Watch 4 battery life much worse than Watch 3

[Knight3]

They're mentioned in the second paragraph of my reply you quoted ! Dark Sky and Smart3D (which enables me to control my MFI hearing aids from my watch).

However I have a hunch the problem might be Autosleep. It is not installed on my watch but it is on my phone. The default setting is to monitor heart beat 24 hrs a day, and my health data shows it has been doing this. This is like doing a continuous workout. However it can't be as simple as this as this because my AW3 had it installed with the same setting. So maybe there is a difference between how AW3 and AW4 respond to the heart data requests from Austosleep. The setting can be adjusted to only monitor say 11pm to 7am when you are likely to be asleep. But for now I have deleted it as a diagnostic. As I say this is only a hunch at this point.

Try deleting all the third party apps and install it one by one. Give it a day before you install each app so you’d be able to figure out the culprit. The first time I used Sleep Cycle on my Watch it almost drained the battery to empty overnight. Some sleep tracking apps could cause this but there’s another user with good battery life who uses Autosleep. So I’m guessing it should be okay.

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I have the same problem as Mike with 0 apps installed and using the watch in Theater Mode. Have you been watching your usage vs standby time? What have you been experiencing?

My usage is usually about 20% of standby times and sometimes more like when I’m driving or working out.

Have you tried the usual troubleshooting like turning off Background App Refresh or having some bad complication on the Watch face?


Also while you’re at it, try disabling the Fall Detection and see if that’s causing the problem.

 

[Mikeeee]

Try deleting all the third party apps and install it one by one. Give it a day before you install each app so you’d be able to figure out the culprit. The first time I used Sleep Cycle on my Watch it almost drained the battery to empty overnight. Some sleep tracking apps could cause this but there’s another user with good battery life who uses Autosleep. So I’m guessing it should be okay.

[doublepost=1549342292][/doublepost]

My usage is usually about 20% of standby times and sometimes more like when I’m driving or working out.

Have you tried the usual troubleshooting like turning off Background App Refresh or having some bad complication on the Watch face?


Also while you’re at it, try disabling the Fall Detection and see if that’s causing the problem.

I've tried all that and haven't had success. The latest step has been enabling Workout Power Saving Mode and after 15 hours my usage has been stable for the first time in quite a while. I'll see if this continues like this but it seems to me I shouldn't have to use the watch in Power Saving Mode to have stable usage numbers.

 

[Knight3]

I've tried all that and haven't had success. The latest step has been enabling Workout Power Saving Mode and after 15 hours my usage has been stable for the first time in quite a while. I'll see if this continues like this but it seems to me I shouldn't have to use the watch in Power Saving Mode to have stable usage numbers.

View attachment 820119

Wait for a day or two and then disable the Power Saving Mode. I'm guessing it'd stay the same and not get worse again.
The first time it was Fall Detection for me. I disabled it and it went back to normal. Few days later I enabled it again and it stayed the same and practically made no difference.

 

[Mike Boreham]

However I have a hunch the problem might be Autosleep. It is not installed on my watch but it is on my phone. The default setting is to monitor heart beat 24 hrs a day, and my health data shows it has been doing this. This is like doing a continuous workout. However it can't be as simple as this as this because my AW3 had it installed with the same setting. So maybe there is a difference between how AW3 and AW4 respond to the heart data requests from Austosleep. The setting can be adjusted to only monitor say 11pm to 7am when you are likely to be asleep. But for now I have deleted it as a diagnostic. As I say this is only a hunch at this point.

I have just completed 24 hrs since last full charge and with AutoSleep deleted. My watch is on 64% and usage is 3hr 12 min out of 24 hrs standby.

This is the best battery performance since I got the AW4: 1.5%/hr average.

However I am not inclined to simply blame AutoSleep. Googling 'Autosleep and battery life' finds a lot of discussions where it is clear AutoSleep does not usually and should not have an impact and is not equivalent to a workout, as it only uses and analyses data which is being gathered anyway by the watch. My own AW3 experience supports this.

It may be that AutoSleep needs to be reinstalled on my phone and setup with the AW4 instead of inheriting the AW3 setup. More speculation, but I am going to reinstall Autosleep and test for 24 hrs with it installed.

 

[Mike Boreham]

I have now had AutoSleep re-installed for 19 hrs, and the good behaviour in my last post has continued.

