Ultra 3 Battery life

[sparkie7]

Just worn my new Ultra 3 for a little over 24 hours, (charged to 85%) and it’s down to 29%. Always on is on. At this rate not sure how it’s going to last Apple’s advertised 42 hours

What are others experience, how may hours are guy getting from a single charge?

 

[marmiteturkey]

Apart from the fact that it’s a new watch and likely indexing, it took over 24h to drain the battery by 56%.

So you’re on track for… drum roll… 43 hours of battery life.

 

[sparkie7]

lol ok. I hope the red carpet is rolled out too 😄

To eke out as much as I can, I had turned AoD off. Yes OFF

 

[Ament]

Two nights and two full days with 1-2 hours of outside training each day (without my iPhone) - ofc AOD ON. Without AOD I get 3 days.

 

[Howard2k]

Check background app refresh. Particularly for third party apps.

My Ultra 3 battery has been great. With my Ultra 1 I was losing 2% to 2.5% per hour, unless working out. With my Ultra 3 it's around 1.5%. Charged to 86% yesterday at 8:30pm. Now at 3:15pm it's 1.55%.


EDIT: Also reboot watch and phone.

 

[doogm]

It's so good that I'm back out of the habit of charging before I go to bed. Now I just don't worry about it.

To put numbers to it: after a full charge, I wake up after sleep tracking 97%-98%. After my morning workout (average about 80 minutes per day), I'm down to about 82%-83%. The rest of the day and I'm down to about 70%.

 

[Lobwedgephil]

Mine was like that first couple days, now much improved. I would probably get close to 42-48 hours. I charge every night before bed at 35-45%, Ultra 2 before was 25-35%.

 

[mecloud]

My Ultra 3 seems to be losing charge at a much slower rate than my Ultra 2.

 

[Feisar]

Getting two full days on my HU3, picked up on Sep 20 from Apple Store, with Modular Ultra watch face—seconds bezel, auto night mode, HR middle display, AOD, activity rings, weather temp and conditions, and sleep tracking every night.

Screenshotted on Wednesday, Oct 1 10:45:41PM and last full charge was Monday, Sep 29 06:25PM.

 

[Fantasigraphic]

Thursday morning to this morning

 

[funktofunk]

I just did an experimental log with mine with AOD off, here are results, summarized by ChatGPT. Impressed coming from my Ultra 1. I plan to use AOD on moving forward and will be on a routine of every other day charging most likely, but nice to know it can be stretched greatly!

Battery Log (10/2 → 10/4)

10/2
Work from home day

• 7:42 AM — 100% (full charge)
• 11:47 AM — 96%
• 2:20 PM — 92%
• 4:00 PM — 89%
• 9:10 PM — 82%
• 11:30 PM — ~79%

10/3

• 8:20 AM — 71% (after sleep tracking)
• 11:37 AM — 58% (2 hr GPS MTB ride, streaming downloaded music from watch, cellular on but phone with me)
• 2:45 PM — 52%
• 4:14 PM — 49% (AOD on, then off ~6 pm)
• 8:23 PM — 41%

10/4

• 7:35 AM — 30% (after sleep tracking)
• 10:47 AM — 22% (1 hr walk, no phone, cell off)
• 3:30 PM — 11%
• 5:30 PM — 7% (final entry before charge)

Cycle Summary

• Start: 10/2 at 7:42 AM (100%)
• End: 10/4 at 5:30 PM (7%)
• Elapsed time: ~58 hours (2 days, 9 hrs, 48 mins)
• Drain: 93% used

 

[sparkie7]

lol ok. I hope the red carpet is rolled out too 😄

To eke out as much as I can, I had turned AoD off. Yes OFF

I also set the display brightness to the lowest setting. (Seems there is only three settings: low, medium and high)

Took it off and went to bed with 27%. Got up this morning and it’s at 22%. What did it lose 5% doing while I slept? I have AoD off as well. Hmmm…

Update: After checking my Background app refresh app, (as per Howard2k’s suggestion) saw that all 50 apps were on. So that’s probably the reason for the 5% drop over night

 

[sparkie7]

Check background app refresh. Particularly for third party apps.

My Ultra 3 battery has been great. With my Ultra 1 I was losing 2% to 2.5% per hour, unless working out. With my Ultra 3 it's around 1.5%. Charged to 86% yesterday at 8:30pm. Now at 3:15pm it's 1.55%.


