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ghsDUDE

macrumors 68030
Original poster
May 25, 2010
2,874
727
I just wanted to make a post about how awesome the battery life is on Series 3 LTE.

I haven’t activated LTE yet, but I can do an apples to apples comparison with my Series 0.

On my Series 0 after a full day of use I’d have anywhere from 10%-20% remaining.

On my Series 3 LTE I have 85% (or more) battery life at the end of the day. That is absolutely INSANE!!!

I know it will go down when I activate LTE, but I just thought I’d make a post to share the awesomeness!
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,643
42,521
I just wanted to make a post about how awesome the battery life is on Series 3 LTE.

I haven’t activated LTE yet, but I can do an apples to apples comparison with my Series 0.

On my Series 0 after a full day of use I’d have anywhere from 10%-20% remaining.

On my Series 3 LTE I have 85% (or more) battery life at the end of the day. That is absolutely INSANE!!!

I know it will go down when I activate LTE, but I just thought I’d make a post to share the awesomeness!

I would say the most talked about features right now for the Series 3 is the battery life and the dual core processor speed being fairly impressive. Those are two huge factors for a wearable device.
 
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ideal.dreams

macrumors 68020
Jul 19, 2010
2,358
1,031
I ended the day yesterday at 60%. In theory that's enough to get me through two days but I still topped it off before I went into work this morning. That's with a workout logged, frequent usage, and a couple dozen notifications (texts and emails) coming through every hour.

My series 0 would have been in low power mode.
 
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jekim

macrumors regular
Jul 7, 2010
147
24
I went from 100% starting at 7:30am and ended with 25% at approx 11pm. My usage consisted of two outdoor workouts totaling approx 35 minutes. The watch was on LTE for both walks listening to music both times. I received about 8 notifications on the walks combined and made 2 quick 1 minute calls just to try it away from the phone. The rest of my day was tethered to the phone until about 9pm I went for a 40 minute round trip ride without my phone, receiving approx 20 notifications (combination of texts and app notifications) and made a 2 minute call with my headset. I also walked the dog for 15 minutes after that on LTE and got a few notifications. I also used Siri a few times throughout the day and was impressed at the instant responses and how good it sounded over the watch. I think that was pretty good battery life for day one.
 

edhchoe

macrumors 65816
Oct 28, 2011
1,392
864
I went for a 1hr walk at the park this morning and the battery went from 90%- 55%. Including the drive time to and from by car, the total time out of the reach of my iphone was about 1.5 hours, I guess. AW3 is great!
 
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anticipate

macrumors 6502a
Dec 22, 2013
861
687
The opposite end of the spectrum is using LTE, GPS, and airpods with no phone running a workout session. I went from 33% to 9% in an hour. This jives with Apple's 4-5 hours of exercise with LTE and GPS though.

For normal tethered use, the AW S3 will last a day or even two easily.
 

ghsDUDE

macrumors 68030
Original poster
May 25, 2010
2,874
727
Currently at 95% and I’m more than half way done with my day.

My buddy has a Series 2 and his is at 72%.

I’m so happy I finally upgraded to Series 3. I wasn’t sold on it during the keynote and considered keeping my Series 0...but I honestly think I could go 3 days without a recharge.
 
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snow755

macrumors 68000
Sep 12, 2012
1,762
737
i agreed i can get more then a full day with my new watch and still be at 100% at the end of the day
 

iLoveMyApple

macrumors 6502a
Oct 26, 2008
938
169
Southern California
Coming from a S0, the battery and the overall experience is SO much better. My SS S0 was useless on watchOS 4. It was super slow and laggy. My arm would get tired from holding it up, waiting for stuff to load. My battery on my S0 died at 2PM the day I went to pick up my S3 from the Apple Store and I had barely used it. I'm very impressed with the S3.
 
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edhchoe

macrumors 65816
Oct 28, 2011
1,392
864
And it charges so quickly compared to smartphones.
Someday, my children shall be able to wear their apple watch for 18 hours on LTE.
 

lucansmiles

macrumors member
Jun 3, 2014
81
120
Vienna, Austria
I could not agree more! I put the watch on at 8:20 am. Over 12 hours of normal usage and a 30 min workout later I still have 82% left. I am absolutely stunned by the battery life compared to the S0 which is from where I upgraded from. On the S0 I would have had left 20% if not less with the same usage. It really is a night and day difference. Not only battery life but the overall experience (speed, responsiveness etc.).

The S3 is my favorite Apple device by far.
 

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mrklaw

macrumors 68030
Jan 29, 2008
2,679
984
Experimenting to see how long I can go without charging. Ended my second day with 52% battery. Reckon if the calibration of the battery is ok I’ll get to three days easily enough.

(Series 3 non-LTE)
 

Peanut207

macrumors 6502
Mar 2, 2010
489
104
Just picked up series 3 today. Coming from series 0 I am more than thrilled with the battery life on the 3!

Started at 100% at around 2:00. Over 9 hours later it’s now at 85%. This is with playing around with it and even using it more than I normally would. The only thing I didn’t do is a workout on it yet. To those who have, how does the battery life get affected with the workout app activated? With my series 0, when I used the workout app and worked out for an hour or so it drained the battery well over 30%. It was terrible.
 

Bryan Bowler

macrumors 68040
Sep 27, 2008
3,966
4,230
It's exciting to hear how efficient the Series 3 is...I can't wait to get my Nike+ in the mail. C'mon Apple....hurry up and charge my credit card!
 

Applemacfan

Suspended
Sep 26, 2017
48
28
Could you guys please let us know your watch model and size? I am seeing a very different result between 38mm and 42mm, thanks!
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,643
42,521
Could you guys please let us know your watch model and size? I am seeing a very different result between 38mm and 42mm, thanks!

42 MM. But I think it depends on everybody's usage and when they charge the watch. The 42 mm has a stronger battery, but they're both rated at 18 hours. So it's really hard to have an accurate measurement based on how somebody uses the watch and how frequently throughout the day.
 

Fernandez21

macrumors 601
Jun 16, 2010
4,778
3,038
I have the 42mm LTE, but I haven’t been able to activate it yet, so just tethered to my phone.
8e19fcfdd5accfa5090d17273a0fd357.png
 

Tecban

macrumors newbie
May 9, 2015
24
4
I’ve had a dramatic improvement in battery performance going from a 42mm SS S0 to a 42mm SGAlum S3.

My faithful S0 had always been an all-day performer; including workouts I’d usually go to bed with 20%-30% left. But about two months ago, I started getting 10% power warnings shortly after dinner, once or twice a week.

With the S3, last night at bedtime it still had 80%!
 

mrklaw

macrumors 68030
Jan 29, 2008
2,679
984
IMG_ACF54DA276CA-1.jpg


currently at 34% remaining.


Edit : took the watch off at 7pm this evening, with battery at 20%. That’s e pretty full days use. Nice :)
 
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tivoboy

macrumors 68040
May 15, 2005
3,752
608
I went for a 1hr walk at the park this morning and the battery went from 90%- 55%. Including the drive time to and from by car, the total time out of the reach of my iphone was about 1.5 hours, I guess. AW3 is great!
did you TRACK your walk with the workout app? that would have used GPS and that would kill the battery like this even more than LTE
 
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