Battery lasts about 5 days, is this normal?

[iSamurai]

I've been using the iphones for a while now and I did a battery discharge a week or 2 ago (when the battery is flat let it sit for a day before charging) - what apple recommends anyway.

I've noticed that the battery life is shorter with 1.1.4 compared to 1.1.2. I didn't really take note of how many days 1.1.2 lasted but it lasted for just over a week - which is still below what apple has claimed.

I don't use my phone in extreme environments so the battery should remain happy. I charge it with about 10% remaining.

Here's my daily patterns (on average) of iPhone usage:

• 3-5 minutes of calling on loudest
• 10 minutes of wi-fi browsing
• 1 minute of EDGE browsing
• 10-15 minutes of music through headphones
• 1 song played through speakers at half volume
• screen is on +- 5 minutes of other usages

does that seem acceptable to last +-5 days?

 

[nickspohn]

Yes. The phone itself only lasts on standby for a week.

 

[iSamurai]

Power and battery

• Built-in rechargeable lithium ion battery
• Talk time: Up to 8 hours2
• Standby time: Up to 250 hours3
• Internet use: Up to 6 hours4
• Video playback: Up to 7 hours5
• Audio playback: Up to 24 hours6

the standby time is about 10 days and considering such scales it's kinda unrealistic. I know manufacturers tend to stretch a bit though...

example, up to 6 hours of internet... I use to about an hour of internet per charge cycle, so that means it's a sixth of the capacity. that can't be too much imo. but if my battery life is comparable to most other people then that should be a relatively indication, I hope.

 

[Julien]

...I don't use my phone in extreme environments so the battery should remain happy. I charge it with about 10% remaining...

Charge your battery every day and every chance you get (car adaptor is a must). Try to never see the battery low warning except for a once a month discharge to reset the battery charging system.

 

[zmit]

wow... i get just over 2 days life out of it.....

and i dont mind that because my old HTC only had about that as well.

um... as for the post above... i thought cycling batteries (charge -> complete discharge -> full charge) was better than charging it all the time?

 

[MultiFinder17]

With the kind of usage you describe, sounds about right. Really not too shabby for a cell phone, especially a cell phone with a honkin' big screen and 989574938 thingums built in.

 

[Mykbibby]

Something must be wrong with my phone. I get 5 hours tops.

 

[butterfly0fdoom]

I recharge my phone every 3 days... I wish I had 5 days of battery life...

 

[bruno7]

Not sure if mine is OK...

Hi,

I'm having a hard time to figure out how to actually measure the usage time. I've got a brand new iPhone, and my last info:

Usage Time 10 hours 30 minutes
Standby 1 day 4 hours
Talk Time 28 minutes

Down to 10% remaining

So, is this good or bad? Don't know. I've watched a video for about 2 hours and listened to the music for 4 hours. Wifi turned on for 1 hour (Fring, Safari, Mail). Brightness set to 25% all the time.

I'm not really happy with it. It means I have to charge every other day. :-(

Well, as I'm not happy with it, I'm considering Clean Restore. Is it gonna help? It's a pain to do everything again, jailbreak, 3rd party apps install... But if it helps, I'll do it!

Should I?

Thanks.

David

 

[markym07931]

Hi,
Usage Time 10 hours 30 minutes
Standby 1 day 4 hours
David

I never look at the whole "talk time" as i rarely use my iphone for talking... it's much more fun than mundane things like that..

You have used your phone for 10 hours and 30 minutes... within the past 28 hours, so you've done a fair bit of stuff on it, video, wifi, fring, etc etc, so PERSONALLY, i don't see a huge problem with your battery life..

The OP here, their Usage Time will be around 20 minutes per day, so for it to last 5 days is about right again!

Just my opinion.. i'm a noob.. don't flame me...

 

[iSamurai]

Charge your battery every day and every chance you get (car adaptor is a must). Try to never see the battery low warning except for a once a month discharge to reset the battery charging system.

um... as for the post above... i thought cycling batteries (charge -> complete discharge -> full charge) was better than charging it all the time?

yeah, I thought so too. Isn't it better if the battery runs flat before charging? I usually do this with my laptop battery as well. hmm, seems like I need to do more research.

Something must be wrong with my phone. I get 5 hours tops.

Usage Time 10 hours 30 minutes
Standby 1 day 4 hours
Talk Time 28 minutes
video for about 2 hours
music for 4 hours
Wifi turned on for 1 hour
Brightness set to 25%

Down to 10% remaining

...I'm considering Clean Restore. Is it gonna help? It's a pain to do everything again, jailbreak, 3rd party apps install...

sounds like the 2 of you have jailbroken your iPhone and perhaps SSH is enabled. I heard that thing drains battery, as well as random programmes that may continue to run in the background.

my phone's wireless is always enabled and brightness is automatic. it's a bit rough with bruno, your phone, because doing all that down to 10%...

 

[rhett7660]

I recharge my phone every 3 days... I wish I had 5 days of battery life...

This is about on par for me too. I use the iPod portion of it alot too. To and from work each day so I think that is pretty good. Sometimes I can get 4 days out of it. I wish apple would have a way to change out the battery without having to send it in. Batter seems to go die and bam.. go purchase a new one and you are ready to go again!!!

 

[senorFunkyPants]

Lithium-ion batteries have a shelf (age) life as well as a finite number of recharge cycles before the performance starts to drop off. They are damaged by hot or cold temperatures, in general fully discharging a Li-ion is not recommended and its probaby best not to leave a Li-ion battery charging once fully charged.
I charge my iphone when it gets to around 40%.

 

[GCY]

theres dif. something wrong with the battery. It could as well be a 1.1.4 firmware issue. I charge my iphone on avg. every other day. Sometimes every 3 days. Since I got it, I never "abuse" it by charging it often, etc... 3 weeks ago, I noticed that the battery will drain out after 2 days of standby. The battery seem to work as normal but on standby, its when the battery starts draining a lot faster than usual. I now have to charge it everyday. I don't know if apple will do anything since mines unlocked and all. I noticed recently that a lot of ppl are having battery problems as well.

 

[Auzburner]

Okay here's my situation:
Called Apple support to get a clear answer-
I asked weather or not I should cycle my battery regularly by discharging fully and recharging. I was told it is good practice to do this. Then I asked if it would make any difference to my battery life if I charge the battery at anytime, multiple times a day - I was told it made no difference. (At that point I simply said "ohkayy" and said thanks, then hung up - I'm not sure still what are the best battery practices.)

Then out of curiosity I asked a Apple store employee - He replied no matter what I do, the batter life and the point where the battery begins to degrade will not change.

Based on these answers I don't know the TRUE solid answer is! This is ridiculous and I don't want my $400 investment to have a defect vital to its functioning.

With my MacBook I'm entire sure on what to do. I leave it plugged in (not always best for extended periods of time), but I always make sure to condition the battery roughly monthly and after a year my MacBook's battery capacity is higher than OTB.

Any thoughts or proof of the best practice of the battery would be a great help! -Thanks

 

[senorFunkyPants]

Clearly the Apple employees you talked to haven't a clue, they seem to be giving info for Ni-Cad batteries. Google Li-ion batteries or look on Wiki for a clearer picture.