Real-world iPhone 3G battery life sucks.

[xpla]

Blood pressure raised much?

But he's right, i mean, why Apple sells a 3G Phone with all these features which have to be turned off to use the phone where no power adapter is available (like in real life!).

I'm really happy with my MBP but iPhone 3G definitely sucks!

 

[marksandvig]

Lol

Blood pressure raised much?

LOL...

If it makes you jealous.. My RAZR averaged ~3 days standby probably a good 5-6 hours talk time.. but i mean.. the RAZR sucks.. get a car charger.

 

[Starflyer]

no nokias or blackberries. its easy to "win" when you leave out the two biggest competitors.

And which 3G Blackberry did you want them to test?

Also, I only found the only two 3G Nokia phones that ATT currently sells. Neither are Smartphones. From Nokia's Website:

Nokia N75: EGSM up to 4.2 hours

Nokia 6555: GSM up to 3h30m

They still lose.

 

[ubersalad]

OMG OMG!!! After I read through this forum, I have discovered the BEST method to maximize my power usage!!!

All you have to do is one very simple step:

Shut your phone off!

Then you'll never run out of battery!

 

[MadGoat]

OMG OMG!!! After I read through this forum, I have discovered the BEST method to maximize my power usage!!!

All you have to do is one very simple step:

Shut your phone off!

Then you'll never run out of battery!

Actually even with the phone off it will drain ever so slowly. you will have to recharge it every 1-2 years

 

[HardHatMac9]

Guys, I really think (and hope) that this is mostly a software issue in 2.0 - I've been using my first gen iphone w/ software update since Friday morning (I grabbed the file Thurs night) and have noticed considerably worse battery performance. Today - for the first time ever - I could not last the day.

The only thing I did extra was play enigma on the train ride home, and even this might not be "extra," considering I usually watch a video podcast or two anyway, and still have about 30-40% battery when I get home. Also noteworthy is that I had noticed faster deterioration of the battery throughout the day...

What are you doing differently. Are you using the push services? Could this be the culprit?

 

[ubersalad]

What are you doing differently. Are you using the push services? Could this be the culprit?

I think that's it...my battery life is not that good right now.

 

[Dammit Cubs]

Something I've heard before, and its mentioned in anlther thread, a big contributer to good or bad battery life (exagerated with 3G) is environment, too cold or hot, and more importantly signal strength, bad signal and the phone could ramp up power to stay connected and 3G isnt as good for coverage in many areas either, which would amplify the problem further!

Perversely, someone also told me if you are too close to a transmitter you have too good a signal and that can cause problems too - though I havent seen that confirmed or repeated.

Both of the above can also apply to Wifi so our network expert says...

What i'm getting at is people seeing different usage times isnt a big shock, and its not that one is doing it wrong necissarily.

poor signal strength is a HUGE Battery drainer. If you don't have good 3g coverage (like one bar) turn it off. All phones have this problem

 

[ruinfx]

And which 3G Blackberry did you want them to test?

Also, I only found the only two 3G Nokia phones that ATT currently sells. Neither are Smartphones. From Nokia's Website:

Nokia N75: EGSM up to 4.2 hours

Nokia 6555: GSM up to 3h30m

They still lose.

who said they had to test a blackberry sold by AT&T? there are other EVDO phones on the list.

oh yea i forgot the only phones that exist in the world are those sold by AT&T. nokia sells other 3G handsets (N78, N95, E71).

if the iphone 3G got more talk time than what its specs said in the test, why assume that other phones will get the specd talk time?

 

[djwobble]

Wow

I think things get better over time...

My battery life today is AMAZING! I have 3G on all day... I have about 1 hour of usage and 7 hours of standby. I've used a few apps, made a few calls, sent a few text messages, checks email every 30 minutes... HMM... I let it charge ALL night...

 

[BLACK MAC]

Let me get this straight....you don't understand why people are complaining? Really? I mean...really really really? Or just kind of, to prove your point?

Do you mean you really don't understand why people are complaining about buying a phone with features that they can't use and/or have to keep switching them on and off for fear of having it die in the middle of the day? 11 hours of standby? That's totally fuc*ing useless. I wake up at 6am and don't get home from work until 9pm sometimes. So if I DON'T EVEN USE MY PHONE AT ALL, AND SIMPLY LEAVE IT ON STANDBY, IT WILL DIE.

Again, do you REALLY not understand???

You could always not purchase an iPhone 3G if you think it's bad.

 

[RetiredInFl]

Off the charger at 10AM fully charged and by 3:15PM barely any battery left (assuming the "meter" is correct). No phone calls made. Sure, I may have used it a bit more then normal showing it off at work on WIFi network (Wi-Fi on, 3G off (poor coverage despite what ATT map shows) & BT off) but still, 5 1/2 hrs ... c'mon. Even if I got TWICE that it's unacceptable. Yes, I have PUSH turned on. So?

 

[meagain]

My battery is red. Perhaps 10% left? 15%?

Usage 6 hours, 45 min.
Standby 1 day, 14 hours

Current period 1 hour, 58 min
Lifetime 3 hours, 15 min

Everything off but Wifi.

?? Hope that's ok. This was my first real charge

 

[css1323]

I brought my iPhone 3G to school the other day and from 8-9 AM to 12 PM, I was doing nothing but watching short video clips, looking at a few websites and sending a few SMS text messages while on the 3G network (Edge off of course).