My current conclusion is that my whole problem was solved by deleting and reinstalling AutoSleep. Apps do sometimes misbehave and need to be reinstalled, and it seems plausible that an app like AutoSleep which makes great use of watch data, should need reinstalling after changing the watch (though I expect lots of people have changed watch without reinstalling it).

I still think the AW4 has a lower battery life than the AW3 but nothing like as much as my earlier experience. I can live with the 1.5%/hr I am getting now, but not with the 3%/hr I was getting when usage≈standby.

 

[Mikeeee]

I have now had AutoSleep re-installed for 19 hrs, and the good behaviour in my last post has continued.

My current conclusion is that my whole problem was solved by deleting and reinstalling AutoSleep. Apps do sometimes misbehave and need to be reinstalled, and it seems plausible that an app like AutoSleep which makes great use of watch data, should need reinstalling after changing the watch (though I expect lots of people have changed watch without reinstalling it).

I still think the AW4 has a lower battery life than the AW3 but nothing like as much as my earlier experience. I can live with the 1.5%/hr I am getting now, but not with the 3%/hr I was getting when usage≈standby.

After seeing your success and trying everything else I could think of to fix my battery drain usage/standby problem, I also uninstalled AutoSleep from my phone (was already uninstalled on my watch). I'm also having really good results so far. So far 14 hours 50 minutes Standby, 1 Hour 3 minutes Usage. Battery at 77%. Hopefully this keeps up. Having trouble understanding though how an app not installed on the watch but installed on the iPhone, could effect battery usage.

 

[Mike Boreham]

After seeing your success and trying everything else I could think of to fix my battery drain usage/standby problem, I also uninstalled AutoSleep from my phone (was already uninstalled on my watch). I'm also having really good results so far. So far 14 hours 50 minutes Standby, 1 Hour 3 minutes Usage. Battery at 77%. Hopefully this keeps up. Having trouble understanding though how an app not installed on the watch but installed on the iPhone, could effect battery usage.

My success was short-lived....something else is going on. After another few hours the battery started going down 3%/hr and usage was nearly same as standby. This was with no change in settings, apps or usage.

I un-paired the phone and set it up as new phone. Installed no third party apps, and changed only a few obvious settings (like reduce brightness and stopped some notifications). For ten hours battery usage was about 1.5% and usage was about 20% of standby. Then it went up 3% and usage nearly same as standby. Again no changes.

I am going to leave it like this for a while and see if the dual mode type behaviour stops at any stage. I am going back to how I used to use my series 0 and 1, ie not use it for sleep monitoring and charge it every night.

The cynic in me says that Apple are aware of these characteristics which is why they only claim 18 hrs. I will easily achieve 18 hrs whatever use I give it, so I have no redress against Apple, and would be quite happy with my AW4 if it wasn't for the fact that my AW3 was so much better.

 

[Mikeeee]

My success was short-lived....something else is going on. After another few hours the battery started going down 3%/hr and usage was nearly same as standby. This was with no change in settings, apps or usage.

I un-paired the phone and set it up as new phone. Installed no third party apps, and changed only a few obvious settings (like reduce brightness and stopped some notifications). For ten hours battery usage was about 1.5% and usage was about 20% of standby. Then it went up 3% and usage nearly same as standby. Again no changes.

I am going to leave it like this for a while and see if the dual mode type behaviour stops at any stage. I am going back to how I used to use my series 0 and 1, ie not use it for sleep monitoring and charge it every night.

The cynic in me says that Apple are aware of these characteristics which is why they only claim 18 hrs. I will easily achieve 18 hrs whatever use I give it, so I have no redress against Apple, and would be quite happy with my AW4 if it wasn't for the fact that my AW3 was so much better.

I see you re-installed AutoSleep on your phone. I just deleted it and didn't re-install. After 18 hours my battery is still working great. You might want to try testing again without AutoSleep installed on your phone.

 

[Mike Boreham]

I see you re-installed AutoSleep on your phone. I just deleted it and didn't re-install. After 18 hours my battery is still working great. You might want to try testing again without AutoSleep installed on your phone.

In my later post I said I had unpaired repaired, and set up as new phone with no third party apps.....and battery still misbehaved after ten hours.
Which is why I am stepping back from this issue and going to assess over days/weeks rather than hours. Charging overnight and with my hearing aid app installed, since I really want to use this.

 

[Mikeeee]

In my later post I said I had unpaired repaired, and set up as new phone with no third party apps.....and battery still misbehaved after ten hours.
Which is why I am stepping back from this issue and going to assess over days/weeks rather than hours. Charging overnight and with my hearing aid app installed, since I really want to use this.

