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Battery life

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leonremi

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 12, 2017
130
436
I would absolutely love to buy an Apple Watch. I'm totally invested in the Apple ecosystem and i very much like all the capabilities of the Apple Watch................i will however never buy one.

Why ?

Because of the battery life ! Less than a day when new? battery of course non replaceable?

I mean when I buy a watch for 500 euros, i don't expect such a hassle and to throw it away in 18 monthes?

In a nutshell, no Apple Watch battery until the battery is decent (4-5 days minimum)
 
My series 3 with lte usually has 65-75% battery left even with answering messages and streaming music while tracking a run with the NRC app. Also battery for $79 isn’t bad, and name one smartwatch that has a user replaceable battery. I couldn’t even do that with an old Garmin Forerunner. I can’t think of one that you can. Not even a cheap Fitbit.
 
The day I forgot to take my phone to work I expected to have to give the watch a quick charge during the day. In fact it got through the day on LTE with plenty to spare (no calls to speak of but on LTE all day just in case). Considering I’m out of the house from about 7am til close to 10pm, I’d say that’s pretty good.

In more typical usage, with my phone in my pocket, I charge it every other night.

My original watch is now close to three years old and the battery gets through a day but it’s touch and go. (Mostly it just gets used for sleep tracking on the nights I charge the new one though.)

I gave no experience of other smart watches but I do know that Fitbits have no need for replaceable batteries as the devices fall apart long before the battery dies!
 
One problem I think Appme has with the battery life on this watch is that it will never work for a slow distance runner, which is a very large portion of American marathon/half marathon runners. I am pretty fast for a woman—under 20:00 for a 5K and my easy long runs are about 8:30/mile for 10-14 miles...and when I run a 10-12 miler at that pace I still only have around 50% battery left if I’m lucky and I start with a completely full charge.

A marathoner is never going to get a full race out of this watch unless they basically turn off every single other function besides the GPS, which defeats the purpose of the watch. I want to be able to finish a race and maybe be able to call my husband from my watch to find him among the thousands of people. Or maybe he wants to track me on a race course. Or I want my heart rate feedback.

I personally think if Apple can get this battery life improved to cover this segment of the population they can put Garmin out of business but right now they just can’t get these 2.5 hour half marathoners and 5 hour marathoners with this battery.
 
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Nell said:
The day I forgot to take my phone to work I expected to have to give the watch a quick charge during the day. In fact it got through the day on LTE with plenty to spare (no calls to speak of but on LTE all day just in case). Considering I’m out of the house from about 7am til close to 10pm, I’d say that’s pretty good.

In more typical usage, with my phone in my pocket, I charge it every other night.

My original watch is now close to three years old and the battery gets through a day but it’s touch and go. (Mostly it just gets used for sleep tracking on the nights I charge the new one though.)

I gave no experience of other smart watches but I do know that Fitbits have no need for replaceable batteries as the devices fall apart long before the battery dies!
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, do you usually connect to your wifi at work with your phone? It's possible that it might not have been on LTE but on your work WiFi instead. Just curious as to if that's a possibility and the implications on battery life of your post.
 
I can typically get into day 3 without charging.

Currently I'm at 83% with 13 hours 7 minutes since I took it off the charger this morning.

I had the same concerns as you OP but its been just fine. Its capabilities vs its battery longevity is pretty impressive IMO. That note, last watch I wore lasted over a year on a single battery...lol
 
I had similar comments before I bought my first Apple Watch. I laughed at the idea of a $350 watch that would be outdated and thrown away after 2 years and need charging every day.

My wife and I bought AW 3 late last year and we both love it. Without going into a long paragraph how the Apple Watch has helped our lives for the better, the battery life is very acceptable. I end the day at 70%+ if I exercise and more if I don't. That means 3 days is easy. If I turn off raise to wake and use it conservatively I can end the day 90%+. It takes 15 mins in the shower to charge from 70% to 100% so I wear it all day and all night.

Not missing calls cuz I keep my phone on silent all the time is REALLY nice too.
 
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squirrrl said:
Out of curiosity, do you usually connect to your wifi at work with your phone? It's possible that it might not have been on LTE but on your work WiFi instead. Just curious as to if that's a possibility and the implications on battery life of your post.
Click to expand...

Our WiFi is pretty awful (to the extent that I often end up switching WiFi off on my phone and using the guest WiFi if I need to use my laptop away from a network connection) so while it’s possible the phone was connected some of the time I think it was mainly on LTE (as far as I recall, whenever I checked it had the LTE dots on the screen). And it’ll definitely have been on LTE during my commute (a 4.5 hour round trip).
 
I can easily get two full days out of my Apple Watch Series 3 LTE. By the end of the first day i'm at 75-80% still!

I upgraded from a series 1 and i was very surprised how great battery life was!
 
leonremi said:
I would absolutely love to buy an Apple Watch. I'm totally invested in the Apple ecosystem and i very much like all the capabilities of the Apple Watch................i will however never buy one.

Why ?

Because of the battery life ! Less than a day when new? battery of course non replaceable?

