iPhone SE (2016) Coconut Battery Fluxuation

[jjang1993]

Hello everyone,

I'm still rocking the 2016 iPhone SE. I have pretty small hands but that's beside the point. One year ago, I got the battery replaced. It has 309 charge cycles on it with 93.5% charge capacity left as of me reading it right now with the battery charged all the way to 100%. I've noticed in the last few days that the charge capacity drops when the battery charge goes down. For example, after a FaceTime call, my phone battery charge was at 27% and Coconut battery was saying the charge capacity was at 80%. Is it normal for fluctuations like this to take place?

I'm on the fence on whether I should get this battery replaced. This battery is the third one in this phone, the second one was faulty and expanded, so I'm weary of the quality control on the replacement batteries. Are there early signs to know if a new battery will turn out to be faulty?

I really like this phone and plan on keeping it until it's a total brick, even the iPhone 6s to too big for my hands.

 

[akash.nu]

Yes this behaviour is normal. Battery capacity can’t be measured with pin point accuracy. If you want to compare capacity data then only take reading when it’s 100% charged.

 

[jjang1993]

Ah okay. Does temperature play a role too in inaccurate battery readings? When I use certain apps, the phone likes to heat up. How often should I change out the battery? I’m living in France right now where it costs €35 ($38) to replace, and the current one seems to function well. One one hand it might be good to get it replaced before they phase out production of these batteries, on the other, there’s the risk that I could get a faulty one like when I replaced the battery a second time. The last battery had expanded and was touching against other parts inside which made a subtle blue spot on the screen according to the man who last replaced it.

 

[JSRinUK]

I hadn’t heard of this app before, so I downloaded it last night to check out some of my devices.

My original iPhone SE is showing just 67% health with a full charge capacity of just 1094mAh against the design capacity of 1624mAh.

I’ve only had it since August 2018, but I guess that’s why it doesn’t seem to last too long and appears to drain away when I so much as just glance at the screen. Lol.

I’ve always been a bit suspicious about that phone.

 

[now i see it]

CoconutBattery takes temperature into consideration (also coconutBattery isn't very reliable).

On a cold morning when it was 45° during winter, coconutBattery would frequently say my 2014 iPhone 6 battery was as 65% battery health (not charge level). And it felt like it too. Battery didn't have much power.

But then when it would heat up during the afternoon, it would say 98% battery health and the battery would also last much longer.

CoconutBattery Battery Health readings can be all over the place. It's not a reliable method to gauge battery health.

 

[akash.nu]

I hadn’t heard of this app before, so I downloaded it last night to check out some of my devices.

My original iPhone SE is showing just 67% health with a full charge capacity of just 1094mAh against the design capacity of 1624mAh.

I’ve only had it since August 2018, but I guess that’s why it doesn’t seem to last too long and appears to drain away when I so much as just glance at the screen. Lol.

I’ve always been a bit suspicious about that phone.

67% seems pretty ok for an almost 2 years old device. I’m guessing you’re a pretty heavy user?!

 

[JSRinUK]

67% seems pretty ok for an almost 2 years old device. I’m guessing you’re a pretty heavy user?!

I'm very much NOT a "pretty heavy user". I can't be, because the battery has been running down pretty fast for several months now. So much so that, if I leave the house, I have to take the power bank with me because the battery won't have much juice in it when I actually need it. As a "mobile" phone, it's pretty unusable.

I've been dubious about its battery since the first day I had it.

By way of comparison, my new iPhone SE is used more than my old one and it's currently at 76% battery now (10 hours since charging). My old SE would either be dead or would already have been plugged into the power bank, and I would have used it less in order to try and save some juice.

I'm seeing if I can send it to Apple for a new battery, and then we'll see if there's a difference. Even if I pay the £49, if there's an improvement it'll be worth every penny.

 

[jjang1993]

How often will one get a faulty replacement battery? I guess what percent of replacement batteries are faulty out of the box? Are there any ones I should avoid using?
I would like to replace the iPhone SE 2016 one, but this current battery hovers around 92% capacity with 313 cycles with no visible swelling, so it is stable. The previous replacement had severe swelling after 30 cycles. That said, it would be really nice to reset back to 100% capacity and 0 charge cycles.

is there a more accurate way of measuring battery capacity? I have imazing but it gives the same readings as coconut battery and I can’t get a reading on the battery when I go to battery in settings.