Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Battery life MUCH better with "raise wrist" off?

T

thelookingglass

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 27, 2005
2,211
689
So I know this is sort of common sense, but my battery life is so much better if I turn off raise wrist. Obvious, I know, but I didn't expect the difference to be this significant. After 5 hours with raise wrist off, my battery life has barely budged. Not the case when I had raise wrist on. Not by a longshot. Seemed like the battery wouldn't even last me a day with raise wrist on.

Anyone else have this issue?
 
I wear mine 7am to 1am or beyond, raise wrist on and full brightness and I've never seen less than 40% when putting back on the charger at the end of the night.

While I'm certain turning off 'raise wrist' would increase battery life, I'm not sure I see the point. I don't wear it while I sleep so it may as well be on the charger. And if for some reason I'm awake beyond 24 hrs, my watch always has enough reserve power to keep going.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rowdt1
Alright, guess I'll have to keep a closer eye on it then. Maybe this is just my perception.
 
thelookingglass said:
Alright, guess I'll have to keep a closer eye on it then. Maybe this is just my perception.
Click to expand...

Just pick two typical days and do one with and one without. I thought about turning off the wrist raise after seeing my watch turn on so many times but I love the Siri function and at the end of my day I still have no less than 50% battery remaining.

Please come back and let us know if it makes a huge difference.
 
thelookingglass said:
So I know this is sort of common sense, but my battery life is so much better if I turn off raise wrist. Obvious, I know, but I didn't expect the difference to be this significant. After 5 hours with raise wrist off, my battery life has barely budged. Not the case when I had raise wrist on. Not by a longshot. Seemed like the battery wouldn't even last me a day with raise wrist on.

Anyone else have this issue?
Click to expand...
turning it off defeats the purpose of the watch for me.
I have it on, and at the end of the day, I still have 50%
 
  • Like
Reactions: foxkoneko and JD92
Mine is off and always has been. Just finished working a 20 hour shift, watch has been off the charger for exactly 24 hours. When I just plugged it in it was at 29% and I'm OK with that. Seems like decent battery life and I was using it alot through the day.
 
dictoresno said:
Mine is off and always has been. Just finished working a 20 hour shift, watch has been off the charger for exactly 24 hours. When I just plugged it in it was at 29% and I'm OK with that. Seems like decent battery life and I was using it alot through the day.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm convinced that wrist raise is causing my battery drain. Battery took a 35% hit overnight with wrist raise on. When I had wrist raise off for a few hours yesterday, battery barely budged in those few hours. Will try wrist raise off today.

Wrist raise is also annoying when having dinner with other people? Everytime you move your hands to illustrate a point, the watch face lights up.
 
For the wrist raise to work the watch has to keep checking the accelerometer's state multiple times every single second. That will inevitably eat some (considerable amount of?) battery.
 
If you leave it completely turned off it will last even longer ;)

I don't see the point in having wrist raise turned off - it makes it impossible to use the watch at all without two hands and removes one of the most useful features (i.e. quick glance at a notification or the time). Personally, I've never had the watch go into reserve mode and I wear it at least 18 hours a day
 
  • Like
Reactions: AppleWes
I can't figure out why some people seem to have battery issues. My watch battery has been phenomenal. I have wrist raise turned on, brightness at medium. I charge my watch for maybe an hour each day while working at my desk and I wear it all day and night and I never seem to dip below 50% through a full day/night of use. Right now I'm at 94% with 4hrs18mins of standby and 43 mins usage.
 
Thepixelsedge said:
I can't figure out why some people seem to have battery issues. My watch battery has been phenomenal. I have wrist raise turned on, brightness at medium. I charge my watch for maybe an hour each day while working at my desk and I wear it all day and night and I never seem to dip below 50% through a full day/night of use. Right now I'm at 94% with 4hrs18mins of standby and 43 mins usage.
Click to expand...

This.
 
Thepixelsedge said:
I can't figure out why some people seem to have battery issues. My watch battery has been phenomenal. I have wrist raise turned on, brightness at medium. I charge my watch for maybe an hour each day while working at my desk and I wear it all day and night and I never seem to dip below 50% through a full day/night of use. Right now I'm at 94% with 4hrs18mins of standby and 43 mins usage.
Click to expand...

I'd say the 43 mins usage is the reason why you don't have any battery life issues! I use my watch at least 3x as much.
 
teidon said:
For the wrist raise to work the watch has to keep checking the accelerometer's state multiple times every single second. That will inevitably eat some (considerable amount of?) battery.
Click to expand...

It's doing that anyway for the fitness stuff. How do you think it knows you've stood up?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Night Spring
So a quick update. I don't know if it's just because my usage has dropped off or what, but battery life is incredible. I ended up leaving wrist raise on. So far standby time of nearly 24 hrs and I still have 25% left. This is after a full day of checking notifications, talking on phone, looking at glances, etc. battery life is officially not an issue for me on this thing.
 
One thing to bear in mind is that the 42s have considerably better battery life than the 38s. At least that's the impression I've gotten from reading through these threads and also what my wife and I have experienced. She has the 38 and I have the 42. Both are used in a similar manner. My battery life is significantly better than hers.
 
I've got a 38 and the battery life us fine. I turn the activate on wrist raise off at night, because it is annoying having the watch light up when I am trying to sleep. I turn it back on for the day. One point I don't see discussed very much is how fast the watch charges! I charge it at night while I shower, and in the morning while I brush my teeth and dress, and but for those brief exceptions, I wear the watch 24 hours a day. Turning the activate on wrist raise off at night definitely reduces battery drain overnight. But the really impressive thing for me is how fast it charges, and how you can utilize that if you care to do so.
 
Kahalu'u Bob said:
I've got a 38 and the battery life us fine. I turn the activate on wrist raise off at night, because it is annoying having the watch light up when I am trying to sleep. I turn it back on for the day. One point I don't see discussed very much is how fast the watch charges! I charge it at night while I shower, and in the morning while I brush my teeth and dress, and but for those brief exceptions, I wear the watch 24 hours a day. Turning the activate on wrist raise off at night definitely reduces battery drain overnight. But the really impressive thing for me is how fast it charges, and how you can utilize that if you care to do so.
Click to expand...

Out of interest, why do you wear it at night? It doesn't do sleep tracking does it?
 
Occasionally, when I need to wake up early, I will have my AW on my wrist for notifications.

Additionally, when my wife travels, I have my AW on me at all times. Just in case.

She appreciates it.

➰
 
rockyromero said:
Occasionally, when I need to wake up early, I will have my AW on my wrist for notifications.

Additionally, when my wife travels, I have my AW on me at all times. Just in case.

She appreciates it.

➰
Click to expand...

That's interesting. I keep my Apple watch and iPhone on the night table next to my bed for notifications. That way, they're only about a foot or so from my head and I'm more likely to hear and/or see an alert than if I wore the Watch in bed.
 
Fair enough - I guess the alarm is a pretty good reason. It's way too quiet to be used as an alarm unless you're wearing it of course.
 
Hi Marc: Like Rocky says, the quite alarm is nice if you sleep with a partner, and I think my wife appreciates it. I have limited notifications, but the alerts at night are occasionally of interest. And, while there is no formal sleep tracking, I find the record of heart rate at night interesting -- I have been surprised at the things that seem to affect it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back