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Series 5 battery life is horrendous

Strangedream

Strangedream

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 15, 2019
661
546
London, UK
I sold my 42mm SS S2 for a 40mm SBSS S5 last week and I noticed the battery life on my S5 is way worse than that of my 3yo S2. For instance, my S2 could last me up to 2 full days on a single charge if I skip my work out. On the other hand my S5 was at 100% at 7am now it's at 60% and it's not even 12pm yet ....

Granted the S5 has the always-on display but I always use the simplest face that fires up the smallest amount of pixels. Did you guys also notice how bad the battery life on S5 was or is it just me?
 
I think it’s safe to say that the S4 was capable of exceeding the stated battery life while the S5 seems to just essentially meet it. That said it’s only been 3 days max since anyone started wearing an S5, we should probably give it a few more days before fully assessing its capability.
 
jschu22 said:
I think it’s safe to say that the S4 was capable of exceeding the stated battery life while the S5 seems to just essentially meet it. That said it’s only been 3 days max since anyone started wearing an S5, we should probably give it a few more days before fully assessing its capability.
Click to expand...
Yes I will definitely give it one more week but if the battery doesn't even hold a single day work day without work out it's going back. It's a shame tho I like the AOD
 
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Couple other threads on battery life. One called "Bad", and another called "Terrible". I suggest you head over there for all the theories and tests being performed and to limit threads on the topic.
 
I’m with you on this, watchOS is clearly a shambles if this is the reason for such atrocious battery on the S5.

Mine hasn’t arrived yet but it’ll be going back if it doesn’t get the 18 hour battery life.
 
Both my battery life and charging speed improved over the past couple of days.
 
Getting up at 6 and going to bed at 10 and exercising for 30 mins a day...I can see I am almost going to hit power reserve each day? This is disappointing. Not the end of the world but it is a step back. This is with my series 5 SS 44.
 
I suspect there may be some flaws in Watch OS 6 because I have it on my SW3 as well and battery life is ‘seemingly’ better, even though it’s over a year old now.

I’ve found turning on Theatre Mode and disabling the AOD has helped on my SW5.
 
got my S5 on Friday. played with it a lot Saturday and Sunday, not fair for a battery test.

yesterday back at work and back on my normal schedule....off the charger at 7AM....a 50 minute workout, handful of notifications...showing it off to coworkers...unlocking my mac a dozen times...went back on the charger at 7PM at 67%. topped it off before wearing it to bed. this morning, it had lost 10% over night. perfectly acceptable.
 
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Its clearly the AOD. Mine is meeting the 18 hours advertised but its not as good as my 4 was. If i turn off the AOD or put it in theater mode when I sleep its is about the same as my 4 was.
 
Strangedream said:
I sold my 42mm SS S2 for a 40mm SBSS S5 last week and I noticed the battery life on my S5 is way worse than that of my 3yo S2. For instance, my S2 could last me up to 2 full days on a single charge if I skip my work out. On the other hand my S5 was at 100% at 7am now it's at 60% and it's not even 12pm yet ....

Granted the S5 has the always-on display but I always use the simplest face that fires up the smallest amount of pixels. Did you guys also notice how bad the battery life on S5 was or is it just me?
Click to expand...
I have a series 4 but I have noticed horrendous battery life on my series 4 watch running the latest OS.
 
I cannot even begin to measure battery life, been talking to Siri a lot. Lol

Love the watch, not worried about battery life.
 
tl01 said:
Getting up at 6 and going to bed at 10 and exercising for 30 mins a day...I can see I am almost going to hit power reserve each day? This is disappointing. Not the end of the world but it is a step back. This is with my series 5 SS 44.
Click to expand...
Do you not have any opportunity to give it a bit or a boost during the day. Spare charger at your desk/work or car?
 
Please keep us updated. Also thinking about moving from a 42mm S3 to a 40mm S5. Battery life has always been good for me on the S3 and would rather not go backwards.
 
Just wanted to add that even with Watch OS 5, my S2's battery life is better than the S4. I would not say significant but most certainly noticeable.

I remember from previous updates to Watch and other iDevices, there is a lot going on the first few days. My S4 actually took 3-4 days to settle in before I was pleased with the battery life. I'm sure Apple will address the battery life concerns and bugs being reported with OS 6 and iOS 13, but it's never quite quick enough for for those feeling the pain of updating. I have S2 and S4 both are still on the last version of Watch OS 5, so I'm reading up on the performance with OS 6. Thanks to all of you for posting your experiences.
 
Strangedream said:
I sold my 42mm SS S2 for a 40mm SBSS S5 last week and I noticed the battery life on my S5 is way worse than that of my 3yo S2. For instance, my S2 could last me up to 2 full days on a single charge if I skip my work out. On the other hand my S5 was at 100% at 7am now it's at 60% and it's not even 12pm yet ....

Granted the S5 has the always-on display but I always use the simplest face that fires up the smallest amount of pixels. Did you guys also notice how bad the battery life on S5 was or is it just me?
Click to expand...
Having trouble that your 3 year old S2 was still at 2 full days, as i was seeing less than that with a 2 year old S3 (started w/ 48 to 54 hours). Granted I wore my daily.
I am currently at 17 hours w/ my S5, AOD on and relatively basic watch face with 4 corner complications and have 30% battery life remaining. I did use the watch w/ white face that turns black and the color complications in corners and 4 on watch face - had about 20-30% after 14+ hours and included a 5/6 mile runs each day.
Just my experience so far, but AOD + more complicated faces/complications leads to the around 18-19 hours of use. turn off AOD and will get >30 hours of use no matter the face.
Im really not that worried about the battery life personally. But if get stuck, turn off AOD and pick a new screen, otherwise enjoy AOD.
 
S5 44mm. From 7am to 11:34pm I have 42% left. This is the best battery day so far.
Always On Display enabled. App background refresh disabled.
 
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