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Possible iPhone purchase - advice required

L

Labhras

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 17, 2014
166
1
Currently I have a Galaxy S4 smartphone but due to the fact that the battery is quite awful - lasting around 4-6h with normal usage, I'm thinking about changing to an iPhone, considering I have a Macbook Air.

I need a good battery life because I spend almost all of my day outside with not many possibilities to charge it during the day.

I'd have two email accounts with push email (gmail and zimbra), Facebook, twitter and tumbrl usage throughout the day, whatsapp and bbm chat, maps or apps using locations, taking few photos, and using various apps - i.e. pininterst, news feed, etc.

Do you think any iPhone would have a battery life good enough to last until evening around 9-10pm starting at 8am? And if that is the case, what model - i.e. 5s or 6, should I choose?
 
Possible iPhone purchase - advice required

I came from a Note 3, then the LG G3. If battery life is your top concern get the iPhone 6 plus. The regular 6 battery isn't very good and won't last you all day. At least from my experience.

With the 6 plus I can barely get through the day but my workday starts at 7am and May last till 9pm. And I use it quite a bit at work. So your usage and battery life may vary

But I don't regret jumping from android to iOS. Loving my 6 plus!
 
I honestly hate being forced to go looking for a socket in the middle of the day because my battery decided to die on me.

So yeah, with that usage in mind - not necessarily everyday but if a battery can last until evening with that I'd say it's pretty great.

I even looked at Blackberry because the passport is apparently able to last 30h with mixed usage.

My main concern with the 6 plus is the size - my s4 is a 5' and I'm afraid that a 5'4 is gonna be too big to handle.

How do you work your phone? Do you use it on mainly on mobile data or wifi?
 
6 lasts slightly longer than the 5S. If the 6+ isn't an option due to size, then maybe look into a battery case if the 6 doesn't cut it.
 
@techspin - do you think the 6 is gonna be able to handle my usage described earlier and last until evening?
Regarding cases, if you have used one, how much do you think a battery case would affect the iphone weight/feel/size combo?
 
Possible iPhone purchase - advice required

Honestly, having played with a OnePlus One, 5.5" screen is not so big to keep in the hand. I have an iPhone 5s btw.

Also, a question that you have to ask yourself if you have any paid apps on the PlayStore? If so, I would not switch to an iPhone unless you don't mind paying for it again. But it doesn't look like an issue for you here.
 
My 6 Plus easily gets me through the day. The 4.7" iPhone 6 probably would not cut it w/o an external battery case. I used to use a Mophie with my 5s and never had any issues, and they just announced new cases for the 6 and 6 Plus that should work similarly.
 
It depends on how often you're using those apps you described. GPS navigation will eat up battery relatively quickly. Maybe check out a few of the battery usage threads here in the forums to estimate how you'll fare.
 
@ techspin - I'd set up emails with push or 15-min fetching, whatsapp, bbm and probably iMessage several times throughout the day contacting various people. Those are the "fundamental" ones. Then few times during the day checking out tumblr or twitter feeds, maps or location apps - depending on how much free time I have and how much battery they eat up.

@ darngooddesign - yes, I checked them out but the S4 is already big enough, a case would make it only thicker and bigger. But with a 5s or a 6 I wanted to know if there was a real difference between with/without cover in regards of weight, size and feel.
 
If your SGS 4 is dead after 5 hours of normal usage there are one of three things I can tell you:
1> You define "normal" way differently than I do.
2> You have a faulty phone
3> You have a rogue app

Based on your subsequent responses of how you expect to use an iPhone (can I assume the SGS4 sees similar use?) I would go with points two or three. Three can *;amost* certainly be eliminated completely on iOS just by the nature of the OS itself.

The 6 plus will do about 7-8 hours of on screen time from 100% to zero with minimal cpu involvement (basically don't set the phone to lock and just let the juice drain on moderate brightness). If you are getting 5-6 hours of on screen time from your SGS4, I would expect similar battery life out of the 6 plus, maybe slightly better.

