Level 1

0 points

3GS - incredibly poor battery life

I've had each generation of iPhone since they were launched in 2007, and upgraded from my 3G to the new 3GS a week ago on the day of its release. My experience with the battery life has been really, really poor. So bad that I sought out this forum yesterday and decided to run the battery down to zero just to see how poor its life was.

Here's what happened:

Yesterday I kept it plugged in and charged at 100% until 6 PM. I used it for ~2 hours of reading using the Kindle app and quick view of 1-2 web pages. This morning I woke up and read the news using a news reader app for ~1 hour before it turned itself off when it reached 1%.

Stats were 3 HOURS and 7 MINUTES of usage to drain the battery to ZERO. That was without calls, without video, without iPod use.

When I'm using it I can literally watch the power meter (which I've turned on the numeric percentage readout for) drain about 1% when I actually take any action on the device. I feel offended and mislead by Apple because the 3GS was supposed to have improved battery life. My netbook has better battery life (6 hours with extended battery while running its built in 3g mobile broadband service the whole time), and that's a full computer.

If you've had similar issues I'd like to hear about them and would certainly welcome any solutions that don't involve tweaking so many settings that the device doesn't work in it's default mode.

I'm recharging from the zero mark now. If the same cycle happens after another charge I feel like I'll have to return it to Apple after wasting a lot of time and simply move back to my 3G.

Given the amount of traffic on the forums about this issue, I think Apple had better speak up or they are going to experience a lot of damage to their brand.

iPhone 3GS, iPhone OS 3.0

Posted on Jun 27, 2009 6:49 AM

380 replies

Cubus25

Level 1

29 points

Jul 28, 2009 3:28 PM in response to Felix Leiter

I charge mine everyday. I have about 50 % battery life at the end of the day. wi-fi and 3G is off. I have about 2 hours of usage. Mostly email checking facebook & loopt.

I thought it had better battery life.

noney82

Level 1

0 points

Jul 29, 2009 3:59 PM in response to Felix Leiter

im just back for apple store. went over a few issues, he tested my battery and said it was fine even tho i get 19 hours standby and apple claim you get upto 300hours so im only 281 hours off there claim 😟. i only went because my 3g stopped working he told me its a problem with o2 and sent me to the o2 shop. an hour later im back at apple as o2 proved to me that its the phone and not the network. guess what no one was free to see me till monday, *** so im left with a phone to ring and text off as i cant get on the net now great. good to see there is some who arnt having battery issues

Jul 29, 2009 5:45 PM in response to noney82

your phone was like mine. and I was told at the genius bar it was fine. I persisted, got a replacement which is 3 times that battery, sorry to say it was refurbished. DEAL WITH THE PHONE SUPPORT NOT THE STORE!!! they are sending me a brand new phone and will work with me if this one isn.t right. but even the refurb I have is so much better! YES YOU HAVE A PHONE WITH A CRAPPY BATTERY!!!
first phone
12 hours stand by
second phone
12 hours use, 50 plus hours stand by at 40% left. '
DON�T LET THEM WALK ALL OVER YOU DEMAND A NEW PHONE! why should your 200 bucks by a crappy one that just isnt fair at all.

Jul 29, 2009 5:50 PM in response to glassrabbit

Hey Rabbit, give the test another go, I'd be interested in seeing at least an hour brightness. I think some of us are getting mediocre life and may be tempted to settle for it, but if your usage is right then I think we're still getting shafted.

It's great that you've got a good phone! We should all be so lucky, but then why should luck have anything to do with it?

allen099

Level 1

30 points

Jul 29, 2009 6:17 PM in response to glassrabbit

glassrabbit wrote:
second phone
12 hours use, 50 plus hours stand by at 40% left.

You're getting TWELVE hours of USE? TWELVE??? Ok, now that's a battery that is actually greater than 3G. Wow. I think I mentally just fell off the chair.

Emerick

Level 1

0 points

Jul 30, 2009 2:30 AM in response to ahawkinson

Hello everyone,

I've noticed something interessing this morning.
Yesterday I've rebooted my iPhone, it's been a while since the last reboot, I'll say almost 3 weeks, and now I looked at the usage stats and the number I see seems quite better.

Someones pinned out that apps could not be killed when returning to Sprinboard and I think that's the case (for me).

Let me explain, I have 3G and BT off but localization and wifi on, and also Push enabled for MobileMe mail account. Here are my stats.
I unplugged my iPhone this morning at 7:20AM and now it's 11:27AM :
Usage: 48 minutes
Standby: 4 hours 20 minutes.
Battery left: 95%

Yesterday at this time I had 73% as I remember.

I can see that the "Usage" is less than the other days, and I don't use my phone on the morning like the other days.

Hope the battery draining is gone.