So, on a full charge, I only got around 4 hours of playtime.

Is that about average then?

I read up online a bit and I decided to turn off 3G (it used to be on all the time) to conserve battery life and use it only when I really needed it.

Because, having a phone that is dead and needs to be charged is not cool at all. What if I need to make an emergency call and you can't because you were too busy looking at useless media? Now I realize I have to be smart with my iPhone and use a computer when possible. Still, the battery life could be better!

 

[Dammit Cubs]

I'm at

6 hours used
12 hours standby

3G on
wifi off
Push off

I'm at 50% and writing this post on my iPhone.

 

[jon cort]

Ok,

pardon my ignorance. I've had an i phone for about 18hrs and just getting the hang of it.
I've been reading this thread with great interest as although a 3g phone with push is exaclty what I wanted batttery life was a real concern prior to purchase.
I spent all day yesterday depleting charge by getting used to the device, loading stuff on, getting some apps, filling up the ipod etc etc... and Im so impressed with the device, it's superb - design and function in a way on only apple can.

After a night of charge I'm going for a normal day at work test... to be effective at work I'll be 3g on, wifi off, push on...

my question is this, if i've turned location services off in the general settings... is that going to help me get more battery life as much as possible? that is to say have i turned off the gps as much as i can?

many thanks!

 

[xpla]

I brought my iPhone 3G to school the other day and from 8-9 AM to 12 PM, I was doing nothing but watching short video clips, looking at a few websites and sending a few SMS text messages while on the 3G network (Edge off of course).

So, on a full charge, I only got around 4 hours of playtime.

Is that about average then?

I read up online a bit and I decided to turn off 3G (it used to be on all the time) to conserve battery life and use it only when I really needed it.

Because, having a phone that is dead and needs to be charged is not cool at all. What if I need to make an emergency call and you can't because you were too busy looking at useless media? Now I realize I have to be smart with my iPhone and use a computer when possible. Still, the battery life could be better!

You know what? Having a phone and have to turn off all the cool features is really not cool ;-) Apple go back to start and use appropriate hardware, making such a fantastic UI and failure at something which was already known during developing process (or did they never test an iPhone in real?).

 

[kleo]

3G: off
WiFi: on
Push: on (but not used)
Fetch: 15min
Screen Brightness:



Used for everything, including some GPS fun. Movies, internet on wifi and edge, lots of mail usage. some AIM. Photos... ect



You be the judge...

 

[Dammit Cubs]

Dude. I got you beat.

3G on
Wifi off
Push off
location services off.

14 hours standby. 4 hours use. 75% battery life left.


seems like push does make a huge difference. and of course i have around 3 bars 3g so my 3g signal is good all day so no over powering for a signal.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

Actually even with the phone off it will drain ever so slowly. you will have to recharge it every 1-2 years

I think you mean about a month or two

 

[kjs862]

Something we can look for in the next iphone... better battery.

Maybe a front sided camera too... wait maybe the the generation after the next generation...

 

[sjo]

And which 3G Blackberry did you want them to test?

Also, I only found the only two 3G Nokia phones that ATT currently sells. Neither are Smartphones. From Nokia's Website:

Nokia N75: EGSM up to 4.2 hours

Nokia 6555: GSM up to 3h30m

They still lose.

nokia e and n-series are smartphones, so n75 is a smartphone. n75 is an ancient one though, you should really compare to some of the more recent ones with 3g, gps, decent camera etc.

eg, e71, it's really thin and has a lot of features, so i guess it's makes a good comparison to iphone: 10.5h.

 

[lsvtecjohn3]

for all the people that say the iPhone battery sucks, what about HTC, Blackberry, Palm, Samsung, Nokia,Sony Ericsson,Motorola ect all their smartphones have worse battery life than the iPhone.
I due understand with all those phone you can replace the battery but I never meet anyone who carry's around an extra battery for there phone. I'm happy apple made it were you can't replace your battery because I've drop my phone before and my battery did come out and I know i'm not the only person that had that happen to them.

 

[RetiredInFl]

You are so very wrong (from my experience)at least with Palm and Blackberry. I haven't used the others. I get 2+ days with my type of use before I needed a charge on MULTIPLE Palm's and BB's. My offPhone doesn't give me 2/3rds of ONE day before the battery DIES with every feature disabled and virtually no normal (for me) use. Sure, if I want to be connected to a charging cable through the day that's great.

for all the people that say the iPhone battery sucks, what about HTC, Blackberry, Palm, Samsung, Nokia,Sony Ericsson,Motorola ect all their smartphones have worse battery life than the iPhone.
I due understand with all those phone you can replace the battery but I never meet anyone who carry's around an extra battery for there phone. I'm happy apple made it were you can't replace your battery because I've drop my phone before and my battery did come out and I know i'm not the only person that had that happen to them.

 

[bobbba]

Off the charger at 10AM fully charged and by 3:15PM barely any battery left (assuming the "meter" is correct). No phone calls made. Sure, I may have used it a bit more then normal showing it off at work on WIFi network (Wi-Fi on, 3G off (poor coverage despite what ATT map shows) & BT off) but still, 5 1/2 hrs ... c'mon. Even if I got TWICE that it's unacceptable. Yes, I have PUSH turned on. So?

There's something seriously wrong going on with your setup then. Maybe it's the wifi or the poor coverage?