Does Always On Display Drain Battery Quicker?

[HappyDude20]

Wondering what the consensus is here.
Also if anyone can tell if the 6 has been refined better than the 5 in regards to battery life and the always on display.

 

[RPhoto]

Yes, it drains. I’d say roughly 10% ish more per 24 hours based on testing when I first got it. But depending on your notifications usage etc etc you still get good battery life.

I get roughly 25-30 hours on my S5’s and about 40 hours on my S6. There’s a definite improvement between the two.

It has to drain the battery more. The screen is always on, that comes at a (small) battery consumption price.

 

[perezr10]

I would agree that there has to be some effect on battery life. But it’s small enough that when I turn my AOD off, I can’t see any significant difference. So I turned it back on. I find the heart rate monitor and bluetooth streaming are much larger factors.

 

[sixtydashone]

Yep, you can’t get something for nothing, so AOD will definitely have an impact on the battery life, but even with AOD enabled, pretty much the only time my watch is on the charger is when I’m in the shower and getting ready for work and it still has plenty of juice to make it through to the next morning.

 

[0906742]

Yeah, with AOD battery use in 44mm is easily close to 4% per hour during daytime. Smaller AW6 with AOD seems to use only 3% or under per hour.

 

[BSG75]

I've noticed a faster drain on my Series 5 compared to my old Series 4, but it still more than gets me through the day. In fact, I use it for sleep tracking and usually charge it in the evening before bed. It's easily on my wrist 22 out of 24 hours and I'm usually between 20-25% battery left when I put it on the charger.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention that this also includes a 30-minute workout every day.

 

[Itinj24]

I have everything turned on, on my S6. I’m draining about 1.5-2.5%/hour depending on usage. Very happy with that. Not so much on my S5. Everything turned on was draining 5.5-6.5%/hour.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I can get all day battery with AoD left on.

 

[spartan1967]

Anything that adds work to the AW like AoD will use more battery.

 

[827538]

The 44mm Series 6 is my first Apple Watch, I typically wear it for 12-16 hours and I've yet to see it drop below 50% battery. I don't wear it while I sleep. The battery life on it blew me away.

 

[0906742]

I have everything turned on, on my S6. I’m draining about 1.5-2.5%/hour depending on usage. Very happy with that.

Is it 44mm or 40mm and with AOD on? That is in any case incredible battery life!
Mine is hardly around 3% with AOD off, currently AOD on seem to struggle to go below 4% per hour, often 5%. Only time I get 1-2% per hour is that I put it away and leave it on, never so low when it is on my wrist (just last night it was about 1,8% per hour while not on my wrist).

 

[Itinj24]

Is it 44mm or 40mm and with AOD on? That is in any case incredible battery life!
Mine is hardly around 3% with AOD off, currently AOD on seem to struggle to go below 4% per hour, often 5%. Only time I get 1-2% per hour is that I put it away and leave it on, never so low when it is on my wrist (just last night it was about 1,8% per hour while not on my wrist).

Sorry, forgot to specify. It is a 44mm SBTi. I can’t believe it myself either, especially after owning the S5 44mm with atrocious battery life. My S4 44mm was somewhere in between these two. Yes, I have everything turned on (AOD included). One thing of note, I haven’t been really exercising in the last few months (winter hibernation) so that may attribute to the excellent battery life. But I do get an insane amount of Security camera notifications through the night on the watch. It fluctuates tho per hour. The highest per hour battery drain I’ve seen so far is 2.8% since I been paying attention but that with heavy usage.

 

[michsu]

It's more your watch face than AOD or heart monitor. If the complications need to update, then it will do so even with background refresh off. I just have a picture one with time and nothing else. It drops 20% in about 12 hours. If I have the infograph with all kinds of complications, it will drop 25-33% in about 12 hours (about 2 days total time). I'll do just picture one from 100-0% and see.

Also, the background refresh and notifications on your phone will zap watch battery too.

