Thinking about an Apple Watch - battery life?

[Andy_2341]

Mine is at 90% battery health. That is definitely some odd battery behaviour. Are you using it on cellular without your phone being nearby all day or something? I do nothing at all to preserve the battery. AOD is on, I don't stress about the times I let it go below 10% or die, etc.

It's a GPS only model so it stays near my phone all day. I don't get a huge amount of notifications usually. I turned off background app refresh and now it actually seems worse somehow. I call on my iPhone a lot but not through the watch. Would reflecting the call status, even without the screen on, take that much power?

 

[BigMcGuire]

It's a GPS only model so it stays near my phone all day. I don't get a huge amount of notifications usually. I turned off background app refresh and now it actually seems worse somehow. I call on my iPhone a lot but not through the watch. Would reflecting the call status, even without the screen on, take that much power?

I noticed this too. Almost no difference on my Ultra 2 (and now 3) with background app refresh turned off or on.

Also I've noticed now that I have side jobs that require me to be on my feet for long periods of time... the biggest difference I've seen in battery life is just that... whether or not you're on your feet or sitting at a desk. My day job is sitting at a desk while my side job can involve 12 hours doing 24k+ steps. I'll nearly flatline my watch's battery at my desk but the 12 hour on my feet shift (they hurt) will drain 20-30%+ of the battery regardless if I'm in theater mode and/or low power mode.

So your body movement dictates a lot of the battery usage too. Low Power Mode helps a little but not that much (when on feet).

I can easily get 4 days on my Ultra 3 (as I did with my Ultra 2) - when all I do is sit at a desk. But not when I'm working on my feet.

 

[Andy_2341]

I noticed this too. Almost no difference on my Ultra 2 (and now 3) with background app refresh turned off or on.

Also I've noticed now that I have side jobs that require me to be on my feet for long periods of time... the biggest difference I've seen in battery life is just that... whether or not you're on your feet or sitting at a desk. My day job is sitting at a desk while my side job can involve 12 hours doing 24k+ steps. I'll nearly flatline my watch's battery at my desk but the 12 hour on my feet shift (they hurt) will drain 20-30%+ of the battery regardless if I'm in theater mode and/or low power mode.

So your body movement dictates a lot of the battery usage too. Low Power Mode helps a little but not that much (when on feet).

I can easily get 4 days on my Ultra 3 (as I did with my Ultra 2) - when all I do is sit at a desk. But not when I'm working on my feet.

This is probably the difference. I sit at a desk for school 8 hours a day and spend the rest of my time moving all about at work, rather quickly. That likely accounts for the drain and why it is so much less on days I don't work. I wish they would find a way to collect motion data more efficiently.

 

[BigMcGuire]

This is probably the difference. I sit at a desk for school 8 hours a day and spend the rest of my time moving all about at work, rather quickly. That likely accounts for the drain and why it is so much less on days I don't work. I wish they would find a way to collect motion data more efficiently.

Same... I have worked a desk job from 2005-today and 8 months ago started a side job that ... regularly has me on my feet and moving (burning 1100-1500 calories, 20000+ steps, etc) for 10-12 hours. It is astounding how much faster the battery drains in this environment - even with Theater / Low Power Mode turned on.

The Apple Watch Ultra has a bigger battery than these Garmin watches but lasts significantly less. Yes, one can charge them up quickly while showering so it's almost not an issue... but I would like a "act like Garmin" mode and be able to have my Ultra 3 last a few weeks in a specific mode as I don't use a lot of the features all of the time (when working).

That said, turning off Siri, Noise monitoring, Blood Oxygen, and a lot of the notifications - I can usually get 4 days of battery life - if I am only working my day job. But yeah, a 12 hour shift on my feet? - Easily burns 25% despite all this even with low power mode on.

Being on your feet and moving will drain it significantly. It is nice to see fitness/health/calorie measurements after a long 12 hour shift. 😀

 

[Andy_2341]

Same... I have worked a desk job from 2005-today and 8 months ago started a side job that ... regularly has me on my feet and moving (burning 1100-1500 calories, 20000+ steps, etc) for 10-12 hours. It is astounding how much faster the battery drains in this environment - even with Theater / Low Power Mode turned on.

