Battery GOD Awful or Defective iPhone 3G?

[aussie.damo]

Okay this has got to be the worst battery in the history of cell phones. I FULLY charged the battery before I left for dinner at 7:30pm EST tonight. BARELY used it the entire night but left 3G on and turned location services off. Wrote 1 email maybe 3 SMS messages and a note in the memo pad app. After dinner went to see a movie and just got home. It's not 12:05am EST (4:35 min since it was fully charged) and I got the 20% battery warning.

Now I know you're supposed to calibrate it over a few days but I know it won't make THAT big a difference. I didn't even make ONE phone call and the phone can't go 5 hours with 3G active!! Now I know some of you are going to say I'm exaggerating but I made sure to note the exact times bc I wanted to see how long it would last b/c I have been having these battery issues since I got it. I don't know what to do besides turn 3G off which I really don't want to do. I also live in Manhattan which is supposed to have great 3G service so it shouldn't be looking for signal too hard and wasting battery. This is sooo frustrating and disappointing. Is it possible I have a defective battery?

I'm having the exact same issue as you! I got the phone Friday, charged it up, used it on Saturday morning and it was dead by lunch time (about 4 hours). Then, I charged it over lunch (about 4 hours worth of charging) and it was dead after another 4 hours! Insanity! My original iPhone could get through at least 1.5 days and that's when I'm using it. I've barely touched the new one.

As a test, I charged it again overnight. I turned off WiFi, 3G, Push Exchange email, Location Services and turned the screen down. So far today, I have sent two SMS's and made one 45 second phone call. It's barely 8 hours since I took it off the charger and the phone is down to 20%. I'll be taking it back to the dealer tomorrow, I'm sure it's faulty.

Imagine how quickly the battery would drain if I actually used it!

Damo

 

[aussie.damo]

7 hours is EXTREMELY good for a pda phone, my windows phone only use to last 3 hours. But the problem can be with the battery meter just like the first gen which was fixed with a software update.

Sorry, but that's just not true. 7 hours on standby is terrible for any phone. I have had plenty of PDA phones, including Windows ones and they have all lasted much longer than this. Your experience may have been different, but is certainly not representative of PDA phones generally.

I hope you're right about the battery meter fix, I'd hate to have to take my otherwise gorgeous iPhone back.

Damo

 

[ascender]

I guess we'll see how the battery life goes over the next few weeks.

As to why they put 3G in, despite the battery problems, its because lots of people listed it as their main reason for not buying an iPhone and have done nothing but moan about it since the original one was launched.

 

[xpla]

Is there a possibility to communicate to apple that the battery is a piece of sh**?

 

[byron_hinson]

Sorry, but that's just not true. 7 hours on standby is terrible for any phone. I have had plenty of PDA phones, including Windows ones and they have all lasted much longer than this. Your experience may have been different, but is certainly not representative of PDA phones generally.

I hope you're right about the battery meter fix, I'd hate to have to take my otherwise gorgeous iPhone back.

Damo

Agree 7 hours on standby is not the norm for PDA's - I've got a 3G Windows Mobile too and it takes 3 days before needing a charge when not used all that much

 

[cherbert]

Mine was just under full last night. Woke up this morning and it was in the red! NOT GOOD!!!

I have 3G switched off. I have Bluetooth switched off.

PUSH is on for everything. I suspect this could be our problem. Perhaps we should do a poll as it appears everyone in here is using push.

 

[xpla]

Mine was just under full last night. Woke up this morning and it was in the red! NOT GOOD!!!

I have 3G switched off. I have Bluetooth switched off.

PUSH is on for everything. I suspect this could be our problem. Perhaps we should do a poll as it appears everyone in here is using push.

I don't use push services.

 

[mkrishnan]

Agree 7 hours on standby is not the norm for PDA's - I've got a 3G Windows Mobile too and it takes 3 days before needing a charge when not used all that much

Yeah, I think maybe that poster was confusing talk time with standby? How would you get any work done or have any shred of a life if you had to worry about recharging your phone every three hours??? That would be insane!

 

[pranavss11]

O wow... Guess I got the good battery! I decided to test my phone out. Location Services ON, Fetch New Data PUSH, 3G ON! Went to bed. When I wake up my battery was half full( about 8 hours sleep).
EDIT:Oh yeah and not to mention I played Aurora for like 30-40 mins before going to sleep..

 

[Sweetbike40]

I don't think you can blame it on 3G. My previous phone was 3G and it would last for about 2-3 days on a single charge.

 

[Applespider]

Mine was just under full last night. Woke up this morning and it was in the red! NOT GOOD!!!

BT off, Push on, Wifi on, location services on - unplugged it at 5pm yesterday when fully charged (it had been charging all day). Took some photos, sent some email, played some games, checked some pages, made some calls. Checked it this morning - still at about 60-70%.

 

[Ori]

This seems to be quite an issue. I started a thread with a poll and the results are not looking goof for the Iphone 3G. I really do pray that the 3G behaves like my previous Iphone and gets better after a couple of weeks of charge cycles....yes it took that long before I got noticeable results

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/519147/

Please use the poll so we get an accurate reflection.

 

[reboad]

Yesterday it took me five hours to deplete my battery after first charge, by playing music from the speakers. Started at about 75% battery.

Charged it yesterday again, now after being on stand-by most of the time since (about 20h), still indicates full battery. 3G off, wifi on, location services off.

I practically live next to a 2G cell tower. I get 3G coverage too, but only 2-3 bars since that tower isn't next to me. Might explain a little why it lasts on 2G mode.

