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I'm worried about battery, but should I just get the 4S?

P

PDFierro

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Sep 8, 2009
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I think it's about time I get an iPhone, but I'm concerned about the battery life. I've been thinking about buying a 4, but should I just go with the 4S?

I don't have an upgrade, but price isn't a huge issue here. I would get the phone I want.

I've done some extensive reading here on the 4S battery life. It seems a lot of people are getting pretty good usage now, or is it really that bad? Can you get through the whole day without needing to charge it?

My usage wouldn't be that heavy compared to how I've seen others use their phone. I actually like the idea of having my iPhone be pretty static, so no push e-mail (and I don't even e-mail that much) or much of any other location services or notifications coming in.

My main uses would probably be browsing the web, watching video, listening to music, using apps, etc. So I would be a heavy user in that regard.

Deciding between the 4 and a 4S is a no-brainer as I would be able to get a 64GB model and would certainly use the better camera quite often.

I do have a big vacation coming up and just don't want to run out of juice halfway through the day. Who here can vouch for good battery life like I've seen? I would like to get the 4S, but I would probably be happy with the 4 as well, especially if the battery was much better.

So, is it bad idea to get the 4 just because the 4S battery might be worse?
 
I have had the 4S since launch day, and I will admit it's been a bit rocky, especially at first, but I got up for work today at 7:30am and it is still going, currently at 16%. Being mostly in wifi does prolong the battery, as does not streaming much media. But I downloaded an app, a couple updates, browsed twitter a few times, loaded 15-20 web pages, checked email dozens of times, placed a few phone calls, texted throughout the day, so I think the 4S battery is fine!
 
Hi,

I have the iPhone 4 and use it moderate to heavy with typically getting approx 1.5 days usage between charges.

I have everything turned on.

You will probably start using the e mail and notification functions as the iPhone cries out to be used as such.

And when you do decide and purchase i would like to welcome you to the dark side.

There are scores of threads concerning peoples battery experiences.
Try not to be caught up in it all.

If I was you I would have three choices.

Get the 4s.

Wait for the next release of iPhone.

Buy the 4s and enjoy it until the next release and then sell the 4s on.
 
I have the 4S, purchased one on 10/21/12, had no battery issues, but sold the device and got myself an unlocked iphone 4S :D. This too does not have any battery drain issues. I say go for it.

If you don't like it you have 30 days to return/exchange the phone.
 
PDFierro said:
So, is it bad idea to get the 4 just because the 4S battery might be worse?
Click to expand...

What makes you think the 4S battery is worse?

All the battery problem reports were related to iOS 5/iCloud. And since a new 4 would come with the same OS as a 4S would, I see no reason why you should get the 4.
 
likethesoup2 said:
This is a bit off topic, but I thought the OP might be interested in the answer to this too:

Does wifi actually prolong the battery life, or make it shorter?
Click to expand...

It's pretty much always better to have wifi on when it comes to battery life.

(Better than 3G, I mean. Obviously you'll get even better life by turning off ALL network communications!)
 
My son has the 4S and he likes to stream pandora a lot when we're outside at the pool.
He can stream for about 4 hours or so just fine and without any significant battery loss.
Nothing really abnormal.
But then I also think that a lot of the battery issues are created by the users themselves, or the OS/apps not shutting down properly.
 
PDFierro said:
I've been thinking about buying a 4, but should I just go with the 4S?

Deciding between the 4 and a 4S is a no-brainer as I would be able to get a 64GB model and would certainly use the better camera quite often.

I would like to get the 4S, but I would probably be happy with the 4 as well

So, is it bad idea to get the 4 just because the 4S battery might be worse?
Click to expand...

You're making my brain hurt. If deciding between the 4 & 4S is a "no brainer" I don't understand why you are asking the question.
 
I've had a 4S since launch day and never had any battery issues. I plug in over night, use semi-heavily and still end the day at around 20-30% if not more.
I think you'll be exceedingly happy with a 4S. :D
 
PDFierro said:
My usage wouldn't be that heavy compared to how I've seen others use their phone. I actually like the idea of having my iPhone be pretty static, so no push e-mail (and I don't even e-mail that much) or much of any other location services or notifications coming in.

My main uses would probably be browsing the web, watching video, listening to music, using apps, etc. So I would be a heavy user in that regard.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you'd be just as heavy a user, if not worse, than those you're comparing yourself to. Sending and receiving emails or having push notifications coming in uses far less of the battery than streaming video or (depending on which ones) using apps.

You mentioned turning location services off, but than said you'd be taking a lot of pictures. Most people keep location services ON for photos to better help remember where each photo was taken.... which could also eat through the battery.

Saying 'using apps' is completely useless in regards to helping you decide for battery usage as playing a processor intensive game like 'Infinity Blade II' will use significantly more than a word processor. Likewise, using a GPS app like 'Waze' would burn through the battery even quicker.


On the whole, worrying about battery life isn't needed. Under most usage, it'll easily survive a full 16 hour day.... but, most people keep a spare charger around and in their car 'just in case.'