The Apple Watch Ultra has a bigger battery than these Garmin watches but lasts significantly less. Yes, one can charge them up quickly while showering so it's almost not an issue... but I would like a "act like Garmin" mode and be able to have my Ultra 3 last a few weeks in a specific mode as I don't use a lot of the features all of the time (when working).

That said, turning off Siri, Noise monitoring, Blood Oxygen, and a lot of the notifications - I can usually get 4 days of battery life - if I am only working my day job. But yeah, a 12 hour shift on my feet? - Easily burns 25% despite all this even with low power mode on.

But yeah being on your feet and moving will drain it. It is nice to see fitness/health/calorie measurements after a long 12 hour shift. 😀

I wanted to get an Ultra 3 but I'm just not sure on the price or the bulk. I really like the thinness of my S10 over the SE2 I had before it. That aside, it is really nice to be able to see how I've burned so many calories and taken so many steps. Noise levels is probably the biggest of those type things for me since I work in a rather noisy environment. A just the essentials mode would be awesome, especially as a customizable essentials option.

 

[teh_hunterer]

It's a GPS only model so it stays near my phone all day. I don't get a huge amount of notifications usually. I turned off background app refresh and now it actually seems worse somehow. I call on my iPhone a lot but not through the watch. Would reflecting the call status, even without the screen on, take that much power?

Strange. I don't turn anything off or do anything differently.

This is probably the difference. I sit at a desk for school 8 hours a day and spend the rest of my time moving all about at work, rather quickly. That likely accounts for the drain and why it is so much less on days I don't work. I wish they would find a way to collect motion data more efficiently.

It does use more power to track activity, but even then I've got my daily commute and I spend a lot of my work day walking around from site to site and the impact has been negligible.

 

[Andy_2341]

Strange. I don't turn anything off or do anything differently.


It does use more power to track activity, but even then I've got my daily commute and I spend a lot of my work day walking around from site to site and the impact has been negligible.

Well then. Today I'm at 54% after 12 hours off the charger. Guess we shall see how it goes in the next two hours as I'm working today.

 

[Henry762]

Oh I think life is too short to worry about that. I just update everything when it wants to update.

LOL I can't blame ya for that. 😎 😂
I don't really have that luxury, as I run my life & business off of my phone & iPads, so any serious problem can cost me real money in a lot of ways.

But I'm glad you don't worry about it. You're right; life IS too short!! 😎

 

[teh_hunterer]

Well then. Today I'm at 54% after 12 hours off the charger. Guess we shall see how it goes in the next two hours as I'm working today.

I'm currently 4 hours off the charger and I'm at 90%. Have gone on a public transport commute to work, walked to some different sites.

 

[teh_hunterer]

I'm currently 4 hours off the charger and I'm at 90%. Have gone on a public transport commute to work, walked to some different sites.

10ish hours off the charger, back home from work and I'm at 70%.

13 hours off the charger, 7am to 8pm. 59%.

 

[Andy_2341]

10ish hours off the charger, back home from work and I'm at 70%.

13 hours off the charger, 7am to 8pm. 59%.

I put it on the charger at 11 last night with 18% left after 16 hours of use. I'm starting to think its less so the battery health or settings and more so that some mornings it doesn't make it to 100 like it did yesterday.

 

[Henry762]

For me it's the fact that a swelling battery in a smart ring actually gets tighter on your finger the more it swells and makes it a medical event to get it off. Can you imagine having something like that stuck on your finger with the risk it could catch fire or leak fluids?

Dang....

I'm sorry, but what exactly are the supposed benefits of a smart ring that an apple watch will not also do?

I love / hate my phone, I hate that I love my watch so much, but a smart ring to me, is like a "smart refrigerator"; probably never gonna happen for me & I personally highly doubt the utility. Again; vs. a smart watch.

😎

 

[Henry762]

OK so despite what I previously said I ended up getting an SE3 today 🤦🏼

View attachment 2630210

I do like the Always On Display, I will give it a few days and see how I get on with it...!

