LTE"

Notice the word "and".

Like I said, from Series 2 testing we already know outdoor workout with GPS is around 5 hours so the battery life doesn't seem to degrade much.

Because an outdoor workout without gps is unreliable. Notice they categorize indoor and outdoor workouts.

 

[matrix07]

All from here

https://www.apple.com/watch/battery.html



Because an outdoor workout without gps is unreliable. Notice they categorize indoor and outdoor workouts.

Again it's pretty clear. There is a number for GPS only, and there is a number for GPS and LTE. I don't think we need to infer anything.

 

[Vermifuge]

Not sure where you get this on/off information but this simple sentence is pretty clear to me.
"Up to 4 hours outdoor workout with GPS and LTE"

Notice the word "and".

Like I said, from Series 2 testing we already know outdoor workout with GPS is around 5 hours so the battery life doesn't seem to degrade much.

I see... I get you now. OK if LTE is on GPS is on reguardless. So if LTE is on (gps will be on) and you still can't have more than 4 hours of music playback. Likely less because LTE with GPS is already consuming the battery. Playing music will likely take from that.

I guess that means Apple Music, Pandora, and Spotify are still pretty impractical on the Apple Watch

 

[matrix07]

I see... I get you now. OK if LTE is on GPS is on reguardless. So if LTE is on (gps will be on) and you still can't have more than 4 hours of music playback. Likely less because LTE with GPS is already consuming the battery. Playing music will likely take from that.

I guess that means Apple Music, Pandora, and Spotify are still pretty impractical on the Apple Watch

Are you sure that GPS will be on if you're on LTE even if you're not in outdoor activity mode?

 

[michaelb5000]

4 hours. If LTE is on you get 4 hours standby and 1 hour of talk.

Are we sure that is the answer? These seems like a critically important question. Richard371 says he may be at work all day, but forgot his phone, and doesn't do anything of note with his watch, since he is working, so no workouts, no GPS mapping, no phone calls, no music streaming. Is the watch just sitting there separated from the phone using LTE and will run down its battery in 4-5 hours? That may be a dealbreaker in some ways.

 

[SoApple]

GPS is automatic like in Series 2, no? With iPhone GPS off. Without it it's on.

Spoke to an Apple rep about this. They don't have information yet regarding if GPS can be turned off. If it's like series 2 , it can't. I think i'll wait for some reviews before pulling the trigger.

 

[Vermifuge]

Are you sure that GPS will be on if you're on LTE even if you're not in outdoor activity mode?

Isn't it required now for emergency services ?
[doublepost=1505408503][/doublepost]

Are we sure that is the answer? These seems like a critically important question. Richard371 says he may be at work all day, but forgot his phone, and doesn't do anything of note with his watch, since he is working, so no workouts, no GPS mapping, no phone calls, no music streaming. Is the watch just sitting there separated from the phone using LTE and will run down its battery in 4-5 hours? That may be a dealbreaker in some ways.

Read the link. 4 hours LTE /w 1hr of talk. From Apple.com
[doublepost=1505408607][/doublepost]

Spoke to an Apple rep about this. They don't have information yet regarding if GPS can be turned off. If it's like series 2 , it can't. I think i'll wait for some reviews before pulling the trigger.

In apples own support documents for S2

• On your iPhone, go to: Settings > Privacy > Location Services > Apple Watch Workout > select Never.

 

[matrix07]

Isn't it required now for emergency services ?
[doublepost=1505408503][/doublepost]

GPS in Series 2 without LTE is already pretty accurate. I know because it mapped my run almost perfectly. Think it's more than good enough for emergency.

I find it's hard to believe Apple would tie LTE which consume battery to GPS which also consume battery, maybe even more than LTE. Very hard to believe.

 

[edhchoe]

how about GPS+LTE + music streaming? it cannot be the same as 4 hrs of GPS + LTE or 1 hr of GPS +LTE + talk.
so 2 hours for GPS + LTE + streaming music?

 

[Tdadlani]

More importantly is notifications from third-party apps.

 

[stanft]

Are we sure that is the answer? These seems like a critically important question. Richard371 says he may be at work all day, but forgot his phone, and doesn't do anything of note with his watch, since he is working, so no workouts, no GPS mapping, no phone calls, no music streaming. Is the watch just sitting there separated from the phone using LTE and will run down its battery in 4-5 hours? That may be a dealbreaker in some ways.