It might just be that we both have some kind of defect in our watch. After 27 hours of normal battery use, my watch went full drain over night. So back to square one.

I did speak to Apple Support last week. They did a battery and hardware test remotely and said my device passed those tests. They sent me a box to send the watch for further inspection and hopefully repair or exchange. I guess I'll need to do this next.

 

[Mike Boreham]

It might just be that we both have some kind of defect in our watch. After 27 hours of normal battery use, my watch went full drain over night. So back to square one.

I did speak to Apple Support last week. They did a battery and hardware test remotely and said my device passed those tests. They sent me a box to send the watch for further inspection and hopefully repair or exchange. I guess I'll need to do this next.

Keep us posted! I am very surprised Apple is willing to test further when remote tests said it was OK and it exceeds 18hrs spec number.

 

[Mikeeee]

Keep us posted! I am very surprised Apple is willing to test further when remote tests said it was OK and it exceeds 18hrs spec number.

Well I had my facts well lined up. All the testing I did with screen shots couldn't be overlooked. Btw after restarting the watch the battery is performing well again. The problem seems to always start during the middle of the night. Since I've been testing with fresh installs I'm starting to think the high usage that starts during the night is the watch getting it's data updated after the new install during the day. Perhaps the watch is setup to only load the data in the middle of the night.

 

[Knight3]

In my later post I said I had unpaired repaired, and set up as new phone with no third party apps.....and battery still misbehaved after ten hours.
Which is why I am stepping back from this issue and going to assess over days/weeks rather than hours. Charging overnight and with my hearing aid app installed, since I really want to use this.

I suggest you give it a week or so before you come to any conclusion. I’ve seen some posts mentions it gets better after a few days. So observe the battery life over the next few days for about a week and let us know if it improves.
[doublepost=1549780002][/doublepost]

Well I had my facts well lined up. All the testing I did with screen shots couldn't be overlooked. Btw after restarting the watch the battery is performing well again. The problem seems to always start during the middle of the night. Since I've been testing with fresh installs I'm starting to think the high usage that starts during the night is the watch getting it's data updated after the new install during the day. Perhaps the watch is setup to only load the data in the middle of the night.

If I’m guessing it right, they’re just gonna send it back to you as is saying everything is working the way it should.

 

[dannyyankou]

I agree with the OP, I just got a Series 4 yesterday and the battery life is worse than my Series 3 which I’ve had for over a year. Already lost 14% in 2.5 hours, I would’ve still been in the 90s now. I guess that around 18 hours total, but I used to be able to get like 30-40 hours, lol.

 

[MacWins]

In your opinion, how much time (2 years??) is needed for the overall maximum capacity to drop to 80%??

 

[Knight3]

I agree with the OP, I just got a Series 4 yesterday and the battery life is worse than my Series 3 which I’ve had for over a year. Already lost 14% in 2.5 hours, I would’ve still been in the 90s now. I guess that around 18 hours total, but I used to be able to get like 30-40 hours, lol.

Delete and reinstall all the third party apps and give the watch a few days to settle. It shouldn’t be that bad.

 

[dannyyankou]

Delete and reinstall all the third party apps and give the watch a few days to settle. It shouldn’t be that bad.

You might be right, I charged it all the way again and it’s only down 2% after 2 hours. Much better.

 

[Mike Boreham]

You might be right, I charged it all the way again and it’s only down 2% after 2 hours. Much better.

Don't want to dampen your optimism, but I have noticed on my AW4 that after being fully charged to 100% it takes a while to come off 100%, so 100->98 would be longer than 98 -> 96.

 

[Mikeeee]

Don't want to dampen your optimism, but I have noticed on my AW4 that after being fully charged to 100% it takes a while to come off 100%, so 100->98 would be longer than 98 -> 96.

I've seen the same. On Series 3 it sometimes took as much as 8 hours before the watch went to 99% and then would deplete more regularly after that. On the Series 4 I've seen the watch remain at 100% for up to 5 hours.

 

[Knight3]

You might be right, I charged it all the way again and it’s only down 2% after 2 hours. Much better.

Let it run for a few days before you resort to anything extreme like unpairing and re-pairing. You might notice a few days with bad battery life but it should get close to two days on a single charge by the end of the week.
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Don't want to dampen your optimism, but I have noticed on my AW4 that after being fully charged to 100% it takes a while to come off 100%, so 100->98 would be longer than 98 -> 96.

