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is the Series 3 battery life better than the Series 0?

  • Yes by a lot

    Votes: 14 93.3%
  • Yes but only by a little

    Votes: 1 6.7%
  • No it’s about the same

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • It depends on what your doing (workout app and so on)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    15

Dave245

macrumors G3
Original poster
Sep 15, 2013
9,872
8,092
Ok so I’ve taken my SS Series 0 Apple Watch off charge this morning at 4:30 am, it’s now 2:30 pm (here in the UK) and my battery is down to 46% I have not done any work out or exercise’s today, is it normal for the battery to degrade like this over 2 years? I’ve had my Series 0 since it first came out in 2015 but if this is only going to get worse I could really consider upgrading to the Series 3, is the battery much improved over the Series 0?

What are your battery life situations like? If you own the Series 3 did you notice a big difference from the Series 0 (if you owned the Series 0 that is)
 
Ok so I’ve taken my SS Series 0 Apple Watch off charge this morning at 4:30 am, it’s now 2:30 pm (here in the UK) and my battery is down to 46% I have not done any work out or exercise’s today, is it normal for the battery to degrade like this over 2 years? I’ve had my Series 0 since it first came out in 2015 but if this is only going to get worse I could really consider upgrading to the Series 3, is the battery much improved over the Series 0?

What are your battery life situations like? If you own the Series 3 did you notice a big difference from the Series 0 (if you owned the Series 0 that is)
I had a series 0 and just upgraded to the series 3. The difference in battery life is significantly better. I commonly go two days with battery to spare. Also, going from S0 to S3 it works so much more fluid and faster. If your inclined and have the means get an S3.
 
I had a series 0 and just upgraded to the series 3. The difference in battery life is significantly better. I commonly go two days with battery to spare. Also, going from S0 to S3 it works so much more fluid and faster. If your inclined and have the means get an S3.

I was going to wait until Series 4 but if this battery life continues like this I may upgrade to the Series 3 instead.
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Wonder if Apple is throttling the older watches.

Good point! It certainly got me thinking of upgrading to a Series 3 instead of waiting for the 4.
 
There is such a huge difference in the performance of the series 3 over the series 0 you should seriously consider upgrading now. If you have an Apple store nearby, you can go there or buy online and return it if its not to your liking.
 
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There is such a huge difference in the performance of the series 3 over the series 0 you should seriously consider upgrading now. If you have an Apple store nearby, you can go there or buy online and return it if its not to your liking.

I’m going to my nearest one tomorrow when I do a bit of last minute Christmas shopping. I will try on the black SS tomorrow I think and see how I like it, currently have the normal SS series 0 and want something different this time around.
 
Wonder if Apple is throttling the older watches.
Please read the whole article, and stop reacting to sound bites.

yes, they are throttling phones, but only if the battery has degraded.
Battery degradation is a limitation of our current battery tech.
A degraded battery with High processor usage results in a phone shutdown as the battery isn't able to supply enough power.

so your choice, phone that randomly shuts down on high use, or a phone that runs all the time, only slightly slower.
or replace the battery, and get the full speed of your phone back without shutdowns.

and if apple is throttling watches, it would actually lead to longer battery life.

rant over
------
now back to the original question.

I went from a s0 to a s3 (no-LTE)
My battery went from 30-40% at the end of day 1 to 20-30% at the end of day 2
It is also much faster, no more waiting 5 seconds if i need to ask siri something.
i'm still kinda training myself that the watch is fairly usable.

this is due to both a newer battery, and faster processors that use less power.
 
Please read the whole article, and stop reacting to sound bites.

yes, they are throttling phones, but only if the battery has degraded.
Battery degradation is a limitation of our current battery tech.
A degraded battery with High processor usage results in a phone shutdown as the battery isn't able to supply enough power.

so your choice, phone that randomly shuts down on high use, or a phone that runs all the time, only slightly slower.
or replace the battery, and get the full speed of your phone back without shutdowns.

and if apple is throttling watches, it would actually lead to longer battery life.

rant over
------
now back to the original question.

I went from a s0 to a s3 (no-LTE)
My battery went from 30-40% at the end of day 1 to 20-30% at the end of day 2
It is also much faster, no more waiting 5 seconds if i need to ask siri something.
i'm still kinda training myself that the watch is fairly usable.

this is due to both a newer battery, and faster processors that use less power.

Take you rant elsewhere. I am talking watch here and you go into a iPhone lecture.
 
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I’m going to my nearest one tomorrow when I do a bit of last minute Christmas shopping. I will try on the black SS tomorrow I think and see how I like it, currently have the normal SS series 0 and want something different this time around.
That’s the S3 model I bought.
 