Read the link. 4 hours LTE /w 1hr of talk. From Apple.com

I just had a look to the mentioned Apple documentation concerning the battery. In summary, the following "usage" scenarios are mentioned:

• Workout with LTE and GPS: 4 hours
• Workout only with GPS: 5 hours
• Phone call with LTE: 1 hour (with the hint that the battery might last longer)
• "Standard usage" (time checking, messaging, app usage, short workout with music): 18 hours (4 hours LTE + 14 hours Bluetooth)

So in fact, you get 1 hour of talk with LTE and the battery is done. But if you are not making a call, you get 18 hours which includes 4 hours of LTE connectivity. Since this is mixed LTE/Bluetooth usage, you should get more than 18 hours if you are only using Bluetooth ... and less than 18 hours if you are using LTE. But I have found no reference how long the battery would last in an "LTE standby" scenario. As a workout with LTE and GPS means 4 hours, LTE standby time should be better because there is no GPS and the workout mode is increasing power consumption as well (permanent heartbeat detection i.e.).

Regards,
Stephan

 

[Vermifuge]

I just had a look to the mentioned Apple documentation concerning the battery. In summary, the following "usage" scenarios are mentioned:

• Workout with LTE and GPS: 4 hours
• Workout only with GPS: 5 hours
• Phone call with LTE: 1 hour (with the hint that the battery might last longer)
• "Standard usage" (time checking, messaging, app usage, short workout with music): 18 hours (4 hours LTE + 14 hours Bluetooth)

So in fact, you get 1 hour of talk with LTE and the battery is done. But if you are not making a call, you get 18 hours which includes 4 hours of LTE connectivity. Since this is mixed LTE/Bluetooth usage, you should get more than 18 hours if you are only using Bluetooth ... and less than 18 hours if you are using LTE. But I have found no reference how long the battery would last in an "LTE standby" scenario. As a workout with LTE and GPS means 4 hours, LTE standby time should be better because there is no GPS and the workout mode is increasing power consumption as well (permanent heartbeat detection i.e.).

Regards,
Stephan

Up to 18 hours

1. All-day battery life is based on 18 hours with the following use: 90 time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use, and a 30-minute workout with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth, over the course of 18 hours.
2. Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS) usage includes connection to iPhone via Bluetooth during the entire 18-hour test.
3. Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) usage includes a total of 4 hours of LTE connection and 14 hours of connection to iPhone via Bluetooth over the course of 18 hours.
4. Testing conducted by Apple in August 2017 using preproduction Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS) and Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular), each paired with an iPhone; all devices tested with prerelease software.

Let's focus on #3. Is this a 4 LTE + 14 Bluetooth or 4 LTE OR 14 Bluetooth? This would seem to be in contradiction to the workout hours. They state 4 hours of LTE with GPS or 5 hours of LTE without GPS. (Both would be in conduction with running the heart rate monitor)

LTE (Connection) + GPS + Heart Rate = 4 hr
LTE (Connection) + Heart Rate = 5 hr
LTE (talking) = 1 hr

I think you may be correct. they way you put it.... You can have the watch on for an 18 hour day assuming you have an LTE connection for no more than 4 hours. and in that 18 hours you can perform 90 time checks, receive 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use, and a 30-minute workout with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth...

but one thing is clear... Making a call basically whiles out your battery.

 

[GoFlex]

Up to 18 hours

1. All-day battery life is based on 18 hours with the following use: 90 time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use, and a 30-minute workout with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth, over the course of 18 hours.
2. Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS) usage includes connection to iPhone via Bluetooth during the entire 18-hour test.
3. Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) usage includes a total of 4 hours of LTE connection and 14 hours of connection to iPhone via Bluetooth over the course of 18 hours.
4. Testing conducted by Apple in August 2017 using preproduction Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS) and Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular), each paired with an iPhone; all devices tested with prerelease software.

Let's focus on #3. Is this a 4 LTE + 14 Bluetooth or 4 LTE OR 14 Bluetooth? This would seem to be in contradiction to the workout hours. They state 4 hours of LTE with GPS or 5 hours of LTE without GPS. (Both would be in conduction with running the heart rate monitor)

LTE (Connection) + GPS + Heart Rate = 4 hr
LTE (Connection) + Heart Rate = 5 hr
LTE (talking) = 1 hr

I think you may be correct. they way you put it.... You can have the watch on for an 18 hour day assuming you have an LTE connection for no more than 4 hours. and in that 18 hours you can perform 90 time checks, receive 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use, and a 30-minute workout with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth...

but one thing is clear... Making a call basically whiles out your battery.

Yeah I agree. It's basically 14 hours with phone at bluetooth + 4 hours if you were to use it independently without bluetooth. Because if it's paired with the phone, I assume it wouldn't use LTE.

 

[richard371]

So we still don't have an answer on the standby time on LTE if you go out for the day and forget your iPhone and all you do is get a few texts emails etc. I certainly hope that is more then 4-5 hours or its a huge deal breaker. i don't care about GPS or phone calls for the most part.