Jul 30, 2009 5:29 AM in response to allen099

I am sorry to report one major detail that dinged in my head. I apologize for this, my life is nuts. I got twelve because I had it in my car for a bit on the belkin handsfree which of course was charging it. DUH. I will test ASAP.. I have a lot going on in my crazy world. The golden battery however is WAY better than the other, I have only tried the belkin out on that last ride.
it too is on the maybe list. lots of static there. again my apologies for that stupid mistake.

javaTN

Level 1

0 points

Jul 30, 2009 6:38 AM in response to ahawkinson

So here is my updated story, which is relatively good!

After recently formatting my iPhone (prior to performing my detailed brightness test)... I have fully drained and recharged my iPhone roughly 3 times. It has now been two days since I last unplugged my iPhone, and I am getting FAR BETTER results with my battery.

Here is a little detail:
I am only using Edge and Wifi (both enabled)... 3G disabled (only when I NEED it).
Location services, etc are on. I also use SBSettings to kill all processes after using them.

IE. I run Safari... then kill it when I am done. (Because it seems to continue to run for whatever reason!)

Currently my battery is at 48%... with:
Usage: 3 hours 36 minutes
Standby: 1 day, 15 hours

Ask me any questions you may have, hopefully I can help out!

I am now much satisfied with my battery performing this way!

Jul 30, 2009 2:18 PM in response to Graphics Bong

I did the brightness test ( airplane mode, 100% brightness everything off)
on the loaner phone, and funny thing, I got 1 HR 90% and the second was 76%. much the same as my last phone. BUT THIS PHONE LASTS A HECK OF A LOT LONGER WITH USAGE. about 3 times what the other one was. I will do the Ipod test tomorrow with the lecture. I don't want to charge it up from 76%.
My point is, I don't think that had anything to do with the way the battery drained,on my other one. I HAD to charge that one every day. THIS ONE I charge every 3 days.

Jul 30, 2009 2:31 PM in response to glassrabbit

I suspected that would be the case, rabbit. Let us know when you've used it normally without intermediate charge. Still, much better than your other phone!

Tekksas

Level 1

8 points

Jul 30, 2009 4:00 PM in response to Graphics Bong

I'm not 100% sure that the brightness test really gives us 100% compareable results.
So I figured out a new test.
Music videos are repeatable, so I spent 1 buck for a vid (it is not the same vid as in the link below).

I'm going to run this test:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/07/iphone3gs-battery-test/

Test settings:

* Auto brightness off, brightness @50% on default.
* Volume @50%
* 3G on ( be sure to have full signal )
* WIFI off
* location on ( be sure to lay your phone near a window to prevent battery drainage)
* push off
* loop a music vid for 8 hours

My settings are similar to Apples video test, I should get near 9 hours or more.
Feel free to join the test. 😉

lilcurt

Level 1

0 points

Jul 30, 2009 5:23 PM in response to ahawkinson

Hey guys, first post on the apple forum. Just wanted to quickly ask if my battery life is "acceptable" for the new 3GS's as i no with the current OS battery life will not be so good.

Currently I am waiting for my battery to drain an am on 7%

My usage is 6 hours, 2 mins
My standby 12, 55 mins

This has been spend playing games, texting ALOT and using wifi.
I have had the brightness set to around 25 percent an push turned off with fetch set to 15 mins.
Bluetooth is also off.

So what do you guys think?

regards

javaTN

Level 1

0 points

Jul 30, 2009 7:34 PM in response to lilcurt

lilcurt,

6 hours of usage is fantastic! i am getting close to that and must admit, it is on the better side of battery life.

currently I am actually at:

4 hours and 48 minutes of usage
with 2 days and 4 hours of standby!
battery currently at 25%.

do you have 3G enabled 24/7 of the time?

Jul 30, 2009 8:50 PM in response to javaTN

Mine's getting better too. 5hrs 6min usage, 2days 8hrs standby, 11min left. Pretty average use, 3g, WiFi, Location all on all the time. Push for Mobile Me calendars/contacts. Brightness @ 45%, Auto Lock 1min. I used the iPod a lot the other day and got over 7hrs usage with other normal use.

Sounds like we're in the ballpark.

javaTN

Level 1

0 points

Jul 30, 2009 10:10 PM in response to Graphics Bong

It sure does feel good to be in the ball park! The smell of hot dogs, pizza, and beer.

By the end of tonight... wow its 1 AM EST. Here are my stats with ~1% left on the battery:

5 hours and 33 minutes usage
2 days 10 hours of standby

I think its time to call it a day... and a very successful almost 3 days of iPhone battery usage!

Its likely I could milk it for more time on the clock, however once the battery is drained... then I have no way to check the usage and standby (as it is reset once plugged back into computer for charge!)

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3GS - incredibly poor battery life