I'm getting an iPhone soon as was contemplating using EDGE alone to improve battery life. Is EDGE usable and how much of an increase in battery life would I see from turning off WiFi?
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How much battery life does turning off WiFi save?
- Thread starter Manic Mouse
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Doesn't make much difference.
Turning the screen brightness down does though - that can be the difference between my phone lasting 24hrs or 3 days between charges.
And if you have the choice between EDGE and Wi-Fi you'll want wi-fi. EDGE is like dial-up.
Turning the screen brightness down does though - that can be the difference between my phone lasting 24hrs or 3 days between charges.
And if you have the choice between EDGE and Wi-Fi you'll want wi-fi. EDGE is like dial-up.
I dont know that it can be put in black and white numbers, but running strictly on EDGE will give you a pretty significant battery boost.
For the past few days Ive not run Wifi at all and have been pretty amazed at the battery performance, even with making several hours worth of calls a day.
Sorry, I beg to differ. And regardless of wifi or brightness, Ive never seen the iPhone last more than 2 days. You must have some super-duper one-off battery.
For the past few days Ive not run Wifi at all and have been pretty amazed at the battery performance, even with making several hours worth of calls a day.
Sorry, I beg to differ. And regardless of wifi or brightness, Ive never seen the iPhone last more than 2 days. You must have some super-duper one-off battery.
Personally I'd disagree with this - I did my own 'tests' and saw no real difference at all. Anyone else have any experiences?
Oh, I guess I must. I last charged it at work on Thursday and it's still quite happy (about 25% left) - although it's only about 6 weeks old (16GB).
Do you make calls on this thing at all? Between 3 different iPhones Ive used in hand (2 of my own, and wifes) Ive never seen one capable of going more than 48hrs, even with what I would consider limited usage.
Battery
Charging the battery often will be one of the biggest influences on battery life. Even though the battery can last three days less charge cycles = longer life and charges. Lithium ion batteries are not the same as the older NiCad. Charge often as possible.
Charging the battery often will be one of the biggest influences on battery life. Even though the battery can last three days less charge cycles = longer life and charges. Lithium ion batteries are not the same as the older NiCad. Charge often as possible.
Turning off wifi isn't really going to be helpful at all. Its one of the most useful features the iPhone has. Why cripple it? Besides, when the phone is idle, wifi is off. So there wont be much difference there.
Whats more, Edge is much slower than most wifi connections. Waiting so much longer (IE, keeping phone busy and consuming power) to download web pages is hardly going to help battery life, when with wifi you'd be done reading your website or whatever before it had even finished loading on Edge.
Ok, I exaggerate a little perhaps, but you get the idea..
Whats more, Edge is much slower than most wifi connections. Waiting so much longer (IE, keeping phone busy and consuming power) to download web pages is hardly going to help battery life, when with wifi you'd be done reading your website or whatever before it had even finished loading on Edge.
Ok, I exaggerate a little perhaps, but you get the idea..
On my phone I turn WiFi off unless I'm going to be using safari. Youtube is fine over edge but you have to wait a few seconds (about 30 to 40). I don't agree with leaving the WiFi on all the time because it wipes out my battery. It seems to suck juice even when im not using it. By turning it off I'm hardly
Losing any features. I turn it on when I need it and since its not always available there's no point leaving it active.
Is edge usable? Most definetly. You have to be patient some times but its a nice experience to have access pretty much anywhere I go. .
Losing any features. I turn it on when I need it and since its not always available there's no point leaving it active.
Is edge usable? Most definetly. You have to be patient some times but its a nice experience to have access pretty much anywhere I go. .
Then how do you explain it still checks for email, even when its locked?
You ppl can run you own tests to compare. But Im telling you, over the past 3 days Ive not used wifi at all and have seen an EXTENSIVE increase in battery life. I didnt do this strictly to save battery, just have had my router offline, running my internet straight to my iMac instead.
I think there is something wrong with your battery in paticular then.
