Battery Saving Tips?

[philipfreire]

I purchased the Apple Watch SS Space Black a week ago and I'm on the fence about it still. I love the idea of notifications and messages on my wrist but being a first gen product, I share many of the same thoughts you guys do. Battery being one of the primary issues.

I tried to play around with the settings and I noticed the one change I did impacted greatly on battery saving. Simply tuning off raise to wrist made a remarkable difference on how quickly the battery drained. Anyone else done this and can report similar results?

Any other tips?

 

[Julien]

So your battery is running dead during the day often?

 

[jasie02]

I purchased the Apple Watch SS Space Black a week ago and I'm on the fence about it still. I love the idea of notifications and messages on my wrist but being a first gen product, I share many of the same thoughts you guys do. Battery being one of the primary issues.

I tried to play around with the settings and I noticed the one change I did impacted greatly on battery saving. Simply tuning off raise to wrist made a remarkable difference on how quickly the battery drained. Anyone else done this and can report similar results?

Any other tips?

The saving is going to be minimum, since raise to wrist also turn on display off immediately when wrist turn away, vs if raise to wrist is off it will not time off until some fixed time.

I tried both, neither cases I ever run out of battery in one day, and in both cases I also have to charge at night to provide full power next day. So the saving, if there is any, will not change how I use my watch, other than if wrist off every single time I have to free up my other hand or use nose to activate screen, very very cumbersome and tiring.

Turn wrist on, and practice turn wrist away immediately after read the display. You will like it better, because it is more like a "smart watch" can glance on it, than a "smart gadget" must touch all the time.

 

[BarracksSi]

One reason I stopped wearing my 6th generation iPod nano was because I had to push its button to see the time. The AW's turn-to-activate display makes it usable.

The only battery-saving thing I've tried was to switch to Airplane Mode when I left my iPhone behind. I don't know how much difference it made, though, because I still had between 30-50% battery at the end of the day.

Oh yeah, I charge it for about an hour in the evening, then I put it on and wear it into bed. The tapping alarm works very well for me in the morning.

 

[FrisbeeK9]

I purchased the Apple Watch SS Space Black a week ago and I'm on the fence about it still. I love the idea of notifications and messages on my wrist but being a first gen product, I share many of the same thoughts you guys do. Battery being one of the primary issues.

I tried to play around with the settings and I noticed the one change I did impacted greatly on battery saving. Simply tuning off raise to wrist made a remarkable difference on how quickly the battery drained. Anyone else done this and can report similar results?

Any other tips?

Check your watch brightness

 

[friedmud]

The best tip I can give you: don't worry about it. Remove the battery complication from the face and the battery Glance from glances. Just charge it at night and put it on in the morning.

I've had mine since launch. I started with the battery complication and worrying about it. After a while it got replaced with more useful apps once I realized that it NEVER ran out of battery. Right now, I haven't checked the battery on my Watch in months (truly!).

I charge it every night, and wear it every day. I use the hell out of it. The battery is not an issue.

 

[Armen]

I purchased the Apple Watch SS Space Black a week ago and I'm on the fence about it still. I love the idea of notifications and messages on my wrist but being a first gen product, I share many of the same thoughts you guys do. Battery being one of the primary issues.

I tried to play around with the settings and I noticed the one change I did impacted greatly on battery saving. Simply tuning off raise to wrist made a remarkable difference on how quickly the battery drained. Anyone else done this and can report similar results?

Any other tips?

I think the first thing to be addressed here is your expectations of battery life. Unlike eInk display smart watches like the Pebble Watch the Apple watch is not going to last 5-7 days on a single charge. The maximum battery life you should be seeing with all features enabled on your Apple Watch is about 1.5 days. I wouldn't expect a dramatic increase in battery life in Apple Watch 2 either.

Turning off wrist raise turns your Apple watch from a watch to a touch screen device that shows you the time when you touch it. Kind of defeats the purpose.

 

[Newtons Apple]

You should not have to turn things off to get a full days use on the AW. The raise to wrist is nice to have on in my opinion.

 

[exxxviii]

Simply tuning off raise to wrist made a remarkable difference on how quickly the battery drained.