EDIT: You;re talking about getting a 5s/6... don't imagine you will get much better battery life out of those than an SGS4 to be honest.
 
@ MacNut - what do you mean?

@ lordofthereef - I bought this phone a little over a year. At the beginning battery life was pretty great, then I had some battery problems and changed it, but slowly phone has been decreasing battery life.
What I meant with "normal" usage was using the phone for what it was meant for, so with sync and location on. I have one gmail account, a dropbox, financial times, and samsung account. GPS-enabling apps drain battery somewhat faster as I've noticed, but I still need to use some throughout the day.
Of course if I set sync and location off, and don't use much the phone I have a great battery life... but then why on earth should I buy a smartphone?

As I've heard friends boasting about marvelous iPhone battery life - not talking about the 6+ - and with a friend telling me that her phone could last until 10pm from morning with heavy, continuous use with no case involved - I was curious about whether or not a iPhone could be the choice in regards of battery life.

The usage I described is the ideal one - had to delete Facebook and twitter due to some battery drain and I don't use tons of social apps for the same reason.
If a phone can withstand that usage and last until evening then it's pretty great.

I have my concerns about the 6+, mainly about size. I am sometimes a one handed user - coffee or umbrella in one hand making it for me impossible to type or use it with two. I'm afraid it'd be just too big, that's why I was considering the 5s or 6.
 
Well even the iPhone 6 would outperform the Galaxy S4 in battery life with ease. So either way you go you'll be doing much better than you are now. However with the 6+ the battery is so good that it's no longer even something I concern myself with anymore. I charge it to 100% overnight and ignore the battery life until I get ready to go to sleep that night.
 
lordofthereef said:
If your SGS 4 is dead after 5 hours of normal usage there are one of three things I can tell you:
1> You define "normal" way differently than I do.
2> You have a faulty phone
3> You have a rogue app

Based on your subsequent responses of how you expect to use an iPhone (can I assume the SGS4 sees similar use?) I would go with points two or three. Three can *;amost* certainly be eliminated completely on iOS just by the nature of the OS itself.

The 6 plus will do about 7-8 hours of on screen time from 100% to zero with minimal cpu involvement (basically don't set the phone to lock and just let the juice drain on moderate brightness). If you are getting 5-6 hours of on screen time from your SGS4, I would expect similar battery life out of the 6 plus, maybe slightly better.

EDIT: You;re talking about getting a 5s/6... don't imagine you will get much better battery life out of those than an SGS4 to be honest.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat and it's most likely #1. I'm on my phone constantly, playing games, texting, watching Youtube videos taking pictures and looking stuff up online. My 1.5 year old S4 will last about 4-5 hrs before needing to be recharged. My girlfriend's 5s doesn't fare much better.

Op might want to consider buying an external battery pack and/or an extra battery.
 
Labhras said:
I honestly hate being forced to go looking for a socket in the middle of the day because my battery decided to die on me.



So yeah, with that usage in mind - not necessarily everyday but if a battery can last until evening with that I'd say it's pretty great.



I even looked at Blackberry because the passport is apparently able to last 30h with mixed usage.



My main concern with the 6 plus is the size - my s4 is a 5' and I'm afraid that a 5'4 is gonna be too big to handle.



How do you work your phone? Do you use it on mainly on mobile data or wifi?
Click to expand...


6 plus initially felt too big. But you get used to it. I came from a Note 3 so wasn't a huge leap for me.

There are many battery options out there. For me I didn't want to wait for Mophie so got the I-Blason battery case for my iPhone 6 plus. Should be here tomorrow.

I am always on wifi at work and at home.
 
@MacNut - I'd have to buy another battery and charger for it, and remember it everyday. That's exactly what I am against to - a phone should last until evening, without having to resort to extra battery, battery packs and such.
I considered a battery case but it adds quite the thickness, at least to the S4.
 
Buying an extra battery or buying a replacement battery are far more cost effective choices than jumping to an iPhone unless that is what he wants to do.
 
iPhone 6 has good battery life. My three kids have them. Better than my previous 5S.

