Guess I need Bluetooth on all the time now?

[RodThePlod]

Sorry - this is my second post after getting my 42mm AW Sport yesterday. Really quick one:

In all the years I've been using an iPhone, I've always had bluetooth turned off. But Apple Watch requires me to have it on for full functionality.

Have you guys noticed a hit on battery life after doing this? Or (since it uses bluetooth low energy) is it negligible?

I guess I'll find out over the next few days! Loving the Watch BTW 🙂

Fella.

 

[NovemberWhiskey]

I'm noticing a significant decrease in phone battery life after using the watch and leaving BT on all the time. Don't have any numbers for you, but it's at least 20% less by the end of the day by my estimation.

 

[fischersd]

I've always used BT in my vehicles for music from my iPhone...since I got them in 2010/2011.
I just received my watch Thursday, so it's still not typical use yet - I'm playing around with it a lot. Yesterday was the most - the watch was only 16% when I put it on my charging stand. (I had put my phone on the charger downstairs earlier in the day).
You'll likely end up doing the same a lot. The watch frees you from having to have your phone right by you all of the time. If you have wifi at home, you may end up leaving your phone somewhere on the charger when you don't need it.

The drain we see now will change considerably when watchOS v2.0 comes out. More apps will be native to the watch, reducing the battery hit to the phone. Exceptions will be GPS, cellular voice and data (when needed).

 

[Newtons Apple]

I have never turned BT off for years now as it hooks up to my LX audio system perfectly.

At the end of the day my phone is coming home with far more battery left than it used to because I have to use it less because of my watch. There are some who report high battery use with the AW but most do not have this problem.

When the BT is not being actively used it goes into a low power mode and uses very little power. Just try it a day and see.

 

[RodThePlod]

Thanks for the replies. Yup - it's on now, so we'll see. I guess, like most things, YMMV 🙂

Cheers!

Fella.

 

[jmh286]

I haven't noticed much of a change since I got my watch....if anything, my phone battery is less depleted because I'm not constantly pulling it out to check phantom vibrations and getting sucked into facebook/twitter/what have you.

 

[Armen]

I've had Bluetooth ON since I've owned a car that supported blue tooth streaming.

Sorry - this is my second post after getting my 42mm AW Sport yesterday. Really quick one:

In all the years I've been using an iPhone, I've always had bluetooth turned off. But Apple Watch requires me to have it on for full functionality.

Have you guys noticed a hit on battery life after doing this? Or (since it uses bluetooth low energy) is it negligible?

I guess I'll find out over the next few days! Loving the Watch BTW 🙂

Fella.

Battery will be fine.

 

[CellXor10]

There are some who report high battery use with the AW but most do not have this problem.

Yep, this seems accurate to me. I, too, have always kept BT off on my iPhone's through the years, so wasn't sure how I was going to like having it on ALL the time now- even down to the fact that I would get ticked at seeing the BT symbol on the top bar when it was turned on (which mainly only happened after iOS updates which automatically turn it on). But coming on nearly two months with the Apple Watch and it all seems normal now, with no noticeable affects on my battery life day in and day out.

 

[exxxviii]

BT has had no material impact on phone battery life in my humble experience. I have had BT on my iPhone since I got an iPhone. It connects to my car every time I drive, it connects to my Automatic car data device every time I drive. I occasionally use my BT headset. And now it connects to my watch all the time. Phone battery is great.

 

[RodThePlod]

Cool - thanks for the advice in this thread! Seems like I don't have too much to worry about 🙂

Fella.

 

[CharlesShaw]

Prior to AirDrop and Handoff, I would only enable BT when I wanted to play podcasts on my Mini Boombox. I started leaving it on more and more and now that Watch is here, it's clear that it's meant to stay on unless I'm in airplane mode.

 

[RodThePlod]

So far, so good. Only been 4 days but I've not noticed any real difference in battery performance of the phone. Cool beans!

Fella.