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User profile for user: ANGIOMAN
ANGIOMAN Author
User level: Level 1
60 points

Weak signal, battery drain, running hot....

Very disappointed with this phone. I have owned the 2G since launch day, 3G since launch weekend, and we now have 5 iphones in the house.

Not happy with the 3GS, after one day of use. Two major issues:

*Signal Strength* - dropping calls like crazy, finding new dead zones in my area, never experienced with the other iphones. This includes most places in my house. Wife has 3G, and sitting in coffee shop side by side, she shows 3 bars of 3G, while mine fluctuates from no bars, 2 bars Edge, 2 bars 3G, back to no bars.

*Battery drain* - 1 hour 0 min usage (2 hours standby) - 79%, then drops to 71% with 1 hour 11 mins.
just checking emails!

This is a much more rapid drain then the 1 year old 3G. Wasn't this 3GS supposed to have a battery battery life?

I know most replies will say - take it back to Apple store, but if this is a common experience I may go back to the 3G. Video isn't worth this price.

angioman

MB PRO 2.4, PB G4, Ibook, IMAC G5, G5 QUAD CORE (NOT INTEL), Mac OS X (10.5), GEFORCE 7800GT

Posted on Jun 20, 2009 8:52 AM

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32 replies
User profile for user: cbaker3333
cbaker3333
User level: Level 1
0 points

Jun 20, 2009 1:00 PM in response to derekjeterkid2

Same battery problem here- battery drains so fast. I went from the 1st iPhone to the 3G S and have already had to charge it and it's 3:00 and I only have 1/2 battery life.

Not sure if i should return it- all the articles said it was supposed to improve battery life from the 3G- since I didn't have the 3G I don't know what is improved- unless the 3G had a 30 min battery life...
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User profile for user: AntonioMX5
AntonioMX5
User level: Level 1
5 points

Jun 21, 2009 3:52 AM in response to ANGIOMAN

+"Signal Strength - dropping calls like crazy, finding new dead zones in my area...mine fluctuates from no bars, 2 bars Edge, 2 bars 3G, back to no bars."+

Perfect description of how our 2 3G S's are performing at home. We even tried sitting them on a desk and not touching them (to account for reception angles or hands shielding the radio and what not) and the signal keeps varying all by itself, as if the cell tower is moving or rotating.

The "No Service" message is getting OLD - my brother has a 3G and didn't have these problems when he showed us his phone - I HOPE it's AT&T's network being overloaded but it's 3:51 am here so doubt if that's it 😟
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User profile for user: wtfbert
wtfbert
User level: Level 1
0 points

Jun 22, 2009 7:48 AM in response to ANGIOMAN

Mine seems to run pretty warm. My biggest gripe is definitely battery life. Although my signal strength is pretty good, my phone is always dead after 4-5 hours.

I did notice though that while my 3g would show say, 3 hours of use 9 hours standby. My 3g s will show 4hours 51mins of use 5hours 11 minutes of standby. I've turned of 3g, push, location services and it hasn't helped much at all. I uninstalled all my apps and it seemed to improve a little. anyone have any ideas?
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User profile for user: jabecker
jabecker
User level: Level 1
140 points

Jun 22, 2009 8:59 AM in response to ANGIOMAN

Mine 3G S ran warm at first, but now it's OK. I drained the battery all the way and then recharged and since then the battery life has been much better. Right now it shows 1h 12m usage and 13h 58m standby and the battery meter is at 81%. That's way better than I was getting with my 3G.

Do you have BT enabled? That's what drains my phone faster than anything else.

Also, if the 3G signal is weak it seems to want to hold on to the signal beyond all reason before dropping to Edge, and it will sometimes run hot and drain the battery then.
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User profile for user: Todd Goldstein
Todd Goldstein
User level: Level 1
9 points

Jun 22, 2009 9:07 AM in response to ANGIOMAN

Just wanted to add on to this topic. I am definitely experiencing issues with the iPhone running warm and quick battery life lost. The phone seems to warm up almost immediately if I am doing anything that pulls data over the network. It doesn't get burning hot, but very noticeably warm. I have not tried to have a long call on it.

I haven't looked too closely at the signal fluctuation. I do know the signal at my house is not great, but I'm still experiencing the issue at work where the signal is quite good.

I am running bluetooth, but I have turned off wi-fi and push e-mail.
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User profile for user: Nubs
Nubs
User level: Level 1
0 points

Jun 22, 2009 9:34 AM in response to ANGIOMAN

Compelled to respond ... Not running hot at all but the 3Gs battery life is absolutely abysmal. If running battery dead and recharging to full increases battery life then mine should be spectacular as I have recharged 2-3 times a day since Friday. Hopefully a software update will be quickly forthcoming....I am getting less than 3 hours of iPod and less than 2 hours Internet. Push has been turned off since Sat to try to increase battery- brightness is minimal - that these changes have helped I can't detect. Several restores have likewise not helped. Aaack! Otherwise the phone is terrific and speed is REMARKABLE compared to my original iPhone. Any advice??
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User profile for user: jmillerpb
jmillerpb
User level: Level 1
0 points

Jun 22, 2009 11:26 AM in response to ANGIOMAN

Regarding the battery life and heat issue. I had the same problem and it seemed related to my email / exchange account for work. I first turned off that account and confirmed that my battery life returned to normal—it did. I then deleted that email account and set it up again, which cured the battery drain and heat issue.

I do however have lots of problems with signal strength and call drops and would like to find that cure.
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User profile for user: applenascent
applenascent
User level: Level 1
7 points

Jun 22, 2009 11:47 AM in response to derekjeterkid2

Ditto (in case anyone is keeping count). In general, I have nothing turned on by default. I'm just running Edge -- no Bluetooth, no 3G, no WIFI. If, however, I turn on 3G -- and ONLY 3G -- I notice the 3GS phone warms up quite quickly and remains warm awhile. I can feel it easily through my RebelCapsule case, something I was never aware of with my 3G phone. I'll also echo that battery life on my new 3GS appears to be lower than my 3G -- both of which are 16GB models. I'll be keeping an eye on this for sure. If there's no improvement by way of software, I may return my 3GS. Good thing I've held onto my 3G phone.
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Weak signal, battery drain, running hot....

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