Cellular VS Wifi - battery consumption

[Misheemee]

I have a SS AW8 with cellular (it's my first AW after years of gamins) - question on battery drain.

The cellular is active on plan with a provider that has great coverage in most areas, and I leave it on.

But, I also have Wifi switched on. I'm near my phone 80% of the time, and am on a wifi network either at home, or at work 60% of the time.

So my question is regarding battery consumption and wifi being on. is my AW consuming more battery searching for wifi networks when I leave my Wifi zones, on top of the cellular already running? Is it of more benefit to the battery if I just switch Wifi of and run with cellular 100% of the time?

 

[JT2002TJ]

I have a SS AW8 with cellular (it's my first AW after years of gamins) - question on battery drain.

The cellular is active on plan with a provider that has great coverage in most areas, and I leave it on.

But, I also have Wifi switched on. I'm near my phone 80% of the time, and am on a wifi network either at home, or at work 60% of the time.

So my question is regarding battery consumption and wifi being on. is my AW consuming more battery searching for wifi networks when I leave my Wifi zones, on top of the cellular already running? Is it of more benefit to the battery if I just switch Wifi of and run with cellular 100% of the time?

If you are in range of your phone it favors connecting to your phone over Wifi/Cellular. It really only matters if you are away from your phone. During those times, I'll let someone else answer your questions.

 

[deeddawg]

Your watch’s Wi-Fi doesn’t turn on until the watch cannot detect your phone over Bluetooth.

If it cannot contact your phone over Wi-Fi, it will switch to turning on cellular and attempt to reach your phone.

Neither Wi-Fi nor cellular gets turned on unless needed.

As to whether re-checking for Wi-Fi makes any discernible difference as to battery life, that something you can easily test for yourself. I’ve never noticed an issue in several years of owning cellular model watches

 

[BenGoren]

Permit me again to caution against premature optimization.

Overwhelmingly, people who own apple watches don’t obsess over battery usage. And, unless you actually find yourself running short of battery in your own real-world use, you shouldn’t worry about it, either.

Then, and only then, if you find that the watch is running out of juice before you’d normally be charging it, should you try to figure out what to do about it.

And the “what to do” would be to check some of the articles here on Macrumors about what things you can turn off to get more battery life — and you’re the only one who can decide which of those features you don’t care about and which really do mean something to you.

b&