Thinking about switching to the 5s from android, how's battery life?

[bkends35]

Hey everyone,

I never thought I'd say this but I'm strongly debating to switching to iOS and getting a 5s when contract up in 3 months. Main reason is battery life. In some of my lecture halls I get bad service and my GS3 battery will drain ~15% over 50 minutes when it's just sitting in my pocket. Not to mention it's connected to the campus wifi too. I have a few friends who have iPhone 5's and their battery hardly drains at, if any, and they don't have great service either and they are also on the wifi. I believe the problem is my phone isn't very smart and it constantly switches between LTE and 3g which kills the battery. I'm hoping the iPhone manages this better. I like iOS 7, I've been using it on my iPad for a few months and kinda prefer it to android. By the end of the day, I'm usually at 30-40% at 5pm with only 1 hour of screen on time. IMO, that terrible. So do you guys think the iPhone 5 and 5s mange battery better and do you think I'll end up with better battery life? I always have to charge by 9pm and I don't use my phone a ton. I can squeeze out 2.5 hours of screen on time at best. I've seen iPhones with 4-7 hours of usage time before they die.

 

[CEmajr]

You'll experience better battery life out of the iPhone than most Android handsets. Only the Note 2, 3 and Droid Razr phones greatly outperform the iPhone in battery life in real world usage.

 

[12vElectronics]

The one complaint I have about the iPhone is the battery life... I wouldn't jump ship just because you think battery life would be better..

 

[OMAC83]

That's the reason I got rid of my s4, I've only had iPhones for 5 yrs and was very excited about trying something new, I had to start turning the s4 off at night because it would drain 20-30% now I have an ip5 back, the first night charged it before I went to bed and had 94% woke up and it was 93% so glad to be back, I vowed it would never leave again, loved the larger screen of the s4 and a few other things but absolutely nothing was worth using that as my only phone, it would call people in my pocket all sorts of things that just frustrated the hell out of me, sry about the rant lol

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The one complaint I have about the iPhone is the battery life... I wouldn't jump ship just because you think battery life would be better..

Totally disagree, the only phone to my knowledge that is competing and possibly exceeding the iPhone bat life is the note, but considering its bat is 3x the size.........

 

[Steve121178]

I had to start turning the s4 off at night because it would drain 20-30%

Plug in the charger?

 

[DodgeV83]

You'll experience better battery life out of the iPhone than most Android handsets. Only the Note 2, 3 and Droid Razr phones greatly outperform the iPhone in battery life in real world usage.

Incorrect. The iPhone 5 currently has the best real world battery life of any phone in standardized testing. Getting a bit over the 8 hours Apple claimed it could do. If Apple's claims for the iPhone 5s are correct, this goes up to 10 hours:

 

[Steve121178]

I never get anywhere near the battery life various benchmarks suggest I should get.

I take all benchmarks with a pinch of salt.

 

[CEmajr]

Incorrect. The iPhone 5 currently has the best real world battery life of any phone in standardized testing. Getting a bit over the 8 hours Apple claimed it could do. If Apple's claims for the iPhone 5s are correct, this goes up to 10 hours:

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I stand corrected. It makes sense though. Like someone said above, with Andorids the battery drained like crazy overnight if not plugged in while my iPhone only loses 7-9%. I also notice that the iPhone doesn't seem to take as long to charge as Android phones either.

 

[OMAC83]

Plug in the charger?

The phone was charged it lost that much without even touching let alone getting through an entire day when I was actually using it, the s4 and android are a joke in my opinion and I didn't feel like I could have a valid opinion until I actually tried them

 

[DodgeV83]

I've never get anywhere near the battery life various benchmarks suggest I should get.

I take all benchmarks with a pinch of salt.

The benchmarks do not suggest you should get that. They set an upper limit on what is technically possible with the phone. Since battery drain is linear, a phone with an upper limit of 8 hours browsing will provide better overall battery life than a phone with an upper limit of 5 hours browsing.

 

[Jsketch]

I am pretty much in the same position as the OP. I don't know if I am ready for such a big switch. I have never used iOS or even an Apple product.

 

[Steve121178]

I am pretty much in the same position as the OP. I don't know if I am ready for such a big switch. I have never used iOS or even an Apple product.

My first iPhone was the iPhone 4. Never looked back since. Unlike Mac's, iPhone's really do just work.

Best & most useful gadget ever.

 

[joeblow7777]

The chart in this article says that the 5s battery life is well below the Galaxy S4 or the HTC One...
http://ca.ign.com/wikis/iphone/IPhon...arison Chart

 

[bkends35]

The chart in this article says that the 5s battery life is well below the Galaxy S4 or the HTC One...
http://ca.ign.com/wikis/iphone/IPhon...arison Chart

I've seen things like this but I never can believe them. I get tops 3 hours of actual usage out of my phone. Just judging off how much the ip5 drains when looking at the videos I've seen the ip5 drains like 1% every 4-5 min when just browsing and my gs3 is 1% every 2 min. But yet I've seen a few benchmarks that rate the gs3 as having better battery life.

 

[richardbb85]

everyone use it differently, stop posting those useless benchmarks

 

[bkends35]

That's the reason I got rid of my s4, I've only had iPhones for 5 yrs and was very excited about trying something new, I had to start turning the s4 off at night because it would drain 20-30% now I have an ip5 back, the first night charged it before I went to bed and had 94% woke up and it was 93% so glad to be back, I vowed it would never leave again, loved the larger screen of the s4 and a few other things but absolutely nothing was worth using that as my only phone, it would call people in my pocket all sorts of things that just frustrated the hell out of me, sry about the rant lol

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Totally disagree, the only phone to my knowledge that is competing and possibly exceeding the iPhone bat life is the note, but considering its bat is 3x the size.........