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Take you rant elsewhere. I am talking watch here and you go into a iPhone lecture.
you brought it here. and it had nothing to do with the original post,
it was just a way to get snarky comment in.

if they are throttling the processor in the watch...
then the battery life would be better not worse.
 
I’m going to my nearest one tomorrow when I do a bit of last minute Christmas shopping. I will try on the black SS tomorrow I think and see how I like it, currently have the normal SS series 0 and want something different this time around.

The black stainless steel is very nice. It has a great look to it with the glossy black and the added protection the diamond like carbon coating. You would have a very difficult time damaging it. Also, the speed with the Series 3 is certainly notable. And being it has the faster dual core processor, it won't tax the battery as much when using it. Part of the problem with the first generation Apple Watch, is that the slower processor has to work harder, which draws more battery power.
 
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The black stainless steel is very nice. It has a great look to it with the glossy black and the added protection the diamond like carbon coating. You would have a very difficult time damaging it. Also, the speed with the Series 3 is certainly notable. And being it has the faster dual core processor, it won't tax the battery as much when using it. Part of the problem with the first generation Apple Watch, is that the slower processor has to work harder, which draws more battery power.

Yea the black SS appeals to me this time for its durability, my current Series 0 is the normal SS and it has a few scratches on it, some of them have polished out but the rest just won’t :( so the next Apple Watch I get I want to try the black version because I’ve heard it’s more durable to scratches.

I charged my Watch while in the shower about 2 and a half hours ago, it managed to charge to 62% but now it’s down to 47% and that’s without doing anything like going for a run. I was going to hold out for Series 4 but the battery life seems to be degrading and when I go for a run it’s even worse.
 
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My series 0 battery life became bad as well. It would only take about half a day for it to drain from 100 to power reserve mode.

I recently upgraded to series 3 & really impressed with the battery like. Depending on how much you use it, you can easily get 2 days before re charging
 
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The Series 0 to Series 3 upgrade is night and day. I recent upgraded and the speed of the watch when controlling music or switching between apps is reason to upgrade alone. The battery life difference though is the best aspect. With the Series 0 if I went to the gym in the evening the watch would sometimes die while I workout or be at 10% before I'd go to bed. I went to the gym today and the watch is still at 60% battery life. Worth the upgrade if you have the means to upgrade
 
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My series 0 SS barely makes it from 7am to 8pm now. Battery life has dropped off significantly since last update.
 
My AW0 has never had sufficient battery life. But for the most part it does last all day even as it approaches the end of its second year. Evert day I use the Activity app for 45-150 minutes, which cuts into the time, and it's usually late in the day (9-10 pm) when I get the Low Power warning. Recently I discovered the dial brightness setting and turned it don a note, which has helped battery life (d'oh!).
 
Since getting my S3 Watch, I use my original one for sleep tracking (every other night as the S3 easily gets me through two days and a night). If I don’t switch watches in the morning, as is sometimes the case if I’m pottering round the house at the weekend, I really notice how quickly the original watch gets down to low battery.

Also, the new watch is speedier in terms of apps etc and, having gone from silver aluminium to stainless steel, I’m enjoying the change.

Basically, if you can justify the cost, don’t wait.
 
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I’ve ordered a series 3 cellular and GPS silver sports watch but it won’t arrive until next week now. My 0 is just at the end of it’s life span. I’m coming from the SS but decided that I’ll get the sport this time because they have a stronger haptic feedback and the screen in brighter (had sport first). My carrier doesn’t support cellular yet but I’m hoping they will at some point. I’ve had my series 0 since launch so I intend to keep hold of this for at least 2 years.
 
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My Series 0 lasts 8-9 hours now. Is this typical?

With Battery life, there's no such thing as typical. It all depends how much usage you have been using your Apple Watch and the battery is likely starting to degrade with the usage over time.

Being this is a first generation Apple Watch, the battery is likely nearing the end of its lifespan. And all lithium ion batteries do, they deplete overtime.
 
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My Series 0 lasts 8-9 hours now. Is this typical?
Yes. When I first got my Apple Watch I used to get about 18 hours if I was really active and I could go a day and a half without charging it often. Now it’s 2.5 years old and on a bad day I get 8 hours and on a good day I don’t get anymore than 12 hours.

This is one of the reasons why I’ve upgraded.
 
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Traded my 0 in at Best Buy last Wednesday
My 0 wouldn’t make it through the day,I had to charge it daily at lunchtime.

The series three(non LTE) is very impressive
I wanted to wait for the series 4 but there was no way the 0 was going to make it that long.
 
Took it off the charger at ~8:30, it's now 11:30 and still 100%. Yesterday I took it off at about 10AM or so, worked out, played around with it a bit and ended the day at ~1AM with 74% left. I'm not a super heavy user with the watch other than for workouts though.
 
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