iPhone SE (2016) Battery life on iPhone SE 2020

[rui no onna]

So close. The iPhone 8 battery in the video has 13 cycles but it's 18 months old. I wish there was a truly fair comparison between SE2 and 8 so we can eliminate age and cycle as confounding variables. Maybe I'm asking for too much.

12 cycles shouldn't affect it much but the age will. Probably would need an iPhone 8 that was purchased just before the SE announcement.

 

[JPack]

Somebody posted this two days ago:

Yes, that's the same one posted above.

My concern was the iPhone 8 battery was manufactured July 2018 and is being compared to a March 2020 SE2 battery. I'm not sure how much aging plays a role, but I don't think it's insignificant.

 

[Aneres11]

Pretty decent for me today. And strangely, better than yesterday. But I was listening to music a lot more yesterday than today.

 

[johny328i]

This is a good result. Is this on wifi only?

 

[Aneres11]

This is a good result. Is this on wifi only?

Yes it is actually as currently working from home.

 

[johny328i]

That explains the good result tho.

 

[doxielover]

Definitely abnormal. Shouldn't be happening.

Even with your mobile data on, it shouldn't be draining that much without doing anything.

Must be something in the background that is not reflected in Battery Stats. I suggest giving it a few more days before bringing it to an Apple Store to diagnose.

Aren’t all the apple stores closed due to coronavirus

 

[bwydoogh]

Yes it is actually as currently working from home.

Do you mean that you turned off mobile data? Or is mobile data still on? My battery drains a lot when mobile data is turned on (see previous posts...). On Android I had a toggle which automatically turns off mobile data when on Wi-Fi (and turns it back on when not ...). Doesn't exist in iOS :/.

 

[primarycolors]

The battery life is getting better and better!! Finally disabled background app refresh.

5 hours and 45 minutes screen on time today. Unplugged ~5AM and it is currently 12:45 AM, and I’m posting this on the remaining 1%.

So yeah, this thing isn’t nearly as bad as people are blowing it up to be! This is a h*cking superb little phone

 

[Aneres11]

Do you mean that you turned off mobile data? Or is mobile data still on? My battery drains a lot when mobile data is turned on (see previous posts...). On Android I had a toggle which automatically turns off mobile data when on Wi-Fi (and turns it back on when not ...). Doesn't exist in iOS :/.

Mobile data is on but I have been connected to WiFi all day too as I haven’t left the house.

 

[Kiririn]

My experience has been around 7 hours of SoT

On my previous Google Pixel (OG), I got 4.5-5.5 hours new, down to around 2 hours from battery wear, with the same apps and workload

By my calculation this puts the efficiency of the SoC, software and display at 2x the Pixel, which is a pretty awesome improvement

 

[FeliApple]

So it’s around 6 hours, subtract an hour if usage is heavier and add 1-2 hours of usage is lighter and you get more or less the same battery life range as the rest of the 4.7-inch iPhones on their original versions. Seems like the A13, when coupled with iOS 13 doesn’t make a whole lot of difference when you compare it to, say, the A10 on iOS 10.

I don’t think people can be too annoyed at this, you won’t get more battery life out of a 4.7-inch iPhone. If you need more battery life than this you need a different iPhone. Anyway, looking forward to more results, to see if my assumption remains correct.

 

[Aston441]

looking back at the anandtech chart for iPhone 6 it seems that iPhone 6 has better battery life than 8 or SE now
Will see next week I guess

because the 6 is stuck on iOS 12. A far superior iOS.

 

[Tekguy0]

because the 6 is stuck on iOS 12. A far superior iOS.

Agreed. I don't like iOS 13. The few added features don't compensate for the disappointing changes.

 

[kamran9558]

So in order to replicate my average day, I turned off the WiFi and used the phone all day on mobile data and managed to get 3.45 hours of screen time when my battery hit 20% this was from 0830 till 1730.

 

[5105973]

Mobile data is on but I have been connected to WiFi all day too as I haven’t left the house.

Aw man I lose track of things on here. When did you get the SE? What color?