What was your observed difference in battery usage with and without Wake Screen on Wrist Raise enabled? I rarely get below 40% power at the end of a long day of regular use with my watch. So, it does not seem disabling the automatic wake on wrist raise would have a material benefit to the watch's battery life.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Are you experiencing excessive battery drain that causes you to run out mid-day (in which case you can resolve by rebooting, unpairing and re-pairing, or simply swap it out as you may have a bum battery) or are you preoccupied with normal battery loss? If the latter, you just need to get over it. You're simply in the same shoe as dumbphone owners (who are used to a week's worth of battery) going to the iPhone and need to get used to charging it nightly.

 

[pika2000]

This is one reason why I am waiting for at least the second gen.
The more I read about Apple, the more I think there's a wall between the each products, and between hardware and software (eg. the iPad Pro team was going to use A8X, but scrambled at last minute to use A9X so the device won't be slower than the iPhone 6S).

I wonder if the AW was developed with or without the consideration of complications and apps.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

This is one reason why I am waiting for at least the second gen.
The more I read about Apple, the more I think there's a wall between the each products, and between hardware and software (eg. the iPad Pro team was going to use A8X, but scrambled at last minute to use A9X so the device won't be slower than the iPhone 6S).

I wonder if the AW was developed with or without the consideration of complications and apps.

Nonsense. We do not know of the OP is experiencing abnormal battery drain (which can be fixed) or is simply anal retentive about normal battery drain. The vast majority of us do not need to re-charge our AW mid-day.

 

[philipfreire]

Nonsense. We do not know of the OP is experiencing abnormal battery drain (which can be fixed) or is simply anal retentive about normal battery drain. The vast majority of us do not need to re-charge our AW mid-day.

Not experiencing abnormal battery drain. Actually it does get me through the day if I use it without a workout.
[doublepost=1456177932][/doublepost]

So your battery is running dead during the day often?

If I use it as just a watch with minimal texting. No. If I use it to record a workout or driving directions on top of the normal functions. Yes.

The saving is going to be minimum, since raise to wrist also turn on display off immediately when wrist turn away, vs if raise to wrist is off it will not time off until some fixed time.

I tried both, neither cases I ever run out of battery in one day, and in both cases I also have to charge at night to provide full power next day. So the saving, if there is any, will not change how I use my watch, other than if wrist off every single time I have to free up my other hand or use nose to activate screen, very very cumbersome and tiring.

Turn wrist on, and practice turn wrist away immediately after read the display. You will like it better, because it is more like a "smart watch" can glance on it, than a "smart gadget" must touch all the time.

I work 12 hrs shift works in a nuclear facility. I been recording my testing with the watch on airplane mode. Brightness on the lowest and haptic feedback on minimum. Using the watch just as a clock and record activities. Just to keep it on a fair playground. The only difference is raise to wrist on and off.

When it's on. Battery is between 40-50%.
When it's off. Battery is between 65-75%.
Given the slight differences based on how many times I actually look at my watch. I still see an improvement when it's off.

If I use it with airplane mode off. Yes I run out quicker. Yes I agree with you that using this watch by pressing a button to display time is very cumbersome and tiring and I don't like it either. It does take away the idea it's a smart watch.

I just did this test to see the difference it actually saves with this feature.


If I use this watch to its full potential (in my case it's just texting, viewing missed calls, notifications, health stats and a clock then this barely makes it to 12 hrs 5-10%

One reason I stopped wearing my 6th generation iPod nano was because I had to push its button to see the time. The AW's turn-to-activate display makes it usable.

The only battery-saving thing I've tried was to switch to Airplane Mode when I left my iPhone behind. I don't know how much difference it made, though, because I still had between 30-50% battery at the end of the day.

Oh yeah, I charge it for about an hour in the evening, then I put it on and wear it into bed. The tapping alarm works very well for me in the morning.

Airplane mode helps a lot but ruins the point of the product.

Check your watch brightness

On the lowest.

The best tip I can give you: don't worry about it. Remove the battery complication from the face and the battery Glance from glances. Just charge it at night and put it on in the morning.

I've had mine since launch. I started with the battery complication and worrying about it. After a while it got replaced with more useful apps once I realized that it NEVER ran out of battery. Right now, I haven't checked the battery on my Watch in months (truly!).