EDIT: Also reboot watch and phone.

Thanks for the info. Yeah I just checked and I have 50 apps on Background refresh. Maybe that’s why my battery dropped 5% whilst I slept. Do you turn yours off?

 

[sparkie7]

I just did an experimental log with mine with AOD off, here are results, summarized by ChatGPT. Impressed coming from my Ultra 1. I plan to use AOD on moving forward and will be on a routine of every other day charging most likely, but nice to know it can be stretched greatly!

Battery Log (10/2 → 10/4)

10/2
Work from home day

• 7:42 AM — 100% (full charge)
• 11:47 AM — 96%
• 2:20 PM — 92%
• 4:00 PM — 89%
• 9:10 PM — 82%
• 11:30 PM — ~79%

10/3

• 8:20 AM — 71% (after sleep tracking)
• 11:37 AM — 58% (2 hr GPS MTB ride, streaming downloaded music from watch, cellular on but phone with me)
• 2:45 PM — 52%
• 4:14 PM — 49% (AOD on, then off ~6 pm)
• 8:23 PM — 41%

10/4

• 7:35 AM — 30% (after sleep tracking)
• 10:47 AM — 22% (1 hr walk, no phone, cell off)
• 3:30 PM — 11%
• 5:30 PM — 7% (final entry before charge)

Cycle Summary

• Start: 10/2 at 7:42 AM (100%)
• End: 10/4 at 5:30 PM (7%)
• Elapsed time: ~58 hours (2 days, 9 hrs, 48 mins)
• Drain: 93% used

How did you get ChatGPT to summarise? Sorry for the noob question, not familiar with ChatGPT

 

[BigMcGuire]

My AWU3 was a bit heavy on the battery the first week I had it. Now it's settling in nicely. On average I'm burning 30% per 24 hours - but I have a unique setup that works for me - I've used it since the Apple Watch 3. Most notifications are turned off, AOD is off, handwashing is off, hey Siri is off, and that's about it. I wear the watch 24/7. Usually I lose 5-10% overnight with the o2 blood oxygen recordings. Oh, I have gestures off too since I don't need them (since most notifications are off). I have a 5GB offline downloaded exercise playlist - so I don't burn battery while exercising. I do these settings because I want to (not for battery reasons).

 

[BillGates1969]

A genuine question, why do some turn off all the features that make the watch a great smart watch (and frankly we are paying more for), just to eek a few extra hours? I can understand it if we are away from chargers, but in a 24 hour period, are people not near a charger for 30 mins?

My HU3 loses 2-4% overnight and about 45% in 24 hours with nothing turned off on purpose. I can get two days with standard use (normally at least 60 mins of workouts) and if I started compromising I could easily go into a 3rd day, but why? I just enjoy the watch and pop it on the charger at some stage in the first 36 hours of use for 30-60 mins.

 

[PatrickNSF]

A genuine question, why do some turn off all the features that make the watch a great smart watch (and frankly we are paying more for), just to eek a few extra hours?

You’ve just described half of the Apple Watch posts on Reddit 😂

 

[MarkX]

Virtually no difference between how long my Ultra 3 lasts compared to previous Ultra 2!

 

[BigMcGuire]

A genuine question, why do some turn off all the features that make the watch a great smart watch (and frankly we are paying more for), just to eek a few extra hours? I can understand it if we are away from chargers, but in a 24 hour period, are people not near a charger for 30 mins?

My HU3 loses 2-4% overnight and about 45% in 24 hours with nothing turned off on purpose. I can get two days with standard use (normally at least 60 mins of workouts) and if I started compromising I could easily go into a 3rd day, but why? I just enjoy the watch and pop it on the charger at some stage in the first 36 hours of use for 30-60 mins.

My Thoughts (I realize this may not have been directed at me):

I am an old man (40) - I can't stand the amount of interruptions the Watch is set up to annoy me with - with the default out of box settings. My iPhone has been on silent since my first Apple Watch 3. I have a favorites list for my spouse, boss, and other folk (about 20) who can call me in any focus mode (sleep/DND/etc). I have most app notifications off because I do not want my life to be interrupted while I'm enjoying my day - it stresses me out. (I don't do this for battery life). (iMessage and most app notifications are turned off for quality of life reasons).