 

[perezr10]

Sorry, forgot to specify. It is a 44mm SBTi. I can’t believe it myself either, especially after owning the S5 44mm with atrocious battery life. My S4 44mm was somewhere in between these two. Yes, I have everything turned on (AOD included). One thing of note, I haven’t been really exercising in the last few months (winter hibernation) so that may attribute to the excellent battery life. But I do get an insane amount of Security camera notifications through the night on the watch. It fluctuates tho per hour. The highest per hour battery drain I’ve seen so far is 2.8% since I been paying attention but that with heavy usage.

My series 6 will lose 20-25% battery life on a 1 hour run outdoors. Yeah, it makes a huge difference. I almost think the brighter AOD causes a bigger battery hit than the Series 5.

I’m not worried about it though because I never runout of juice before bedtime. For Me, it’s not discernibly any better than my Series 5.

 

[perezr10]

—

 

[Itinj24]

My series 6 will lose 20-25% battery life on a 1 hour run outdoors. Yeah, it makes a huge difference. I almost think the brighter AOD causes a bigger battery hit than the Series 5.

I’m not worried about it though because I never runout of juice before bedtime. For Me, it’s not discernibly any better than my Series 5.View attachment 1724709

Re: the exercise thing- I figured as much which is why I believed it was worth noting. As far as AOD, I can’t see my battery life possibly getting any better or if I even need the better battery life, if so, by switching it off. I find AOD very useful when I need to glance at the time and the quick(er) charging on the S6 is phenomenal. So many mixed reviews about the S5 battery though. Mine was downright terrible with the same usage type as my S6.

Also to note, I use the Infograph watch face. Three of the eight complications I use are dynamic (digital time, calendar and battery percentage). The rest are static app shortcuts.

 

[Bazooka-joe]

It's more your watch face than AOD or heart monitor. If the complications need to update, then it will do so even with background refresh off. I just have a picture one with time and nothing else. It drops 20% in about 12 hours. If I have the infograph with all kinds of complications, it will drop 25-33% in about 12 hours (about 2 days total time). I'll do just picture one from 100-0% and see.

Also, the background refresh and notifications on your phone will zap watch battery too.

Yeah I agree. The infograph watch face with so many complications is a real battery hog. If you are using complications such as weather, activity, heart rate etc plus AOD, it will suck your battery dry in a much shorter period than a simpler watch face. You pay your money and take your choice

 

[NastyMatt]

Just checked mine (S6 44mm) and it has been 7h 46m since last on charge and it is currently at 88%. I have everything on i.e background refresh, AOD - I have the GMT watch face.

I run every other day so will check what a 30min run does to it.

 

[0906742]

Just checked mine (S6 44mm) and it has been 7h 46m since last on charge and it is currently at 88%. I have everything on i.e background refresh, AOD - I have the GMT watch face.

That is amazing. Mine practically used double battery same time. This one is going back for sure. Interesting that battery health claim it is 100% health (just couple weeks old watch and manufactured this year).

 

[Itinj24]

Just checked mine (S6 44mm) and it has been 7h 46m since last on charge and it is currently at 88%. I have everything on i.e background refresh, AOD - I have the GMT watch face.

I run every other day so will check what a 30min run does to it.

That’s ~1.6% drain per hour. Same results I’m usually seeing.

 

[0906742]

That’s ~1.6% drain per hour. Same results I’m usually seeing.

Mine draw more than that per hour overnight while it was not even on my wrist...

 

[Itinj24]

Mine draw more than that per hour overnight while it was not even on my wrist...

Is amazing how much of a difference there is in battery drain reports. I was always envious of those reporting good results on the S5. Mine S5 was regularly draining almost 7% per hour.

 

[NastyMatt]

Update to yesterday, 5 hours was at 94% went for a run, 30 mins with both Nike Run Club and Workout running it dropped to 84%.

TBH - I charge mine every night along with my phone so mine just has to make it to the end of the day.

 

[coffeeplease]

I have a Series 5 with AOD on. After 6 hours this morning with minimal use (check notifications mostly), it has used 23%, so draining at almost 4% an hour. From the previous posts, it looks like Series 6 has better battery.

I have noticed that the watch will sometimes turn on as I'm reaching for the keyboard to type, so perhaps the accidental wakes are contributing to this drain? Do people keep the "Wake on wrist raise" turned on and don't have issues with it?

And the complications I have on my watch face are calendar, timer, activity, and battery. Are these battery draining complications?