iPhone 3GS battery worse then 3G, why?

[nimski62]

I have an iPhone 3g, which when fully charged, lasts FOREVER. I don't listen to music, use gps (location services off), Wifi/BT off, Only EDGE, no game playing..

Simply some web surfing over edge and lots of calling and texting, PUSH notificatons ON.

When my 3G is fully charged, it will stay at the 100% mark for 1 hr and 20 minutes of actual usage (calling, texting, surfing), and at the end of the day when I have 4 hrs and 50 min of usage, I still have close to 65% left.

Now my 3gs, with the same crippled battery saving settings, drains like a MOFO.

If I charge it to 100%, and talk (not text) for 1 hour, my battery is at 92%, where as on my 3G, it will be at 100% still, with some left before hitting 99%.

Why is this? this makes me want to sell the 3Gs.

 

[miniConvert]

Common sense should dictate that you can't still be at 100% after 1h 20m of actual usage.

Perhaps the 3GS is just more accurate

If you've got juice left at the end of the day, be happy, don't worry, every little thing's gunna be all right.

 

[nimski62]

Common sense should dictate that you can't still be at 100% after 1h 20m of actual usage.

Perhaps the 3GS is just more accurate

If you've got juice left at the end of the day, be happy, don't worry, every little thing's gunna be all right.

Well I've noticed that it infact IS accurate on the 3g, because 100 is the strongest point.. after 100 it goes down like the 3gS would go down SINCE 100%.

I can get 2 days outta the 3g and can't get 2 days out of the S. that's the problem.. same usage.

 

[Small White Car]

65%? 100% 92%?

This is all too confusing to draw any conclusions from. As far as I know, they're just measuring the batteries differently.

Take both phones and charge them fully. Do the same things to each phone all day and tell us when they both die from running out of power. Compare those 2 times.

That's all that matters, but we don't know those numbers for your phones.

EDIT: OK, just added while I was typing that:

I can get 2 days outta the 3g and can't get 2 days out of the S. that's the problem.. same usage.

Well, your problem is that you have a freak-3G phone. I've never gotten more than 20 hours out of mine. So my advice is to count your blessings that you got ONE miracle phone, and not complain that you didn't win the lottery 2 times in a row.

 

[John T]

Well I've noticed that it infact IS accurate on the 3g, because 100 is the strongest point.. after 100 it goes down like the 3gS would go down SINCE 100%.

Sorry, but I can't understand your statement above.

It is physically impossible for your 'phone to run for over one hour without using any power!! This tends to show that, as has already said, the accuracy of your 3G metering is suspect.

 

[PLamarine]

Sounds like it is time for the 3G to have a battery calibration to "reset" the meter. Drain it all the way down then fully recharge.

 

[sesnir]

I don't listen to music, use gps (location services off), Wifi/BT off, Only EDGE, no game playing..

Simply some web surfing over edge and lots of calling and texting, PUSH notificatons ON.

Am I the only one wondering why you bought a 3GS when the first-gen iPhone would suit all your needs? No music, gps, wifi, or games... hell, why do you even have an iPhone?

In answer to your battery issues, I think others nailed it - your 3G battery meter is not accurate. You can't use a phone for an hour an expect it not to use any power.

 

[darngooddesign]

Calibrate both phones before complaining.

 

[nimski62]

Well, your problem is that you have a freak-3G phone. I've never gotten more than 20 hours out of mine. So my advice is to count your blessings that you got ONE miracle phone, and not complain that you didn't win the lottery 2 times in a row.

I think so too now. Because my little cousins 3G is significantly lower then mine.. mine just lasts me way too long... My phone gets used much less on the weekends... so at the end of friday my 3G is usually 65% and it will last me till saturday night just fine, with maybe 20-30% left.

My 3Gs can't do this... time to sell.

And it may be physically impossible to still be at 100% after 1hr20min of talk time, but the phone has such a good battery that this DOES happen. it takes the phone a significant amount of time to drop below the full green battery mark..