I have Always On Display off because I find when I talk to people it makes them look at my watch and I find it distracting to me when I see my watch too - so I've always had this off (not for battery life purposes). lol.

I have Hey Siri off because I end up accidentally activating it at the worst times (usually while driving). I use Siri quite often to set timers while cooking and alarms for work (I press the button to do this).

Noise Alerts is off because I put my arm out my window while I drive and it kept annoying me that I was in a loud environment. Handwashing is off because if I washed my hands for as long as it wanted to every time I washed my hands, I'd have no skin on my hands.

I love my watch - I use it to unlock my Mac and dismiss the Administrator prompt all the time, I use it to open my trunk on my car - and see my car's charge, it is my alarm to wake up, my voice memo tool, I get 5 day weather instantly when looking at it (Carrot Weather) (rise to wake is on), I use it as a flashlight to go pee at night, I absolutely LOVE the health data - I look at that every day - heart rate, sleep disruptions, VO2 Max, etc. I use it to listen to music while I jog so I don't have to take my phone - all the while being available to take calls with AirPods. I use it to pay at grocery stores, to start charging at some EV chargers. Love its integration with Apple Fitness workouts on TV.

So - from my perspective, I'm not doing any of this for battery reasons. Personal preferences.

 

[jz0309]

My Thoughts (I realize this may not have been directed at me):

I am an old man (40) - I can't stand the amount of interruptions the Watch is set up to annoy me with - with the default out of box settings. My iPhone has been on silent since my first Apple Watch 3. I have a favorites list for my spouse, boss, and other folk (about 20) who can call me in any focus mode (sleep/DND/etc). I have most app notifications off because I do not want my life to be interrupted while I'm enjoying my day - it stresses me out. (I don't do this for battery life). (iMessage and most app notifications are turned off for quality of life reasons).

I have Always On Display off because I find when I talk to people it makes them look at my watch and I find it distracting to me when I see my watch too - so I've always had this off (not for battery life purposes). lol.

I have Hey Siri off because I end up accidentally activating it at the worst times (usually while driving). I use Siri quite often to set timers while cooking and alarms for work (I press the button to do this).

Noise Alerts is off because I put my arm out my window while I drive and it kept annoying me that I was in a loud environment. Handwashing is off because if I washed my hands for as long as it wanted to every time I washed my hands, I'd have no skin on my hands.

I love my watch - I use it to unlock my Mac and dismiss the Administrator prompt all the time, I use it to open my trunk on my car - and see my car's charge, it is my alarm to wake up, my voice memo tool, I get 5 day weather instantly when looking at it (Carrot Weather) (rise to wake is on), I use it as a flashlight to go pee at night, I absolutely LOVE the health data - I look at that every day - heart rate, sleep disruptions, VO2 Max, etc. I use it to listen to music while I jog so I don't have to take my phone - all the while being available to take calls with AirPods. I use it to pay at grocery stores, to start charging at some EV chargers. Love its integration with Apple Fitness workouts on TV.

So - from my perspective, I'm not doing any of this for battery reasons. Personal preferences.

I mean, whatever works for you, just enjoy your watch!
But, I do take offense to this:

I am an old man (40)

No you’re not, you’re a youngster! I’m 66 and I certainly do not feel like an “old man” …

 

[BigMcGuire]

But, I do take offense to this:

No you’re not, you’re a youngster! I’m 66 and I certainly do not feel like an “old man” …

Hah. You’ll have to excuse me. First time ever I’m working a side job where everyone I work with was born the year or around the year I graduated high school. All my life I’ve worked with people double my age. Now it’s my turn I guess

 

[jz0309]

Hah. You’ll have to excuse me. First time ever I’m working a side job where everyone I work with was born the year or around the year I graduated high school. All my life I’ve worked with people double my age. Now it’s my turn I guess

Fast forward 5 years....
BigMcGuire: I feel like an old grandpa with my walker ...

I'm sorry, don't mean to make fun of you, just that there are so many depressing threads/comments on MR nowadays that a little fun brightens the day, at least for me.

about 10 years ago I was in consulting working on a proposal for (then) Facebook. I was onsite at headquarters for 2 days - I did certainly feel old there ...