AW Series 5 - really torn...

[KeepCalmPeople]

Coming from a Series 3 LTE, I was certain I was going to buy the Series 5, now having second thoughts. I’m not sure the reported battery longevity can be easily fixed with a software update. Not much point upgrading if the new features mean more battery cycles every
month.
I guess I’ll see if things improve over the next month.

 

[Mabus51]

The battery issues are Watch OS 6. As many are reporting the same problems with the AW4. AW5 is a 4 with a new screen that allows always on display. This new screen is low powered and doesn’t draw much power at all maybe 2% power draw every 10 hours. It’s been used in many other types of Smartwatches. I doubt the screen is the problem. I have a AW4 and since installing OS 6 I’m getting about 20% more drain at the end of my day compared to OS 5. This is pretty consistent with what beta testers experienced prior to release. Hopefully a .1 update for the Watch is coming soon.

 

[W2u7Yw4HaD]

Also not seeing good battery life on watch5 vs my old watch3 for the moment.. No chance this has 18 hours battery life for the moment.. Lets see if software fix's it.

 

[Jarrodbcall]

Yeah, I have had battery issues, but I could see it improving. I would hold off until things shake out a bit. You could also get a used S4 for cheap and have almost all the upgrades!

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Also not seeing good battery life on watch5 vs my old watch3 for the moment.. No chance this has 18 hours battery life for the moment.. Lets see if software fix's it.

If it doesn’t do what they claim then you are owed a full refund. I’ll be kicking off big time if my new watch struggles from the off. It’s supposed to have a better battery than the S4.

 

[MisterSavage]

My battery life definitely isn't as good as my old watch at the moment but I don't regret upgrading.

 

[Mabus51]

If it doesn’t do what they claim then you are owed a full refund. I’ll be kicking off big time if my new watch struggles from the off. It’s supposed to have a better battery than the S4.

No it’s supposed to have the same battery life as the 4 which is rated at 18 hours. You will get 18 hours out of it under normal use. Watch OS 6 is a problem though. Series 4 & 5 are the exact same hardware aside from the new low powered screen. Tear downs have already proved this. AW4 owners are experiencing massive drain too as did the beta testers of OS 6. This was pretty expected considering what beta testers experienced even with the GM.

 

[perezr10]

No it’s supposed to have the same battery life as the 4 which is rated at 18 hours. You will get 18 hours out of it under normal use. Watch OS 6 is a problem though. Series 4 & 5 are the exact same hardware aside from the new low powered screen. Tear downs have already proved this. AW4 owners are experiencing massive drain too as did the beta testers of OS 6. This was pretty expected considering what beta testers experienced even with the GM.

Yeah, I think this has a lot to do with watchOS 6. My Series 4 had dreadful battery life under the betas of watchOS 6.

 

[abi12a]

What have people done to help alleviate the battery drain issue? I have turned off most background app refresh, hoping that helps some. I have watch 5 lte.

 

[Mabus51]

What have people done to help alleviate the battery drain issue? I have turned off most background app refresh, hoping that helps some. I have watch 5 lte.

Disable Noise and power cycle the watch, not forced reboot.

To power cycle the watch, hold the side button down until prompted with the slide to power off.

this has helped some but not all. I’m still getting 20% less battery use out of my day compared to OS5. But I’m not getting rapid battery drain like I did on Friday. I installed OS6 on Thursday when it released.

 

[Significant1]

No it’s supposed to have the same battery life as the 4 which is rated at 18 hours. You will get 18 hours out of it under normal use. Watch OS 6 is a problem though. Series 4 & 5 are the exact same hardware aside from the new low powered screen. Tear downs have already proved this. AW4 owners are experiencing massive drain too as did the beta testers of OS 6. This was pretty expected considering what beta testers experienced even with the GM.

Actually I think S4 has the same, but the controller may be different. Do you have any link to AW 5 teardown?

I am not seeing any difference in battery on my s4 on wos 6 vs 5. But I also have done a lot of optimization settings. And that doesn't mean I am happy with batterylife on 40mm. But can make it through the day.

 

[PilotC150]

I'm definitely seeing worse battery life on WatchOS 6 (Series 3), but I'm also still at 87% right now. I put it on (fully charged) six hours ago. So ~2% used per hour. I definitely don't expect 50 hours out of it, but I think 18 hours is more than reasonable.

 

[jbachandouris]

I also feel that battery life on my AW5 is worse, but have been told by others on this forum that I'm not.

I disabled the 'Noise' app. Watch was turned on at 6:15 am and it is now 2:05. I have not done any workouts and the one phone call that came through to it failed (Watch OS6 is clearly not done). Topped off the charge this morning to 100% it is now 69%.

 

[Bazooka-joe]

Its about the same or even a little better on my one year old S4. I am only a light user though with no 3rd party apps running in the background. 14 hours wearing the watch and it was still reading 72% so marginally better than OS5

 

[44267547]

Apple is aware of the battery draining. It’s already been reported to them. The question is, how quickly can they release an update that would help alleviate the battery life that others are experiencing intermittent drainage. I mean, it’s nothing serious to worry about, but there’s clear issues that have not been resolved in the first release of watchOS 6.