I have on all the 2 iphones I have previously owned, at least 7hrs with wifi on
with a few calls and some iPodn.
This lastest one I have a 16GB gets about 10hrs with all the above conditions.
But to the topic I edge using up more of my battery than wifi.
I think it depends though on your paticular area of coverage with edge.
Mine seems sloooow and it works harder to get things done.
With wifi its obviously faster, so things get done faster.
Wifi is a great feature but there are some people who don't have constant access to a live connection. Like me. I always have it off.
While Id be quick to agree with that, how do you explain this then. Most times when the phone has been idle, when you take out of lock mode you have to wait several seconds (10+) for the wifi to reconnect. Then other times, after sitting, take it out of lock and the wifi is connected. I think when it comes time to auto connect the email it re-activates wifi.
I got my iPhone last July, so I have used it extensively with no particular pattern to recharging.
If I turn wi-fi on, and use it heavily (mail, web, calling, texting), my charge is down to 1/4 or less by the end of the day. With wi-fi off, it'll last almost two days with similar usage patterns. This is NOT a scientific comparison, just an experiential one.
Wi-fi has faster downloads, but Edge is fine. I just don't compare it to my laptop or desktop Macs.
The charge time isn't that inconvenient, because I need to sync by the end of the day as well.
I can say that this has been the best device -- it buries my previous RAZR. And text messaging is actually accessible and easy now. It meshes perfectly with multiple mail systems: imap and pop. So I give the battery a workout.
If I turn wi-fi on, and use it heavily (mail, web, calling, texting), my charge is down to 1/4 or less by the end of the day. With wi-fi off, it'll last almost two days with similar usage patterns. This is NOT a scientific comparison, just an experiential one.
Wi-fi has faster downloads, but Edge is fine. I just don't compare it to my laptop or desktop Macs.
The charge time isn't that inconvenient, because I need to sync by the end of the day as well.
I can say that this has been the best device -- it buries my previous RAZR. And text messaging is actually accessible and easy now. It meshes perfectly with multiple mail systems: imap and pop. So I give the battery a workout.
Sorry, but I disagree.
Edge is necessity. Edge is make do. Edge is "Oh crap, I haven't got wi-fi". Edge is dial-up without the dialling up.
Edge is not fine.
Refinement in my answer
When I say, "Edge is fine", I should re-fine my answer. If I am not intensively on the web, Edge works. If I am doing lots of emailing, browsing etc., and Wi-FI is available, then I use it... it is faster and preferable. If I am traveling, in airports, or where either re-charging isn't an option or a long time without re-charge capability is likely, I find Edge acceptable so that I can operate longer.
Edge is accessible virtually everywhere I go, Wi-Fi isn't. Wi-Fi is decidedly faster than Edge but at a cost. I think we (especially I) make choices on speed vs battery life all the time, and I don't get too riled up about it.
Rumor has it from other posts that, while 3G is faster than Edge, in the field, a speed difference isn't significant, but battery consumption is. Another time for a judgment based on personal usage.
When I say, "Edge is fine", I should re-fine my answer. If I am not intensively on the web, Edge works. If I am doing lots of emailing, browsing etc., and Wi-FI is available, then I use it... it is faster and preferable. If I am traveling, in airports, or where either re-charging isn't an option or a long time without re-charge capability is likely, I find Edge acceptable so that I can operate longer.
Edge is accessible virtually everywhere I go, Wi-Fi isn't. Wi-Fi is decidedly faster than Edge but at a cost. I think we (especially I) make choices on speed vs battery life all the time, and I don't get too riled up about it.
Rumor has it from other posts that, while 3G is faster than Edge, in the field, a speed difference isn't significant, but battery consumption is. Another time for a judgment based on personal usage.
OK - I bought a refurbished iPhone a week ago and I've been paying attention to its battery life since folks have been reporting problems. Over the past week, I've used it alot so it hasn't surprised me that I've drained the battery on some days. Using it to check mail, browse the web and as an iPod at the gym will of course use up energy. But this morning, I noticed something different.
