Watch Battery Life 18 Hours, Do you Agree?

[Mlrollin91]

42mm Space Grey Sport -

On average I undock my watch at 8AM and dock it at 11PM, so 15 hours a day that its off the dock and on my wrist.

I've been putting it back on the dock anywhere from 30-60% remaining. I have yet to see it drop below 30%. I'm very impressed with the battery life.

 

[sishaw]

Around 55%-45% at EoD.

I've only had the watch for 2 days (I'm in the camp of people who like it, at least so far). It is a 38 mm space gray model.

The first day, I was just sort of hanging out, figuring out which apps I wanted mirrored on the watch. I chose to keep them to a minimum and focus on items to which I would particularly want watch access. I also turn the brightness all the way down (it's still perfectly visible) and chose a medium level of detail on the watch face. That day, after a good 16 hours, I was at about 55% battery remaining.

The second day, I used the same settings, but I also did a half-hour on the treadmill with the activity tracker. That seemed to knock off about 10%, I assume because of the heart rate monitoring (which can be turned off, of course, but it's a pretty cool feature). But I still had plenty of battery left by the time I went to sleep.

Today is my first work day with the watch. I may be checking the time more, but probably playing around with apps less (LOL). We'll see how it goes, but at the current rate I expect to have about 70% left at the end of the work day (8 hours).

 

[mrboba1]

Had my first day of dropping below 10% yesterday. I was out and moving a lot - 8 am 100%, 12 midnight, 9%.

I think something must have been running in the background yesterday, because the first hour this AM it dropped 10%. I turned the watch off and back on and it has only used another 10% over the next 4 hours.

How exactly do you quit an app on the watch?

 

[phreebsd]

im able to get almost 2 full days out of it.

 

[sishaw]

Had my first day of dropping below 10% yesterday. I was out and moving a lot - 8 am 100%, 12 midnight, 9%.

I think something must have been running in the background yesterday, because the first hour this AM it dropped 10%. I turned the watch off and back on and it has only used another 10% over the next 4 hours.

How exactly do you quit an app on the watch?

I make no representations about whether this works, but here's an article from C/NET on this subject:

http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-force-quit-a-problematic-app-on-the-apple-watch/

You can also reboot the watch by holding down the crown and the button at the same time. That would stop anything running in the background. That I have done.

 

[Zeep]

Just hit the 10% mark on day 2 (!), nothing disabled, 2 workouts, 42mm SS.
I'm impressed.

 

[mrboba1]

I make no representations about whether this works, but here's an article from C/NET on this subject:

http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-force-quit-a-problematic-app-on-the-apple-watch/

You can also reboot the watch by holding down the crown and the button at the same time. That would stop anything running in the background. That I have done.

Thanks. Mine didn't hang, so I just did a normal shutdown and everything is working great. I'll try the force quit sometime to see what it does.

 

[Docsteel]

The power use is kind of odd with the Apple Watch I think... yesterday I was watching the power fall dramatically with no explanation. Even after a reset of both the phone AND the Watch no real change. Today, it seems to be fine, I really can't explain it. I kind of suspect maybe Siri in communication get's hung up, and may suddenly drive down the power, it's about the only thing I can think of as I was using Siri a bit more than average. Today, no resets or anything, and it is as if nothing happened. There was some bad weather locally, perhaps there is in some cases some type of rapid communication happening there, only thing I can think but I don't recall any increase in notifications. Its was all very puzzling, but on an average day I would get 18 hours or so, perhaps as much as 20.

 

[sishaw]

It may be my imagination, but...

The battery seems to be draining more slowly after the update. Or maybe the meter is just calibrated differently? Does anyone have a similar impression?

 

[thatsmyfish]

I made a Genius Bar appointment just for a battery diagnostic. 42mm Sport. Excluding day one when it died at 12 hours, it generally is hitting single digits after as little as 15 hours. Yesterday I was on track for about 22 hours. The woman at the Apple Store had a 38mm and we woke up around the same time of day. She was at 71% and I was 51%. I've gone as far as to disable raise-wrist at work because I feel I am triggering the screen too much inadvertantly, but too many other people here don't seem to need to do that.

 

[Cory Bauer]

The battery seems to be draining more slowly after the update. Or maybe the meter is just calibrated differently? Does anyone have a similar impression?

First day with the 1.01 update; took the Watch off the charger at 8:30am, did a 14-minute "Outdoor cycle", and at 9:30am the watch was still at 100%. That's definitely a new record for me, although it's still too early to tell if that'll translate into actual better battery life for the day.

I made a Genius Bar appointment just for a battery diagnostic. 42mm Sport. Excluding day one when it died at 12 hours, it generally is hitting single digits after as little as 15 hours. Yesterday I was on track for about 22 hours. The woman at the Apple Store had a 38mm and we woke up around the same time of day. She was at 71% and I was 51%. I've gone as far as to disable raise-wrist at work because I feel I am triggering the screen too much inadvertantly, but too many other people here don't seem to need to do that.

