Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Which? Magazine Claims iPhone 7 Has 'Poor Battery Life' Compared to Rival Smartphones

the8thark said:
iPhone-7-charts.017-980x720.png


iPhone-7-charts.018-980x720.png


http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/0...at-annual-upgrades-with-one-major-catch/5/#h6

So who do we believe?
The respected Arstechnica who know how to test things properly
or
U.K. Consumers' Association magazine Which?

I think the answer is obvious.
Click to expand...

Why is arstechnica considered respected? Any evidence Which is not?

Also the UK magazine tested UK inventory units, using 3G, you can't compare the graph you posted to the UK results as they are testing different things. (3G)Neither is right or wrong.

And to jump ahead, 3G is a very valid test, much of UK is dependent on 3G coverage on a daily basis, it's a much more valid test than wifi. Also be it 3G or 4G same result, the iPhone 7 has the same usage on 3G/4G. Once I leave home in the morning, I'm on 3G/4G until I get home in the evening.

If you own an iPod touch, the wifi battery test is appropriate , for a phone, cellular is appropriate.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Telos101, Soni Sanjay and JackANSI
I'm on my iPhone 7 Plus all day. Take it off my charger at about 7am. Drive to work listening to Spotify streaming over LTE. Probably 100 emails and texts a day. A couple hours, at least, of internet browsing and Facebook. Come home around 5pm, make a 20 minute phone call on my way.

Watch an hour of Hulu over wifi at the Y.

Browse for another 45-60m over wifi at home throughout the night. The off phone call or text or timer or music.


Location services enabled, 50% brightness all day.

Go to bed about 11pm with at least ~25% battery each night.
 
Oh well. The local dealer went on and on about the amazing battery life of 7+ so I told him to give one for a test drive. He did so. After 4 days I took it back. My 6+ barely survives the day if I don't use it too much and remember to plug it in at least at some point. 7+ didn't do any better so why bother paying >1ke for something that doesn't even have a headphone jack?

I use my phone for making calls, emailing/IM pretty constantly, listening to Spotify whenever I'm not watching Netflix on it, some light gaming and Moves etc are running on the background because I need them. For those who whine about not using the apps that use battery - who's in charge? You or the phone?

Still waiting for an iPhone that would actually make it through the normal work day. 7+ wasn't it. I very much doubt 8 is any better. It's probably even thinner with even crappier battery life. Ooh but it's shiny and has new colors!
 
SSD-GUY said:
Apple feeling the pain of dat quad core processor and added RAM.
Click to expand...

No. Both tests involve invoking the radios which are the biggest users of power on a mobile device and they're using 3G which implies UMTS which is a power hog. I would like to see the test run on 4G LTE and voice on VoLTE.
 
I love my iPhone 7, but there are too many compromises. I'm alright with losing the headphone jack, but considering I have to switch all the privacy features off and basically turn everything I like to use off just to get almost a day battery life is terrible. What's the point of having GPS if I have to turn it off all the time. I get light usage from 6am to about 1pm then it needs a charge.
 
Just here to chime in: I downsized from the 6S Plus to an iPhone 7, due to some weight loss/smaller pockets. My #1 fear in doing so was that battery life going from 6S Plus to an iPhone 7 would be drastically worse and that I'd be returning/trading in the 7 for a 7 Plus after the 14-day return window was up.

Happy to say that as a user of both the 6 Plus and the 6S Plus, for me--in how I use the iPhone--battery life is fine with the 7. Some here end the day with ~25% or so, and I can end the day with anywhere from ~40%-55%. I do sit at a computer all day for work, so I have no need for Push, a bright screen, or Background App Refresh so I turn all that off since my Mac is right in front of me. Screen at about 40% brightness. I use the Mac for most audio listening now too, which helps save battery.

Test results are what they are; for "real world" use though, my mantra's always been that as long as my phone can last an entire day without the need to plug in, I'm good. With a Plus/S Plus, I could go literally 2 full work days sometimes without the need to plug in. That's not the case with the 7 now, but one full day with no need to charge until bedtime with the 7 is a win for me.
 
I also have a battery case here which I ordered, but it doubles the weight of the phone and is made of what feels like teflon!
 
Us Verizon users don't need battery life anyway -- what good does the battery do if we can't get a signal.
 
Stella said:
Fido is a bit better -
https://www.fido.ca/consumer/tablets.page

$25 for 3GB data only plan.

Bell are just plain crap.. I avoid them like the plague, for everything :)
Click to expand...

only reason I have stuck with Hell is because I caught them outright lying on a phone call to us when we renegotiated. They told us 4 of our devices would be part of some promotion, and get 6gb of data each. then they cut 2 of the phones completely off all service and said "they didn't qualify and your old contract isn't offered anymore".

called them on their B.S. and told them they better pull the audio recording to back their claims, which they refused to do. Eventually they relented and gave me 50% off all phone bills. so as long as they still honour it, I'll keep there. but it's by no means because they're "good" company. Bell is probably the biggest, scummiest company in Canada.
 
Coming from an iPhone 6+ to an iPhone 7+, I cannot complain about the battery.

With my iPhone 6+, I'm charging it midday at 10am/11am when it's at ~35% and now come 6pm and I'm at home my iPhone 7+ is at 50%. No change in usage from devices.

This works for me and I cannot complain. The battery degradation in my iPhone 6+ is the culprit I'm sure and not the expanded battery in the iPhone 7+, but regardless; I'm happy with the battery.
 
bbeagle said:
Who makes phone calls any more? The iPhone 7 only loses badly on battery life while making phone calls. Using Wifi for internet use, it's neck and neck, and something people wouldn't notice.