Exactly what I was going to say. If my phone isn't plugged in over night I'll lose 20-30% with it sitting there doing nothing on a strong wifi signal and perfect reception. Thats pathetic. My iPad goes well over a day w/o losing a percent (I know it's because the battery is HUGE but still). In high school I had a study hall third period and so did my friend. He'd be at 95-100% at the beginning and I'd be at 80% and we both hardly used our phones during our previous classes. He had an iPhone 4 BTW. The key factor to getting good battery life nowadays is power management when the device is idle, IMO. Apple has mastered that from what I've seen. Anyone agree?

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everyone use it differently, stop posting those useless benchmarks

+1 benchmarks don't do a justice. They never show how much it loses when idle or anything. Just how many hours straight you can browse for.... nobody uses their phone for 5 hours straight.

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I am pretty much in the same position as the OP. I don't know if I am ready for such a big switch. I have never used iOS or even an Apple product.

I used to LOVE android, but ever since I got an iPad about a year ago I've began to love iOS even more. It's sooo smooth and power management seems better, at least on the iPad.

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I am pretty much in the same position as the OP. I don't know if I am ready for such a big switch. I have never used iOS or even an Apple product.

I used to LOVE android, but ever since I got an iPad about a year ago I've began to love iOS even more. It's sooo smooth and power management seems better, at least on the iPad.

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The one complaint I have about the iPhone is the battery life... I wouldn't jump ship just because you think battery life would be better..

Don't remember if I mentioned this or not but I really like iOS, it feels so polished compared to android.

 

[bkends35]

Not sure if any of you are too familiar with the android battery usage stats but here mine are. 1hr 40min of screen on time and 11 hrs unplugged and the battery was at 5% when I plugged it in. IMO thats pathetic.

 

[Serickmetz]

My wife and I each had an sg3 and it SUCKS. We just upgraded to an iPhone 5. Android phones would freeze Lock up. Not respond You name it. Had the 5 for a week now and I'm in heaven everytime I use it. Apple is soooooo easy and nice and reliable next to those stupid annoying android phones. **** your need for individuality in a damn phone. Lol

 

[bkends35]

My wife and I each had an sg3 and it SUCKS. We just upgraded to an iPhone 5. Android phones would freeze Lock up. Not respond You name it. Had the 5 for a week now and I'm in heaven everytime I use it. Apple is soooooo easy and nice and reliable next to those stupid annoying android phones. **** your need for individuality in a damn phone. Lol

Hahah that's good to hear. I'm definitely getting the 5s . Today I was texting on the way to a class and the phone randomly shuts off and starts up in safe mode... how does that even happen? Really unacceptable.

 

[Princejb134]

One of the biggest culprits for android battery drain is widgets
If its consistently syncing data in of course the battery is going to drain

I have no idea why people keep begging to get widgets on iOS
I prefer no widgets at all

 

[bkends35]

One of the biggest culprits for android battery drain is widgets
If its consistently syncing data in of course the battery is going to drain

I have no idea why people keep begging to get widgets on iOS
I prefer no widgets at all

+1 I don't even use widgets. I end up having icons on my homescreens just like iOS. Apps load so fast nowadays there no point to them.

 

[Vetvito]

I'm Android fan, but I'll admit that battery life is awful on Android phones.

Love the battery life on my 5.

 

[SR71]

I've seen things like this but I never can believe them. I get tops 3 hours of actual usage out of my phone. Just judging off how much the ip5 drains when looking at the videos I've seen the ip5 drains like 1% every 4-5 min when just browsing and my gs3 is 1% every 2 min. But yet I've seen a few benchmarks that rate the gs3 as having better battery life.

I know exactly what you mean. Traded my iPhone 5 for an S4 and battery life was one of the things I was looking forward to as all of the S4 reviews claimed it got great battery life, significantly beating the battery life that the S3 got. In reality however, the S4 sucked in terms of battery life (and every other way possible save for the camera, but that's for a different thread). Unplug it at 7am everyday, dead by 1-3pm. My iPhone 5 unplugging it at the same time easily lasted me till 6-8pm, and I use my phone HARD. I'd recommend switching, you won't be disappointed.

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One of the biggest culprits for android battery drain is widgets
If its consistently syncing data in of course the battery is going to drain

I have no idea why people keep begging to get widgets on iOS
I prefer no widgets at all

Just to note, I also didn't use widgets. I found them pointless and unnecessary. I, too, do not understand why people want widgets on iOS. They're pointless.

 

[lordofthereef]

Bad reception is going to kill any phone. I recommend airplane mode for where you know the phone isn't doing much.

I seem to be at 20% or so with my 5 by the end of the day, and I don't feel like I use it a lot. When I do, I need to charge during the day. This is subjective, so I won't go into details. Suffice it to say that I feel like my 5 also drains more than it should. As a comparison, I've been rocking a Moto X recently, and am at about 40% at the end of the day with that phone. I would still need to spot charge I think with heavier use, but I haven't come across that yet.

 

[techiegirl]

I have both the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S4. The iPhone will last me 1/2 day. With the Galaxy S4, I can go a whole day without charging and still have 50% battery left.

My usage is the same with both phones. The S4 has the best battery life of all the androids I've ever owned. With that said, I'm going to get the 5s, even if battery life isn't as good.