The 6 Plus, however, has monsterous battery. I can go two days with significant usage before hitting zero if need be.
 
Labhras said:
Currently I have a Galaxy S4 smartphone but due to the fact that the battery is quite awful - lasting around 4-6h with normal usage
Click to expand...
Sounds like you need a new battery. The S4 has a removable battery so you can buy a new one off of amazon.

However, I agree with getting a different phone than the S4 as the Samsung smartphones are not very good devices. Part of the problem could be that the S4's radios aren't very good and if you are in an area with a weak signal, the radios having to jump back and forth b/t 3G and 4G LTE is draining to the battery.
 
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Labhras said:
@MacNut - I'd have to buy another battery and charger for it, and remember it everyday. That's exactly what I am against to - a phone should last until evening, without having to resort to extra battery, battery packs and such.
Click to expand...
But these aren't phones - they are handheld computers that can also make phone calls. Given all of the software you are running on your handheld computer that can also make phone calls and all of the screen on time, the battery technology isn't there yet to provide you with an all day experience w/o a recharge unless you get one of these phones with a monster size battery.

And if where you are working outside all day you have a weak signal, that drains the battery even more.

While the S4 isn't a great device, the problem I see is your expectations. You are asking for a device to do a lot with all of the software you are running and the screen on time. The battery technology isn't there yet to be able to deliver the juice you need in a compact form. You are either going to have to get a device with a monster battery, carry back up batteries or accept the limitations of current battery technology and reduce your use of the device.

If you are on Verizon, consider the Droid Turbo. If not, then the iP6+. If those are too heavy or large for you, carry a spare battery.
 
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My 6 plus is unplugged at 6am every day and it goes back on charge at 9pm that night, with heavy usage I can see as low as 10 percent at the end of the day. With light usage I have went 4 days with out charging but that was minimal usage each day.
 
Resqu2 said:
My 6 plus is unplugged at 6am every day and it goes back on charge at 9pm that night, with heavy usage I can see as low as 10 percent at the end of the day.
Click to expand...
Exactly - even the devices with monster batteries will wear down with heavy use. Screen on time heavily consumes energy to light up the screen. Add in a lot of software running on the device and a weak carrier signal and you have a battery killing situation even with the larger batteries.
 
JulesJam said:
But these aren't phones - they are handheld computers that can also make phone calls. Given all of the software you are running on your handheld computer that can also make phone calls and all of the screen on time, the battery technology isn't there yet to provide you with an all day experience w/o a recharge unless you get one of these phones with a monster size battery.

And if where you are working outside all day you have a weak signal, that drains the battery even more.

While the S4 isn't a great device, the problem I see is your expectations. You are asking for a device to do a lot with all of the software you are running and the screen on time. The battery technology isn't there yet to be able to deliver the juice you need in a compact form. You are either going to have to get a device with a monster battery, carry back up batteries or accept the limitations of current battery technology and reduce your use of the device.

If you are on Verizon, consider the Droid Turbo. If not, then the iP6+. If those are too heavy or large for you, carry a spare battery.
Click to expand...
I agree with this post in that you're engaging features and apps that are demanding on the battery. Apps that use location services eat up battery. Push notifications eat up battery. The way your email is set up eats up battery. FB app is ungodly in the way it drained my iPad and IPhone battery even with the location feature disabled.

I'm not saying the way you use your smartphone is unreasonable. It's just that the reality is you're going to go through battery power fast the way you use it. I think the 6 Plus could hold you through your day. But I have to tell you, for some reason my Plus battery is draining really fast now. I have not been able to figure out why yet so I'm going to scratch it and start fresh. My husband has the exact same model and his battery is insanely good at holding its charge.

I forgot to say that when I recently compared a friend's iPhone 6 in a slender case to my iPhone 6Plus also in a slender case, I was shocked to notice my Plus wasn't that much larger after all. With the way you go through battery I think you may as well pick a Plus over a regular iPhone 6.
 
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