I had a similar experience at the Apple Store a few weeks ago; an employee and I both had the same 38mm watch, both took it off the charger the same time that day, and both were at 73% at the time. Only difference was he said he'd used his a ton and I had done all of five things with mine that day - not to mention having it on "do not disturb" for 2.5 hours with the screen activate disabled while sitting in a movie theater.

In the end though, unfortunately all they do is a run a diagnostics test on the battery itself, determine it's healthy and send you on your way. But that of course doesn't tell the whole story; just because the battery is healthy doesn't mean there isn't some kind of unnecessary, excessive drain coming from some other component of the watch.

 

[mattburley7]

ive gained between 2-5% battery life since the 1.0.1 update when doing workouts. took off charger at 4:45 am.. did a workout around 5:35 am and was down only 92%.. before this update i would be around 85% or so.

 

[fireguy286]

I got my watch yesterday so I am still in the early phases. I wasn't all that impressed yesterday but I know it's settling in. Today is my first full day, not doing anything special to save or drain it. Two quick Siri requests and some messaging, along with some calendar alerts. Off the charger for about 6.5 hours now and I'm at 79. If everything stayed the same I'd get about 24-28 hours to 0. Not bad.

 

[Phrase]

Today is my first full day with the AW. I left the house for work just before 9am with full charge. I've taken calls, answered texts, checked ESPN, and even did a few demos for co-workers.

It's now 3:15pm, still at 74%.

I'm not sure if the 1.0.1 update helped with battery life, but I'm impressed so far.

EDIT: I'll update this post before bed.

 

[geoffm33]

Watch on my wrist at 6:30a fully charged.

Regular use throughout the day.

20 minute workout at lunch.


3:30p now and I'm at 49%.

Seems like it sucks, but I think it's better than before the update. Placebo effect likely.

 

[matthewv1227]

Not sure if this has been asked before... has anyone found that their iPhones have better battery life now that they aren't being used as much?

 

[AJsAWiz]

iPhone battery vs Apple Watch battery

Not sure if this has been asked before... has anyone found that their iPhones have better battery life now that they aren't being used as much?

Quite the contrary . . . I've noticed slightly more battery drainage on my iPhone since I got my Apple Watch. The battery usage on the watch is great! The meter always reads 50% or more before I put it on the charger at night.

 

[LaserShowParty]

My first time using the watch I got it in the afternoon, I charged it to 100% at about 3pm and at about 4pm the next day it was at 9%. I used it a lot since it was the first time I was playing with it. I ran with it, talked on it, answered a lot of notifications along with other various apps like etrade, music, weather, changing watch faces and some others. I am about 4 hours since I took it off the charger and I am at 90%

 

[Dormammu]

Usage: 2h 18m
Standby: 13h 35m

53% remaining

 

[mmomega]

1st Full day with the watch.

Put it on around 730-8am this morning, put it back on charge at 1130pm battery was showing 39%.

With it being Day 1 and traveling between the offices I was showing it a lot just due to people asking questions so my normal day probably won't get as much use.

 

[ataq]

i tried everything, like turning off specific battery draining settings etc... and still not quite sure if the battery is normal on my 38mm because i only get maximum 12-14 hours even doing very little with the watch. i deleted the calendar and heartrate glances and disabled hey siri. its my 5th day with the watch. i dont know if i should return the watch for another.

can more people share their battery experience of an 38mm AW?

 

[Madcold]

i tried everything, like turning off specific battery draining settings etc... and still not quite sure if the battery is normal on my 38mm because i only get maximum 12-14 hours even doing very little with the watch. i deleted the calendar and heartrate glances and disabled hey siri. its my 5th day with the watch. i dont know if i should return the watch for another.

can more people share their battery experience of an 38mm AW?

I had to break in the battery for 2 days or so. Now I'm using it without glances and hey siri and I get about 3.5h usage and 14h standby with 30/35% left.
It makes a lot of difference in battery whether you are installing/deinstalling apps/glances and settings through the iPhone app or just using it as is. Also complications that need to tap in to your phone, like for instance the weather or calendar complication seem to take up a bit more battery as well.

 

[ataq]

great post Madcold. Thanks!

 

[sishaw]

i tried everything, like turning off specific battery draining settings etc... and still not quite sure if the battery is normal on my 38mm because i only get maximum 12-14 hours even doing very little with the watch. i deleted the calendar and heartrate glances and disabled hey siri. its my 5th day with the watch. i dont know if i should return the watch for another.

can more people share their battery experience of an 38mm AW?

My battery life is good. I usually end the day (15 hours) with about 40% remaining, sometimes more. Phone calls and workouts drain the batter fairly quickly--these seem to make about a 10 percent difference. I have the screen brightness turned down and other power-saving settings. I also have rebooted the watch if the battery seems to be draining too quickly, which seems to help.

 

[eifer]

38mm sport, I'm usually at around 35-45% at the end of the day. I keep the apps and glances set up on my watch to a minimum, and I don't let apps spam notifications to it either. I limit it to chat/text notifications primarily.