I’m shocked how much better battery life I get out of Ultra 3 vs 1. On a non workout day I would be down to about 50% after 24h including sleep tracking. My Ultra 1 still was at 92% capacity after 2 years. The U3 ends that same period at 80%. I’m sure I can go 3 days without charging and that in regular power mode.
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Ultra 3 Battery Life = Only 24 hours?
- Thread starter robgreene
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It's a bit confusing. It does not say it limits to 80% but in rereading I suppose it implies that. On my phone there is an actual limit so that is why I asked. I've had Optimized set since I got the watch but it goes past 80% if I let it. For my convenience I charge it at the same time each day unless it happens to have a significant remaining charge. In the week that I've had my U3 the battery is typically around 35% when I charge and takes ~30-35min to get to 80%.
There never has been a setting on Watch OS like that. The only setting ever offered was optimized battery charging which tries to learn your charging schedule then only charges to 80% then pauses, then charges to the full 100% before your need it. iPhone used this method too but it never worked properly, at least in my experience using it, I always disabled it and setup shortcuts and used a smart outlet to start charging at 40% and shut off at 80%. My 15PM has the adjustable charging limit which I set to 85% and it works well. Although it will charge randomly to 100% supposedly to calibrate the battery from time to time.
Something definitely sounds off if you're only getting 24hrs with an Ultra 3. I've been very surprised with WatchOS 26 with my Ultra 1. With WatchOS18 after a full charge before going to bed, I'd wake with 86-88% left 7am in the morning. With WatchOS 26 I'm routinely left with 93%. I've had my watch since they first released the Ultra 1 and with the previous OS I could just squeak 2 days but it would be close. Now with the latest OS I still have 24% after 2 full days. Not bad for a 3 year old watch.
As it stands, I'd be reluctant to update it again. I have all features turned on, auto start exercise routine detection etc.
As it stands, I'd be reluctant to update it again. I have all features turned on, auto start exercise routine detection etc.
Actually there are proof of not charging to 100% every time will prolong battery lifespan. And hence Tesla explicitly says charging to 80% instead of 100% all the time to preserve battery health, Apple, Samsung, Google and etc rolled out optimized charging limit for their phones.
Nonetheless I don’t care for the feature especially on AW with its tiny battery, so I turn it off for AW (but do use it on my iPhone).
Read thru this thread and show where the proof is:
And since you bring up EVs, there are plenty reports of like Uber drivers who not only charge to 100%, they also DC charge and have achieved 300k miles on a battery
These are not based on research or empirical studies but rather just personal experience, so doesn’t meant much since there are so many variables. I double those multibillion dollar companies set recommendations based on user experiences.
Can you link to recent, eg last 18 months, studies that say 80% or whatever number? Important that it is recent as battery composition has evolved over the past decade.
The one thing to keep in mind too is that charging currents have significantly increased, thus obviously creating more heat etc.
And, there have been studies for EVs that fast charging has basically no impact on battery life.
I stand to my point, there is no proof, and I for one will just continue to charge to 100% every night.
Also on watch go into Settings > WiFi > and turn OFF if not used/needed. Saves a lot of battery as well.
You’ll have to do this everytime after watch updates the firmware.
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Actually, for watchOS updates your should turn Bluetooth off to enable faster download, and keep WiFi on. Download the update from the watch, not iPhone.
And frankly, I question the battery savings with WiFi off. In that case the watch communicates via BT only, which is slower, and has limited range, so you prolonging communication times.
When have I mentioned fast charging?
Plenty of recent studies, you can just go ask ChatGPT for links.
So yeah there are plenty of proof, enough proof that companies like Apple and Tesla and many others are recommending it. And sure you can charge to 100%, it’s your phone, I am not telling you what to do. Just saying the research is on my side.
I traded my Ultra 1 which I’ve had when it launched. Initially got 48 hours then with age it was more like 24 hours. Got the Ultra 3 last night. Charged it to full and loaded latest WatchOS 26.0.1. Woke up this morning and it was already down to 64%(which my U1 I would have about 90%). It’s now more than 12 hours since full charge at 1230pm and I am down to 47%. Hopefully it will get better.
I get about 30% with my ultra 3 for a full 24 hours of use with my setup. Bout the same I was getting with my 2 year old ultra 2. Ultra 3 seems to drain less when doing exercises and moving around.
I set it to optimized charging last watch os and it always stopped charging at 80. Maybe this one needs a few weeks before it does the same ? Would prefer a setting like iPhone.
Didn’t say anything other than turning WiFi off to extend the battery a little longer.
that's what Apple said when this feature was introduced a year or two ago, that it needs time to "learn" your usage/charging pattern.
But then there are quite a few posts here where for some people it wouldn't do it and others where it stopped working for them.
Evening all, don't think this is necessary to make a new thread. Picked up an AWU3 on friday from my local apple store, battery was ~80% when i picked it up. Battery life struggled to hit 24h in the first day. I've set the watch up as 'new' now, earlier on today. Is it reasonable to assume that for the first day or two battery life will be a bit short while the watch indexes?
I charged it to 95%, went for a dog walk with outdoor workout turned on (25 minutes), 4G enabled and playing downloaded music to my airpods and dropped 10% battery. Background app refresh was off and AOD off during workout.
I charged it to 95%, went for a dog walk with outdoor workout turned on (25 minutes), 4G enabled and playing downloaded music to my airpods and dropped 10% battery. Background app refresh was off and AOD off during workout.
excessive battry drain in thee scenarios is not unheard of, reboot both watch and phone and see how it is going. Also check if 3rd party apps are installed and running in the background
Cheers Jz. Have restarted both phone and watch and removed all third party apps. I'm going to give it a day or two to see how it settles. I only got it on Friday so worst comes to worst I'll head back to the apple store. Need to go anyway to swap my trail loop out!
some 3rd party apps might not have been updates for watchOS 26 yet.
And I should have been clearer in my first message, check the background app refresh settings too.
Welp, it's been a week now and even with "Optimized Charge Limit" set the darn thing is still charging to 100% every night. I don't mind it doing that when I am spending all day out of cell range in wilderness but for at-home use, this is just ridiculous.
I really hope they bring back the ability to limit it to 80%.
I really hope they bring back the ability to limit it to 80%.
do you have a regular charging pattern, like eg every night or for 1 hr in the morning? or is it more random?
It does take time to learn from you usage/charging patterns.
Thanks again, have had background app refresh off (never use it on the phone either), along with listen for 'Hey S'. Gonna let it chill and see how things go over the next few days