 

[JSRinUK]

Anyone with a 11 here that can compare and say if this is the case? I really wanted the SE, but now I'm wondering..

The battery life on my previous SE was a bit rubbish and, with an 1821mAh battery in the new SE, I'm not expecting wonders.

For me, though, the difference between the two phones is that the new SE has the wireless charging. I have a charging stand both by my bed and on my desk. It's no issue to pop the phone on its stand when I'm working, so it's always "good to go" when I want to head out.

That won't help if I need to be out all day and actually want to use the phone, but I always used to carry a power bank for my previous SE, so I guess that's no different.

It's one of the several sacrifices/compromises I know I have to make if I want an iPhone. It's either the iPhone SE or no iPhone for my budget.

 

[johny328i]

The things is, they could put a bigger battery if they want. I've installed 2200mah battery in a 6s - a legit 2200mah battery, without any modifications.

 

[NickName99]

The things is, they could put a bigger battery if they want. I've installed 2200mah battery in a 6s - a legit 2200mah battery, without any modifications.

Apple has to play it pretty safe regarding the battery, allow for some thermal expansion and so on. They sell iPhones all over the world, including some extremely hot climates.

If you installed a higher capacity 3rd party battery and it’s giving you longer battery life, that’s cool! What brand did you go with, and is it holding up well over time?

 

[stinkhorn9]

Agreed. I don't like iOS 13. The few added features don't compensate for the disappointing changes.

Writing this on a 6 (ios12) - what are the added features on ios13, and what are the disappointing changes in it from 12? I’m new to such modern technology ?

 

[johny328i]

Baseus 2200 mah li-poly, 6 months later it's 2050mah now. I'm pretty satisfied. It's miles better than the OEM apple 1700mah battery.

 

[Aston441]

Writing this on a 6 (ios12) - what are the added features on ios13, and what are the disappointing changes in it from 12? I’m new to such modern technology ?

let’s see...

13 added lots of bugs, constant frequent hard crashes for the first four months, cut battery life in half (on older devices), screwed up the Bluetooth stack again for about 3 months (better now), jittery scrolling, a HUGE memory leak fixed only about a month ago, etc...
it added something feature something for the iPad that was neat play with for a few minutes... I cannot remember WTF that was now... hmm

ETA: I had to look it up, the big addition was a swype keyboard... 20 years after it was invented, and it’s garbage and still crashes constantly.

 

[Edd70]

because the 6 is stuck on iOS 12. A far superior iOS.

That’s not my experience. My wife and I bought the 6 new right after release. The battery controversy happened a couple of years later so we both took advantage of the $29 replacement offer and used them daily until yesterday. At the end battery life was absolutely tragic. Luckily, I’m rarely far from a charger but it was down to me watching the battery drain in real time. It was running the latest OS version available for the 6.

With the new SE it’s a night and day difference. However, when the 6 was new, battery life was much better.

 

[NickName99]

According to CNet, the new iPhone SE has much better battery life than the iPhone 8:

"Apple's website says that the iPhone SE's battery lasts about the same as the iPhone 8, but my testing showed it lasted much longer. I played a looped video on Airplane mode at 50% brightness and the iPhone SE lasted 15 hours, 45 minutes. That's hours longer than what the iPhone 8 and iPhone SE lasted in the same test when they were new. Anecdotally, it made it through a day and a half without a problem, and a couple times it went two days straight without a charge." https://www.cnet.com/reviews/apple-iphone-se-2020-review/

 

[stinkhorn9]

let’s see...

13 added lots of bugs, constant frequent hard crashes for the first four months, cut battery life in half (on older devices), screwed up the Bluetooth stack again for about 3 months (better now), jittery scrolling, a HUGE memory leak fixed only about a month ago, etc...
it added something feature something for the iPad that was neat play with for a few minutes... I cannot remember WTF that was now... hmm

ETA: I had to look it up, the big addition was a swype keyboard... 20 years after it was invented, and it’s garbage and still crashes constantly.

Whoa! Way to sell it ? I take it all the kinks are ironed out now? (Asked the guy still happily using 2009 Macs with Snow Leopard)