Does 3G drain battery when not in use?

[ineedamac]

I know my 3G iPhone says turning on 3G will decrease the battery life. However, does that only apply to when I'm using the 3G network or does just having the 3G connection drain the battery?

I frequently leave my iPhone on all night and wanted to know if I should turn off 3G before I go to sleep.

 

[Abyssgh0st]

I believe it would use more battery power with 3G on, but only on EDGE service. Rather than 3G disabled, so I suggest turning it off overnight if your not charging or you are using wifi.

 

[maflynn]

Having 3G on will certainly drain the battery more then EDGE. I found using 3G to drain it much faster then turning off the 3G radio and going on the EDGE network. Additionally I go on wifi so I get faster speeds w/o the hit to the battery that 3G does. Finally as the other poster stated, if feasible, put the phone on airplane mode at night if not being recharged.

 

[rednano74]

Leaving your phone on with 3G overnight barely drains the battery...standby time is well over a week. It is the usage of 3G that does the draining whether it is data or voice. You can get almost double "usage" time when using Edge.

HTH

 

[Warbrain]

Standby time on 3G is amazing - it's data, like previously stated, that burns up power.

 

[sammich]

Saw a slogan on a newspaper ad the other day:

"If it's on standby. It's on". Everything enabled uses power, even if it's not being used.

Think about it: how does your phone know that there is 3G reception if it doesn't check?

 

[bbplayer5]

Saw a slogan on a newspaper ad the other day:

"If it's on standby. It's on". Everything enabled uses power, even if it's not being used.

Think about it: how does your phone know that there is 3G reception if it doesn't check?

Thats not using a lot of power to say "Hey, do I have 3G"?... Its when you pull data from the internet that it drains. However, its so much faster than Edge, that its well worth it.