I mean when I buy a watch for 500 euros, i don't expect such a hassle and to throw it away in 18 monthes?

In a nutshell, no Apple Watch battery until the battery is decent (4-5 days minimum)
Click to expand...

I doubt you will ever see the Apple watch that gives you 4-5 days of battery. At least not in it present form using the battery chemistry we are using today.

So I would say the watch is not for you.
 
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BigMcGuire said:
Not missing calls cuz I keep my phone on silent all the time is REALLY nice too.
Click to expand...


I thought i was the only one who did this! I don't like phones ringing, and i think its annoying to others in public places, so i prefer the apple watch taptic notifications to let me know i'm getting a call.
 
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leonremi said:
I would absolutely love to buy an Apple Watch. I'm totally invested in the Apple ecosystem and i very much like all the capabilities of the Apple Watch................i will however never buy one.

Why ?

Because of the battery life ! Less than a day when new? battery of course non replaceable?

I mean when I buy a watch for 500 euros, i don't expect such a hassle and to throw it away in 18 monthes?

In a nutshell, no Apple Watch battery until the battery is decent (4-5 days minimum)
Click to expand...
The thought of the Apple Watch needing a charge less than a day is a huge stretch. Like others, without a charge, it should last two days with decent usage and a workout or two. Long lte calls - no way.

I’ve mentioned his before but I have a charger in my bathroom and can go a week with only taking my watch off to charge and get ready before putting back on.

Long story short, your reason for not buying is fair but also poorly informed on battery.

Love never having to have my phone volume on and using the watch for haptic feedback to calls and texts. Hate hearing people’s phone ring and beep. Love LTE and not bringing my phone for hikes and runs and yard work and still have everything and with Bluetooth headphones life is great and nothing strapped to my arm or in my sweaty pocket.

It’s not for you if you never take your current watch off for 4-5 days and always shower with it. I wear the Apple Watch 23-23 1/2 hours a day and only off for shower and get ready.
 
Bummer, you're missing out on a great watch because of something that is hardly even an inconvenience. It takes me less than 3 seconds to set up my phone and watch on their chargers each night.
 
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leonremi said:
I would absolutely love to buy an Apple Watch. I'm totally invested in the Apple ecosystem and i very much like all the capabilities of the Apple Watch................i will however never buy one.

Why ?

Because of the battery life ! Less than a day when new? battery of course non replaceable?

I mean when I buy a watch for 500 euros, i don't expect such a hassle and to throw it away in 18 monthes?

In a nutshell, no Apple Watch battery until the battery is decent (4-5 days minimum)
Click to expand...

You should get a day, or more depending on your usage.
In my view, charging daily is easier to remember that every few days. For that reason I'm much more likely to pick up my iPad with a depleted battery than my phone or my watch.
[doublepost=1521279942][/doublepost]
MJ22 said:
One problem I think Appme has with the battery life on this watch is that it will never work for a slow distance runner, which is a very large portion of American marathon/half marathon runners. I am pretty fast for a woman—under 20:00 for a 5K and my easy long runs are about 8:30/mile for 10-14 miles...and when I run a 10-12 miler at that pace I still only have around 50% battery left if I’m lucky and I start with a completely full charge.

A marathoner is never going to get a full race out of this watch unless they basically turn off every single other function besides the GPS, which defeats the purpose of the watch. I want to be able to finish a race and maybe be able to call my husband from my watch to find him among the thousands of people. Or maybe he wants to track me on a race course. Or I want my heart rate feedback.

I personally think if Apple can get this battery life improved to cover this segment of the population they can put Garmin out of business but right now they just can’t get these 2.5 hour half marathoners and 5 hour marathoners with this battery.
Click to expand...

Sub 20 minute 5K... nice one! I've not managed to get below 23 minutes yet.
 
ManicMarc said:
In my view, charging daily is easier to remember that every few days. For that reason I'm much more likely to pick up my iPad with a depleted battery than my phone or my watch.
Click to expand...

This. With Fitbits, which can last anything from 1 to 6 days, I was always finding myself with no battery; with my watch, I never do.
 
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I have had a couple of days when my AW3 went to practically 0 after 10 hours inexplicably. Typically 60-70% left end of day. Don’t know why, have had it since launch and always do the updates
 
jimfastcar1 said:
I have had a couple of days when my AW3 went to practically 0 after 10 hours inexplicably. Typically 60-70% left end of day. Don’t know why, have had it since launch and always do the updates
Click to expand...

I've had 2 nights where it dropped 70% overnight without explanation --- but only 2 nights since I've had it late November. Hasn't happened in the last month. I just restarted the watch and it didn't happen again.

Would be nice to have a battery usage screen.
 
First day of ownership of the Series 3 Watch (non-LTE) so by no means relevant.
Took it off the charger this morning at 7:30 and now at 21:30 (after 14 hours) I'm at 59%.
So it will definitely go for about 2 days with my current usage.
Can't imagine what you can do with it so that it will not last at least a day.
 
My S3 is a few months old (got it in October, I think); I took it off charge about 12 hours ago and it’s on 83%. I generally charge it every other night.
 
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