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WatchOS 3.1 GREAT battery life

Sadly my 3.0 and 3.1 experience with original watch is very different.

Have unpaired, repaired, reset, restarted but still battery drops life a stone after a workout has run.
Have removed all but the one face, background refresh off, handoff off.

Genius Bar went through diagnostics and reported all ok.

Have a worry that it could be my iPhone 7 causing the problem as the few days with 3.0 on old iPhone 6 I didn't notice the drain.

Next step is to send it back to apple to have a look but would rather not although having a battery not lasting a day with even just a 30 min workout session isn't much use.

Any other suggestions gratefully received.
 
can anyone else speak to original gen with 3.1?

that stinks but

3.0 has been working well for me, better than 2 ever did battery and performance wise
 
My field test with watchOS 3.1 on my AW S2: took it off the charger Friday at 5:00 am and it lasted until Sunday 7:00 pm.
Great!

I think I'll go for a charge every other night and see how that works.
For once a great software update, Apple!
 
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No exercise today but 5 hours off the charger and it is at 94 perfect:). Love it!

Edited to add...very light Watch usage today but 9 hours and at 87 percent!
 
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On the early part of day three of no recharge, at 53%. Wonder if I can squeeze four days out of this 42 mm S2.
 
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Could you all share what watch faces are you using for the battery life? Trying to see if some Watch faces are inherently more battery savings than the others. With the workout Watch face (with seconds display) I'm about 16 hours with 54% left. Series 0 42mm.
 
I have a "series 0" and I've noticed huge improvement with 3.1 My watch is consistently barely over 50% when I take it off at night. I've been charging it every other day since 3.1
 
wow - I'm jealous for those who have had a battery life improvement... sadly my experience hasn't been as good... I used to be able to stay around 25% from 5:00 AM - 10:30 PM including a 30-45 min walk / run (while listening to my bluetooth headphones) but I'm lucky to make it until 9:00 PM if I exercise... hopefully it's just a bug and the next release will work for everyone...
 
bob24 said:
Now you're talking! This sounds like a huge improvement.

I assume this is with fairly light usage though?
Click to expand...
Yeah. For sure. I haven't been overly concerned with what watch face I've been using. It's still a drastic improvement from not being able to make it through a full day
 
nhtappleguy said:
wow - I'm jealous for those who have had a battery life improvement... sadly my experience hasn't been as good... I used to be able to stay around 25% from 5:00 AM - 10:30 PM including a 30-45 min walk / run (while listening to my bluetooth headphones) but I'm lucky to make it until 9:00 PM if I exercise... hopefully it's just a bug and the next release will work for everyone...
Click to expand...
Take a look at your dock - if you use it. Any apps not updated to O/S like ESPN. That's a known battery killer. Also check for what apps you have set to auto refresh - if any.
 
I'm usually ending each day from 6:30am-10:30pm (16 hours) including a 2.5 hour swimming workout every day with 60% or more. Currently, it's 2:30pm and after 8 hours I have 88%. Great job Apple!
 
Seems a few people are reporting great battery on first gen with 3.1 as well,

can any other first gen people chime in? How much better is it than 3.0?

Cautious with updates, but this appears to be a good one- FINALLY! jeez apple
 
thadoggfather said:
Seems a few people are reporting great battery on first gen with 3.1 as well,

can any other first gen people chime in? How much better is it than 3.0?

Cautious with updates, but this appears to be a good one- FINALLY! jeez apple
Click to expand...

Trying to get my son to update his first gen. I'll let you know once he does.
 
tl01 said:
Trying to get my son to update his first gen. I'll let you know once he does.
Click to expand...

thanks! screw it, reading good things at least a handful of S0 in here,

one thats my model specifically, S0 38mm

i'll go for it!
 
Since purchasing my watch approx 5 weeks ago i have not had any issue with the battery. When i first set up a watch face i made sure battery power was dispalayed as i thought i might be running to a charger all the time- how wrong was i! I put my watch on everday at 6am and then go to bed at approx 11pm- my watch power generally sits between 75-80% power- it's fantastic- i dont know where all the negative press comes from about battery life but mine is nothing short of brilliant
 
Has anyone tried leaving background refresh on AND not using the reduce motion feature? If yes, are you still seeing great battery life?
 
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PCtoMAC1 said:
Has anyone tried leaving background refresh on AND not using the reduce motion feature? If yes, are you still seeing great battery life?
Click to expand...

Yes, been wearing my series 2 12 hours and it's at 87%. The days I run a few miles without my phone still leave it at over 60% by now. Two days has been quite realistic so far.
 
PCtoMAC1 said:
Has anyone tried leaving background refresh on AND not using the reduce motion feature? If yes, are you still seeing great battery life?
Click to expand...
I've always used the S2 Watch the way it's supposed to be used since getting it late September. That means Background Refresh on, no Reduce Motion, using it for directions, weather, workouts and whatever else whenever I need. You're just not getting what you want to get out of the watch otherwise.

I have about 10 different watch faces set up, though the ones I alternate between most are Mickey Mouse, Activity Analog, Activity Digital and that digital one with a large area for a complication in the middle.

I used to need to charge every morning because it'd be about 30-40% the next morning. After 3.1 it can easily handle two days. The longest I've test it was 49 hours with 18% battery left before I charged it because I wasn't sure it'd last a third day. But I think it probably could've gotten another 6 to 10 hours.

I don't know what Apple did, but the battery improvement is real and nothing short of incredible. I just hope it stays this way with future watchOS updates.
 
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thadoggfather said:
Seems a few people are reporting great battery on first gen with 3.1 as well,

can any other first gen people chime in? How much better is it than 3.0?

Cautious with updates, but this appears to be a good one- FINALLY! jeez apple
Click to expand...

A lot better. Under OS 2, 15 typical hours of use, I'd have 20% remaining. OS 3.0: 10-15%. OS 3.1: 40+% (right now, I'm at 14 hours and 47%). Lots of notifications, map usage, etc...

Series 0 (I.e., first gen, 42mm SS)
 
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bob24 said:
Now you're talking! This sounds like a huge improvement.

I assume this is with fairly light usage though?
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's been light usage. Got four days of light usage.

I'm going back to nightly recharges with my iPhone, but it's good to know how long we can push the watches now! Could easily go two days with heavier use.
 
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