It's an article with a misleading headline to get the anti-Apple people riled up and feeling superior. It means nothing in real life.
Click to expand...

...you're asking who uses a phone to make phone calls?

I would imagine most people do.
 
Macwatcher123 said:
It's a test of 5-inch plus size phones against a smaller phone. The iPhone Plus is a compatible size -- wiht compatible battery life, This test is flawed!!
Click to expand...


158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3 mm iPhone 7 plus
138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm iPhone 7
145.9 x 71.9 x 9.0 mm HTC 10
149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7 mm LG 5
142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm S7

Want to try another excuse? The phones tested are about same size as iPhone 7. The 7 plus is a phablet.
 
bbeagle said:
Who makes phone calls any more? The iPhone 7 only loses badly on battery life while making phone calls. Using Wifi for internet use, it's neck and neck, and something people wouldn't notice.

It's an article with a misleading headline to get the anti-Apple people riled up and feeling superior. It means nothing in real life.
Click to expand...

Are you serious? Stop being an apologist.
 
I love how the apologists are upset. This comment section is the epitome of involuntary comedy, that being said, I hope Apple does a great job with the iPhone 8, it seems this one is a dud.
 
smacrumon said:
It's not an opinion. It's fact. So much controversy with this year's iPhone device. I wouldn't touch it.

Apple has churned through billions in R&D, what did it get for it? Hissing iPhones. Antenna lines. Protruding cameras. Poor battery life. And so on.

iPhone 7 (aka iPhone 6 Series 3) is rubbish. I'm over it. Bring me 2017. The next all new iPhone in 2017 is where it's at.
Click to expand...
That's fine, and obviously your call......nobody's trying to persuade you to buy.

However, your post below was full of opinions...not facts.

smacrumon said:
iPhone 7, a total compromise in every way. Hissing, poor battery, scratchable (on select models). Dud device +.

Get this year over with and bring on 2017 and an all new ceramic glass iPhone!
Click to expand...
I have a 7 plus and guess what:

Hissing - Nope!
Poor battery - Nope!
Dud device - Nope!

Not saying others aren't having problems, but you can't generalise and say the 7 is a dud device just because some people are.

All IMHO of course!
 
  • Like
Reactions: cwwilson, Flow39 and smacrumon
bbeagle said:
Who makes phone calls any more? The iPhone 7 only loses badly on battery life while making phone calls. Using Wifi for internet use, it's neck and neck, and something people wouldn't notice.
Click to expand...
Yep, the iPhone 7 can only make 11-1/2 hours of phone calls in a 24 hour day, while their competitor can make nearly 31 hours of phone calls in a 24 hour day. Tell me, everyone, how many hours do you spend talking on your cellphone in each 24 hour day. Once the Android phones spin up their less efficient processors to do something beyond running the phone app, we find out that their massive batteries are necessary in order to get similar results to the iPhone.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see iPhones be a millimeter or two thicker and get slightly longer battery life, but this test is silly, and is sensationalizing results that were fairly easy to predict, as if they are something shocking, in order to get more clicks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kdarling
bbeagle said:
Who makes phone calls any more? The iPhone 7 only loses badly on battery life while making phone calls. Using Wifi for internet use, it's neck and neck, and something people wouldn't notice.

It's an article with a misleading headline to get the anti-Apple people riled up and feeling superior. It means nothing in real life.
Click to expand...

The ones that don't need celluar might as well purchase an iPod touch, or an iPad mini.
 
  • Like
Reactions: macfacts
Chiming in to essentially say what has been said over and over. iPhone 7 battery isn't worse than previous iPhones but it isn't an improvement. It isn't even an improvement, in my experience, over the iPhone 6, 2 years later. And it is, apparently, a competitive weakness. As a user, battery life matters. It matters big-time. I am not going to buy Apple's hideous battery case, and I can't be tied to outlets or fiddle-necessary external battery chargers. We are 10 years into the smartphone revolution, and competitors have moved forward with more positive battery impact for users. Your turn Apple. iPhone 7 isn't the winner here. I still like my iPhone 7, just not for battery life.
 
smacrumon said:
iPhone 7, a total compromise in every way. Hissing, poor battery, scratchable (on select models). Dud device +.

Get this year over with and bring on 2017 and an all new ceramic glass iPhone!
Click to expand...

Exactly. Now that the placeholder 7 has arrived with all of the fanfare that a second "tock" or 3rd member of the iPhone 6 family deserves, it's time to begin to salivate over how good next year's redesigned iPhone 8 possibly could be. Maybe we won't have to wait a full year?
 
  • Like
Reactions: smacrumon
CarlJ said:
Yep, the iPhone 7 can only make 11-1/2 hours of phone calls in a 24 hour day, while their competitor can make nearly 31 hours of phone calls in a 24 hour day. Tell me, everyone, how many hours do you spend talking on your cellphone in each 24 hour day. Once the Android phones spin up their less efficient processors to do something beyond running the phone app, we find out that their massive batteries are necessary in order to get similar results to the iPhone.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see iPhones be a millimeter or two thicker and get slightly longer battery life, but this test is silly, and is sensationalizing results that were fairly easy to predict, as if they are something shocking, in order to get more clicks.
Click to expand...

People are getting fixeded on the numbers, don't think of it as a realistic use case that any user would ever use, think of it as a performance/torture test.

I for one spent very little time talking, but spend lots of time on 3G will communing, about 4 hours a day and it's a massive hit on the battery. My 6S plus lasts 5 hours usage on 3G. Not suprised by these results at all.

All these tests prove is that the iPhone has the smallest battery.....and that's a fact.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back