Congrats! Definitely learn all the gestures;
- Cover face with palm to mute incoming calls - NOT send to voicemail; just mute the ringing.
- Flick
- Pinch & clench
etc.
😎

 

[Henry762]

I wanted to get an Ultra 3 but I'm just not sure on the price or the bulk. I really like the thinness of my S10 over the SE2 I had before it. That aside, it is really nice to be able to see how I've burned so many calories and taken so many steps. Noise levels is probably the biggest of those type things for me since I work in a rather noisy environment. A just the essentials mode would be awesome, especially as a customizable essentials option.

I love my ultra 3. It's my first Ultra watch, and I'm never going back to the standard watches after this.
My only regret is that I didn't upgrade sooner.
I've always loved the looks; just choked on the price.

The bigger screen is SO much more useful; the automatic red nighttime is very slick & cool / useful; and the battery best of all....

I'm very happy with it!

 

[Andy_2341]

I love my ultra 3. It's my first Ultra watch, and I'm never going back to the standard watches after this.
My only regret is that I didn't upgrade sooner.
I've always loved the looks; just choked on the price.

The bigger screen is SO much more useful; the automatic red nighttime is very slick & cool / useful; and the battery best of all....

I'm very happy with it!

It’s a crazy coincidence that you replied to this when you did. I was just considering an Ultra 3 again. My Series 10 has been having some speaker distortion from a life of being soaked in commercial grade dish soap, sometimes while playing music at full volume. I don’t do that anymore, but it still has the damage. I’m also getting tired of charging so often and watching battery health dwindle. I must push it harder than I think. Having cellular would be nice as I like to be able to go outside on my property without my phone sometimes and a sapphire glass would be much welcomed. I’m gonna talk to my carrier, it looks like they’ll give me 300 in bill credits to trade my S10, and I could do that small monthly payment much better than a big chunk at Apple.

 

[BrHi11]

So I'm contemplating thinking about considering an Apple Watch.. the SE looks good value, the Series 11 look very nice, but my question is about real world battery life.

I do shift work - sometimes I am up before 5am, and not going to bed till like 10pm. Realistically is any Apple Watch gonna make it that long? It would only be the GPS version if that makes any difference.

If I'm gonna end several days with a dead watch then I guess it's pretty much a non starter so just doing some research here 😆

Thanks all!

An Apple Watch Ultra will get you through a day with plenty of room.

I’d recommend avoiding the other options with the long shifts. You will be fine the first year, but you will likely see some battery life issues in year 2 and 3. I’ve had series 10 since release and the battery health is 91% and have most notifications off and I still have a hard time getting from 6 am to 8 pm with any sort of charge left. I do bike about 30-40 minutes with the watch, no phone which eats battery pretty heavily.

However, my Ultra (1st gen) still gets though the day with around 30 percent left in the tank.

With that said, with Apple’s decision to end support for the Ultra. I’m really considering buying a mechanical watch and use something else for tracking fitness. But I’m such a sucker for Apple products, I’m not sure I’ll make that shift. 😂

 

[AppleForeverandEver]

I only use about 40% of my battery on the average day which includes two workouts. I do not use cellular. After a year my series 11 Ti is still doing what I need with ease. Can’t imagine not wearing an Apple Watch with my iPhone.

 

[PachaEOD]

With my Apple Watch 11, I get between 2 and 3 days between an absolute need to charge.

 

[dizmonk]

So I'm contemplating thinking about considering an Apple Watch.. the SE looks good value, the Series 11 look very nice, but my question is about real world battery life.

I do shift work - sometimes I am up before 5am, and not going to bed till like 10pm. Realistically is any Apple Watch gonna make it that long? It would only be the GPS version if that makes any difference.

If I'm gonna end several days with a dead watch then I guess it's pretty much a non starter so just doing some research here 😆

Thanks all!

I had the same concern that was why in 2025 I purchased a first gen-Ultra. Fast-foward and last month I traded it in for a series 11. The series 11 gets me through a full day. Low power mode would bring it to a day and a half, maybe two. I'm very pleasantly surprised.