 

[tomjleeds]

This seems to be quite an issue. I started a thread with a poll and the results are not looking goof for the Iphone 3G. I really do pray that the 3G behaves like my previous Iphone and gets better after a couple of weeks of charge cycles....yes it took that long before I got noticeable results

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/519147/

Please use the poll so we get an accurate reflection.

You WILL NOT get an accurate reflection yet for a multitude of reasons - sensationalism, 'new toy' syndrome, the nature of li-ion batteries, etc! I keep saying this and yet there are a small number of people (naming no names, COUGH!) who insist on stirring the pot and fuelling the hype.

 

[goodcow]

I left my apartment at about 10AM yesterday. By 1PM I was down to 20% battery. I was using 3G and apps like AIM, Facebook, Safari and the NY Times Reader during this period, along with the camera.

This battery life is GARBAGE. I had to charge the phone three times yesterday to make it through the day.

I really hope my battery is just defective, otherwise I'm going to have to return the phone, and there's no way I'm paying a re-stocking fee.

 

[jw nyc]

I have a feeling that it's exchange Push that is causing this issue. Last night before going to sleep I deleted my exchange account but left my Me.com account on and using Push. Woke up about 8:50 and unplugged it from the charger. Did some browsing on the Safari for about 10 minutes and took a phone call. Battery meter is still at 100%. Now I know this is a VERY small sample size (20 minutes as of now) but yesterday I would have lost about 15-20% with the same usage. I'll test it for the rest of the day and keep you guys updated. BTW, I have 3G on and location services & WiFi off.

Everyone that is having similar battery issues as I was, can you please say if you are connecting to Exchange and having it Pushed? I want to see if we can find a common denominator. Thanks.

 

[alejovh1]

the gps was messing mine up! Turned it off and it's much better, I don't think the 3G is draining the battery that fast. I agree that has to do with push services.

 

[Pointbreakd]

I agree the battery isn't great but it seems some peoples are dying faster. Mine certainly lasts on standby for hours and hours. When I use the internet, mess around with it a lot it does die quicker than I expected though. I'm going to try it this week and find out how it survives the work day.

 

[nickspohn]

The majority of us have perfectly normal batterys in our iPhones.

What i would do today since it is a Sunday, is turn off 3G, Location services, and Push. Leave WiFi on, and put the screen at about 50%. Also start with a full charge.


See how long your battery gets.

 

[AustinSTI]

First off its not push. My 2G has been running push all weekend without a charge and sits at about 50% at the moment.

Second: Why has nobody posted their usage screen when talking about their battery life? I recommend posting it and looking at it. I had a 2G last year (my original) which didn't make it through the day - it was taken off the cradle one day at 7:30am and by 3:30am was toast. When I looked the usage number and standby number were the same which was wrong because I wasn't using the phone constantly all day - in fact it spent more time in my pocket that particular day. I took it to Apple at 3:30 and insisted it was defective - showing him the usage/standby number. They replaced it with another phone which has been fine...

Look at those numbers they give you a good indication as to what might be wrong. I've seen my phone occasionally churn constantly trying to get email once in a great while. When I look at the numbers and they are the same I reboot and look to see if they diverge. They do every time. I'm guessing everyone with a 3G and battery issue has the same usage/standby numbers...

 

[drchipinski]

The majority of us have perfectly normal batterys in our iPhones.

What i would do today since it is a Sunday, is turn off 3G, Location services, and Push. Leave WiFi on, and put the screen at about 50%. Also start with a full charge.


See how long your battery gets.

Why turn everything off to save the battery? What would be the point of having them if you cannot use them due to a poor battery?

 

[jw nyc]

Quick Update...

Been using my phone intermittently with 3G on since 8:50 am EST and the battery meter still shows full battery! Yesterday I would have burned 30-40% by now. The Exchange Push being on was DEFINITELY the issue! Hopefully they can get this fixed with a software update.

 

[davidlw]

You know, I had a MOTO Q and had a hump back battery and got all day on 3G. If we Apple folks would worry less about the looks of the phone and more about function I would suggest that Apple come out with a replaceable battery and even a humpback battery. I don't care about the looks nearly as much as function. IMHO

 

[byron_hinson]

Been using my phone intermittently with 3G on since 8:50 am EST and the battery meter still shows full battery! Yesterday I would have burned 30-40% by now. The Exchange Push being on was DEFINITELY the issue! Hopefully they can get this fixed with a software update.

Push will always use up battery fast - doubt they can do much more to "fix" that with a software update as it basically means an "always on" data connection to the server

 

[ninethirty]

Thanks, but no thanks. The battery life isn't THAT bad. I made some common sense settings to the phone and I get great life out of it... infact, i'm TRYING to wear it down to nothing right now by playing movies at full screen brightness and I'm still waiting for it to die (last charge yesterday morning).

I like the phone looking the way it does, and it's a portion of the reason I bought the iPhone. Obviously the majority is what it is and how it works, etc, but I don't want a big clunky phone. Turn your brightness down to like 30%, which is sufficient most of the time, turn off things like WiFi/Bluetooth and calibrate the battery. I got great life on my old iPhone and while I notice this one goes a little faster than the original iPhone, we should have all been aware.

Everyone bitched at Apple last year for releasing a 2G phone because they NEEDED 3G. Apple said it was a battery life issue, and now that there's a 3G phone and you're not getting amazing battery life, you're all angry. How silly.

You know, I had a MOTO Q and had a hump back battery and got all day on 3G. If we Apple folks would worry less about the looks of the phone and more about function I would suggest that Apple come out with a replaceable battery and even a humpback battery. I don't care about the looks nearly as much as function. IMHO