If it's 100% on a day that I don;t use the phone much, it will stay 100% all day. and then I can still be at 95% by the next morning when I have to use it all day long.

 

[MBHockey]

And it may be physically impossible to still be at 100% after 1hr20min of talk time, but the phone has such a good battery that this DOES happen.

No

 

[diamond.g]

Sorry, but I can't understand your statement above.

It is physically impossible for your 'phone to run for over one hour without using any power!! This tends to show that, as has already said, the accuracy of your 3G metering is suspect.

If you use powerlog there are times where the phone literally uses 0mA.

 

[darngooddesign]

If you use powerlog there are times where the phone literally uses 0mA.

However his 1hour 20min of talk time is not one of those instances.

 

[diamond.g]

However his 1hour 20min of talk time is not one of those instances.

That is true.

 

[xgman]

Two full drain and charge cycles and turn off any 3rd party app notifications.

 

[HarrisonB]

The battery icon doesn't drop below full till it's at like 90-92% so therefore you fail.

 

[Nausicaa]

With normal/heavy use of my 3GS (solid balance of messaging, phone calls, games, internet, music, and camera - all 3G network, no WiFi) I usually get around 5-7 hours of use. At worst, usually 20% per hour and much longer if I listen to a lot of music.

While I don't have a 3G, this is nearly identical to what friends and family have reported they get with the 3G.

Quite frankly, I don't believe your battery life claims on the 3G.

 

[nimski62]

The battery icon doesn't drop below full till it's at like 90-92% so therefore you fail.

You fail because i installed asbattery which gives me the same exact % symbol as the 3gs.

 

[ebika]

The reported reason why the 3gs has a percentage gauge available without using 3rd party apps is due to the improved charge gauge accuracy.

Another thing no one has mentioned in this thread is that the 3gs uses a faster cpu and gpu. Apple increased the battery on the 3gs to try to keep things level, but it isn't quite apples to apples.

It is possible your 3g is getting better battery life, but it is going to be situational for most people, depending on how they use their phone. You should still try being a bit more scientific in your analysis of raw standby and talk time before you make up your mind. Those numbers should be close between the 3g and 3gs if you compare them across their entire discharge graph, not just a few hours.

 

[nimski62]

3gS

3g

All talktime only, with phone to ear.

 

[TMar]

Since you seem to keep missing it, go write it on a chalk board 100 times.

No matter what app you install on the 3g there is no way for it to accurately gauge battery levels.

No matter what app you install on the 3g there is no way for it to accurately gauge battery levels.

No matter what app you install on the 3g there is no way for it to accurately gauge battery levels.

No matter what app you install on the 3g there is no way for it to accurately gauge battery levels.

No matter what app you install on the 3g there is no way for it to accurately gauge battery levels.

No matter what app you install on the 3g there is no way for it to accurately gauge battery levels.

 

[nimski62]

Since you seem to keep missing it, go write it on a chalk board 100 times.

No matter what app you install on the 3g there is no way for it to accurately gauge battery levels.
on the 3g there is no way for it to accurately gauge ba

No matter what app you install on the 3g there is no way for it to accurately gauge battery levels.

No matter what app you install on the 3g there is no way for it to accurately gauge battery levels.

And you have no way of knowing that it doesn't accurately guage battery levels... This is not an app.. It's just something that enables the percentage meter in the apple software.. It's an apple app.

Trust me dude the 3gs runs out quicker.... Period

 

[diamond.g]

And you have no way of knowing that it doesn't accurately guage battery levels... This is not an app.. It's just something that enables the percentage meter in the apple software.. It's an apple app.

Trust me dude the 3gs runs out quicker.... Period

Do both phones have 3.0 installed? It could be that the 3GS is keeping stuff in memory longer which could be some of the drain issues. SysStatsLite should let you see what is actually running in the background on both phones. That would give you a better baseline on what is running in the background on both phones.

I think the 3GS baseband version looks to be the same as the 3G. It may be that the 3G is more efficient with the baseband whereas the 3GS may not be. I have heard that 3.1 upgrades the baseband, so there may be some improvements to be seen.