But in the end it should still come close to 2 days on a full charge.

 

[dannyyankou]

Let it run for a few days before you resort to anything extreme like unpairing and re-pairing. You might notice a few days with bad battery life but it should get close to two days on a single charge by the end of the week.

After 7 hours and 15 minutes on standby, it’s now at 82%. Definitely getting better.

 

[Knight3]

After 7 hours and 15 minutes on standby, it’s now at 82%. Definitely getting better.

Glad to hear that!

 

[Cnasty]

Mine seems to be fine for what I need it for. I sleep with it every night and only charge in the mornings when getting ready, maybe around 45min to an hour each day?

I also have the Nomad Base station with the 7.5w charger for the AW/Phone but not sure if that is charging faster then the installed puck i assume so. I usually leave the house with about 70-80% per day. Plenty for all day and sleeping through the night with Autosleep.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Just to update my experience a week further on.

I have adopted a new routine.
I wear the watch at night.
I charge it up to 100% every morning. Not exactly same time each day.
I have all the third party watch apps I want installed on watch and phone and use them fully. (AutoSleep, Hearing Aid app, Heartwatch, Dark Sky).

I have been recording:-
1.The % charge remaining, just before putting in on charge
2.Usage/standby times just before putting it on charge
From these two it easy to calculate the %drop/hr

The last eight days:

1. 59% 2h46m/26h0m 1.6%/hr
2. 70% 2h25m/29h41m 1.5%/hr
3. 80% 1h20m/18h07m 1.1%/hr
4. 56% 6h17m/20h29m 2.2%/hr
5. 28% 17h19m/21h57m 3.3%/hr
6. 40% 14h12m/21h41m 2.8%/hr
7. 67% 2h16m/22h37m 1.5%/hr
8. 63% 2h56m/22h15m 1.7%/hr

Comments:
1. I can't identify any reason for the variability, eg workouts on somedays etc
2. The high %drop days are always due to high usage time that day.
3. I did not restart the watch at all. I have previously noticed that restarting the watch returns the watch to a normal 2-3 hrs usage per day. When I saw the high usage and big drop on day 3, I thought I might have to restart it, but I didn't and it recovered back down to 2-3hrs by itself.
4. It looks like the process causing the high usage started during day 4 and stopped during day 6.

I have been monitoring this much more than I ever did with the series 3 watch, so can't make exact comparison. In particular I cant say whether it had the same variability, but I think not.

I am OK with daily charging in the morning. Some days it would probably do a whole second day but I think routine is good to avoid surprises.

 

[Mikeeee]

Just to update my experience a week further on.

I have adopted a new routine.
I wear the watch at night.
I charge it up to 100% every morning. Not exactly same time each day.
I have all the third party watch apps I want installed on watch and phone and use them fully. (AutoSleep, Hearing Aid app, Heartwatch, Dark Sky).

I have been recording:-
1.The % charge remaining, just before putting in on charge
2.Usage/standby times just before putting it on charge
From these two it easy to calculate the %drop/hr

The last eight days:

1. 59% 2h46m/26h0m 1.6%/hr
2. 70% 2h25m/29h41m 1.5%/hr
3. 80% 1h20m/18h07m 1.1%/hr
4. 56% 6h17m/20h29m 2.2%/hr
5. 28% 17h19m/21h57m 3.3%/hr
6. 40% 14h12m/21h41m 2.8%/hr
7. 67% 2h16m/22h37m 1.5%/hr
8. 63% 2h56m/22h15m 1.7%/hr

Comments:
1. I can't identify any reason for the variability, eg workouts on somedays etc
2. The high %drop days are always due to high usage time that day.
3. I did not restart the watch at all. I have previously noticed that restarting the watch returns the watch to a normal 2-3 hrs usage per day. When I saw the high usage and big drop on day 3, I thought I might have to restart it, but I didn't and it recovered back down to 2-3hrs by itself.
4. It looks like the process causing the high usage started during day 4 and stopped during day 6.

I have been monitoring this much more than I ever did with the series 3 watch, so can't make exact comparison. In particular I cant say whether it had the same variability, but I think not.

I am OK with daily charging in the morning. Some days it would probably do a whole second day but I think routine is good to avoid surprises.

I have the exact same problem. Also similarly, If I restart the watch it goes back to normal usage. I’m wondering if our circumstances are unique or if all the Series 4 are performing like this.