I charge it every night, and wear it every day. I use the hell out of it. The battery is not an issue.

I should try this.

I think the first thing to be addressed here is your expectations of battery life. Unlike eInk display smart watches like the Pebble Watch the Apple watch is not going to last 5-7 days on a single charge. The maximum battery life you should be seeing with all features enabled on your Apple Watch is about 1.5 days. I wouldn't expect a dramatic increase in battery life in Apple Watch 2 either.

Turning off wrist raise turns your Apple watch from a watch to a touch screen device that shows you the time when you touch it. Kind of defeats the purpose.

I agree with your point bout wrist raise. I expect a day of heavy use with this device.

You should not have to turn things off to get a full days use on the AW. The raise to wrist is nice to have on in my opinion.

Couldn't agree more!

 

[Armen]

Not experiencing abnormal battery drain. Actually it does get me through the day if I use it without a workout.
[doublepost=1456177932][/doublepost]
If I use it as just a watch with minimal texting. No. If I use it to record a workout or driving directions on top of the normal functions. Yes.



I work 12 hrs shift works in a nuclear facility. I been recording my testing with the watch on airplane mode. Brightness on the lowest and haptic feedback on minimum. Using the watch just as a clock and record activities. Just to keep it on a fair playground. The only difference is raise to wrist on and off.

When it's on. Battery is between 40-50%.
When it's off. Battery is between 65-75%.
Given the slight differences based on how many times I actually look at my watch. I still see an improvement when it's off.

If I use it with airplane mode off. Yes I run out quicker. Yes I agree with you that using this watch by pressing a button to display time is very cumbersome and tiring and I don't like it either. It does take away the idea it's a smart watch.

I just did this test to see the difference it actually saves with this feature.


If I use this watch to its full potential (in my case it's just texting, viewing missed calls, notifications, health stats and a clock then this barely makes it to 12 hrs 5-10%



Airplane mode helps a lot but ruins the point of the product.



On the lowest.



I should try this.



I agree with your point bout wrist raise. I expect a day of heavy use with this device.



Couldn't agree more!

something isn't right. With a 30 minute work out and using my watch for notifications all day when I get home I have at least 50% battery left after being off the charger for 12 hours. Have you tried to unpair and repair the watch?

 

[Julien]

.... I use it as just a watch with minimal texting. No. If I use it to record a workout or driving directions on top of the normal functions. Yes.....

You must have a problem. Here is mine as of now. I have almost 2 hours of Activity, many notifications and have used 'hey Siri' several times. 14 hours in and I still have over 20%.

 

[BarracksSi]

To be sure, when I mentioned I use Airplane Mode, it's just for times when I'm away from my phone and won't have a wifi network. I use it when I go for a run or during certain times at work.

 

[mirz2000]

What size is your watch? I have the 38 and my BF has the 42. We have noticed his battery lasts longer, all other things being equal.

 

[philipfreire]

What size is your watch? I have the 38 and my BF has the 42. We have noticed his battery lasts longer, all other things being equal.

42mm

 

[ejfontenot]

I have recently been having huge battery issues with my 42mm Sport watch. I put it on at 5am this morning to hit the gym and it just went into power reserve mode. Haven't changed any settings on it since I loaded WatchOS 2.1 and now I am getting this incredible battery drain. Really sucks. Not sure what to do with it.

 

[exxxviii]

I have recently been having huge battery issues with my 42mm Sport watch. I put it on at 5am this morning to hit the gym and it just went into power reserve mode.

Is this example a one-off, or has it been a consistent occurrence. I have seen this once or twice with my watch. A simple reboot of the watch solved it.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

I have recently been having huge battery issues with my 42mm Sport watch. I put it on at 5am this morning to hit the gym and it just went into power reserve mode. Haven't changed any settings on it since I loaded WatchOS 2.1 and now I am getting this incredible battery drain. Really sucks. Not sure what to do with it.

This issue is usually resolved by rebooting or unpairing and re-pairing. Have you done that?

 

[ejfontenot]

This issue is usually resolved by rebooting or unpairing and re-pairing. Have you done that?

I tried this late last night. Let's see how it does today! Thanks.