Note- if you're coming from a non-smartphone, battery life will seem terrible no matter what at first. It took me a while to get into the 'charge it daily no matter what' routine after coming from a phone that easily lasted 4-6 days.
 
I've had my ip4 since September 2011 and it's treated me well. Personally I am a very heavy user so I need to charge every night. I'm going to be honest the battery life on my iPhone is pretty good. Lasts about 12 hours on a full charge. Should have waited out another month for the 4s though!
 
I've been very disappointed with my 4S battery life. I feel like I need to have a spare battery pack or charger with me at all times. I can't believe (still) that a 20% battery drop overnight is "normal" but according to the "Genius" it is fine and nothing out of the ordinary.

Then again my 4 wasn't much if any better so who knows. I think Apple really needs to make the 5 with a much larger battery and work on efficiency.
 
macrazee said:
I've been very disappointed with my 4S battery life. I feel like I need to have a spare battery pack or charger with me at all times. I can't believe (still) that a 20% battery drop overnight is "normal" but according to the "Genius" it is fine and nothing out of the ordinary.

Then again my 4 wasn't much if any better so who knows. I think Apple really needs to make the 5 with a much larger battery and work on efficiency.
Click to expand...

my battery life on my ip4s 5.0.1 is horrible vs my ip4 on 5.0.1. i guess the a5 eats up a lot. I havent upgraded to 5.1 on my 4s (dont want to loose my jailbreak) but my friends have 5.1 and it is SLIGHTLY better..



i love apple products and have had every iphone, as well as the new ipad. The battery life is HORRIBLE on the 4s. I am a heavy user, text messages.
 
BFizzzle said:
my battery life on my ip4s 5.0.1 is horrible vs my ip4 on 5.0.1. i guess the a5 eats up a lot. I havent upgraded to 5.1 on my 4s (dont want to loose my jailbreak) but my friends have 5.1 and it is SLIGHTLY better..



i love apple products and have had every iphone, as well as the new ipad. The battery life is HORRIBLE on the 4s. I am a heavy user, text messages.
Click to expand...

^^This for me as well. My iPhone 4 battery lasted DOUBLE (if not a little more) what my 4S does. Granted, I wasn't running 5.1 or using iCloud, but Apple claims my battery life should be "about" the same. I last a full day with about 15% left by 10pm, compared to 45-50% on my iPhone 4. So it does work for me, but I'd love to see the 5 with improved battery life...But with LTE, possibly a slightly bigger screen, iOS6, etc, I am not holding my breath.
 
I would say to get the 4S. I've had my 4S for 5 months and had no issues with the battery and I am a relatively heavy user (lots of text messaging, streaming, and browsing the web). I usually finish the day with about 30-40% battery with my usage and everything turned on (bluetooth, wifi, 3G, location services).
 
Look what my 4S does with light use:

8af602c9-8a0e-52fd.jpg


No problems with the battery since 5.1 came out.
 
rugby4944 said:
I would say to get the 4S. I've had my 4S for 5 months and had no issues with the battery and I am a relatively heavy user (lots of text messaging, streaming, and browsing the web). I usually finish the day with about 30-40% battery with my usage and everything turned on (bluetooth, wifi, 3G, location services).
Click to expand...

maybe me and the other users have a defected ip4s?

i for sure cant get that well battery with bluetooth and wifi on all day.. not even on my iphone 4
 
BFizzzle said:
maybe me and the other users have a defected ip4s?

i for sure cant get that well battery with bluetooth and wifi on all day.. not even on my iphone 4
Click to expand...

I guess every iPhone I've owned was defective cause I would never get that usage. (I've only owned a 4 and 4S)
 
Thanks, this is what I kind of assumed but the responses here just kind of confirmed it for me. I suppose the whole battery problem is blown out of proportion, like there's really something wrong.

I will just get the 4S and be done with it.
 
PDFierro said:
Thanks, this is what I kind of assumed but the responses here just kind of confirmed it for me. I suppose the whole battery problem is blown out of proportion, like there's really something wrong.

I will just get the 4S and be done with it.
Click to expand...

Good choice. I can easily get a day and a half to two days usage on my 4S.
 
BFizzzle said:
maybe me and the other users have a defected ip4s?

i for sure cant get that well battery with bluetooth and wifi on all day.. not even on my iphone 4
Click to expand...

I must have been one of the lucky ones to get a really good 4S then. I haven't had any previous iPhones like the 4 to compare it too but I think it has amazing battery especially compared to my old Moto Droid.
 
My battery is just fine with my usage. Charge every day and a half. Not much different than the 4 I had. Maybe it's a little less but nothing that was a concern to me.
 
The 4s is decent, comparable to the 3g-s i had previously (when the 3g-s was new).

If battery life is not long enough, turn off push email (got 30 minutes), turn off location services, etc.

I can generally get 2 days out of my 4-s with everything turned on, but this will obviously vary with usage.

If you are able to charge overnight (I do this most nights and when i plug in it is generally over 50%) you will have no issues i wouldn't think.
 
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