First off I left my iPhone unplugged overnight and charged my battery when I got up around 7:30. I went to work at 9:00 and it has pretty much stayed in its case, except when I received and sent a couple of text messages. That's all I did - I didn't really use it this morning. But when I did use it earlier this morning, I noticed there was an unsecure wireless network available. Since I don't have wireless at work, I was curious to see if this network would work for me. I selected it, but nothing happened. In fact, the little window where you choose the network to use never went away until I hit cancel. So I figured I hadn't selected it. I also noticed that the phone never changed from E to the wireless symbol on the menu bar. I then put the phone back in its case.
Later in the morning, my phone alerted me that I had a new email and when I took it out of the case, the phone was noticeably warm. And my battery was close to halfway gone. I even noticed a funny scent. When I checked the settings, I noticed that indeed it was set to use that unsecure network, even though the menu bar still showed that it was using the Edge network. So I set the phone to ignore the unsecure wireless network.
As I was typing this, I powered off my iPhone and it is no longer warm. I've restarted it and it appears to be working fine though the battery is now at the halfway mark and I don't think it's going to last me till I get home tonight at 10:30. It appears to be staying cool also.
Did using that unsecure wifi network mess up my iPhone? Was the phone struggling to make it work, which overworked it, causing it to drain the battery and heat up? Or was that just a coincidence and I have a bad battery?
I'm also curious about general usage of the iPhone and its impact on the battery. For example, whenever I use mail or safari and navigate away from it using the home button, I get the sense the program is still on. When I return to it, it's always in the same place I left it, unless I force the program to close by holding the home button or unless I totally powerdown by holding the button at the top. If I am done using mail or safari, is it better to close the program by holding the home button down?
First off I left my iPhone unplugged overnight and charged my battery when I got up around 7:30. I went to work at 9:00 and it has pretty much stayed in its case, except when I received and sent a couple of text messages. That's all I did - I didn't really use it this morning. But when I did use it earlier this morning, I noticed there was an unsecure wireless network available. Since I don't have wireless at work, I was curious to see if this network would work for me. I selected it, but nothing happened. In fact, the little window where you choose the network to use never went away until I hit cancel. So I figured I hadn't selected it. I also noticed that the phone never changed from E to the wireless symbol on the menu bar. I then put the phone back in its case.
Later in the morning, my phone alerted me that I had a new email and when I took it out of the case, the phone was noticeably warm. And my battery was close to halfway gone. I even noticed a funny scent. When I checked the settings, I noticed that indeed it was set to use that unsecure network, even though the menu bar still showed that it was using the Edge network. So I set the phone to ignore the unsecure wireless network.
As I was typing this, I powered off my iPhone and it is no longer warm. I've restarted it and it appears to be working fine though the battery is now at the halfway mark and I don't think it's going to last me till I get home tonight at 10:30. It appears to be staying cool also.
Did using that unsecure wifi network mess up my iPhone? Was the phone struggling to make it work, which overworked it, causing it to drain the battery and heat up? Or was that just a coincidence and I have a bad battery?
I'm also curious about general usage of the iPhone and its impact on the battery. For example, whenever I use mail or safari and navigate away from it using the home button, I get the sense the program is still on. When I return to it, it's always in the same place I left it, unless I force the program to close by holding the home button or unless I totally powerdown by holding the button at the top. If I am done using mail or safari, is it better to close the program by holding the home button down?
although i use my iphone regularly, i still seem to get at least 3-4 days out of it. with an average of about 2 hours of talk time and maybe 2 hours of internet/ipod per day.
turning wifi on and off really doesnt make too much of a difference if youre going to be in range the whole time. when youre going in and out of range is when you have the phone searching for service, etc.
turning wifi on and off really doesnt make too much of a difference if youre going to be in range the whole time. when youre going in and out of range is when you have the phone searching for service, etc.