everyones experience with battery life?

thatmtnman · 05-27-2008, 10:47 AM

Hi Everyone,

I got my Iphone 2 months ago (April 08)and the battery life is horrible. I get no more than 5 hours and 35 minutes, tops before it turns itself off.

I use edge for browsing as I don't have wifi at home and most networks are secure these days. Generally speaking I use under 200 minutes of talk time a week, play music not more than an hour a day, but do use the browser constantly. I manually get my mail, and I do use sms for maybe 20 messages a day.

Can I ask the forums experiance with battery life, and if my results are normal? Would the use of edge versus wifi have any effect on this?

Many thanks everyone!

Eragon · 05-27-2008, 10:57 AM

If my iPhone sits like a brick (unused), I can get much more than 6 hours.

Listening to music (audiobooks), I can get more than 6 hours, especially if I leave the device in airplane mode, and turn off the screen after it starts playing.

Active surfing the internet, sending photos via email, checking email in general, are all battery draining activities. If I check my iPhone 2x hour while checking my Travian.com account, I can be sure my battery will be gone in about 4 hours.

Watching a 2 hour video with default brightness settings will also consume my battery.

Bottom line, if you are going to use your iPhone for intensive applications or uses, get a portable battery (e.g., JBox or Juice).

chazm · 05-27-2008, 11:49 AM

This is all normal for a phone with a big screen and like you said, constant use of the browser....<-----this is the main reason.

Ive owned the blackberry pearl, dash and Shadow (all PDA style phones) and all had low battery life for me because I am a heavy internet user. I think the iPhone isn't as bad though becuase of the larger screen and its brighter, yet still get about the same as my other phones.

thatmtnman · 05-27-2008, 01:06 PM

Thanks Larry...I had no idea the browser would take so much juice...I think Apple is quoting a lot of hours?

Do you think using edge versus wi fi has any effect?

Cheers!!!

Originally Posted by Eragon

If my iPhone sits like a brick (unused), I can get much more than 6 hours.

Listening to music (audiobooks), I can get more than 6 hours, especially if I leave the device in airplane mode, and turn off the screen after it starts playing.

Active surfing the internet, sending photos via email, checking email in general, are all battery draining activities. If I check my iPhone 2x hour while checking my Travian.com account, I can be sure my battery will be gone in about 4 hours.

Watching a 2 hour video with default brightness settings will also consume my battery.

Bottom line, if you are going to use your iPhone for intensive applications or uses, get a portable battery (e.g., JBox or Juice).

thatmtnman · 05-27-2008, 01:09 PM

Of all of the phones you used, which gives the longest life if you browse? I have often thought of a Blackberry of some type...does it get much better life? Does it have the kind of really good web browser experience or is it more primitive?

Cheers!!

Originally Posted by chazm

This is all normal for a phone with a big screen and like you said, constant use of the browser....<-----this is the main reason.

Ive owned the blackberry pearl, dash and Shadow (all PDA style phones) and all had low battery life for me because I am a heavy internet user. I think the iPhone isn't as bad though becuase of the larger screen and its brighter, yet still get about the same as my other phones.

ravman · 05-27-2008, 01:09 PM

I get about 2 days usage before I need to recharge.

Originally Posted by thatmtnman

Hi Everyone,

I got my Iphone 2 months ago (April 08)and the battery life is horrible. I get no more than 5 hours and 35 minutes, tops before it turns itself off.

I use edge for browsing as I don't have wifi at home and most networks are secure these days. Generally speaking I use under 200 minutes of talk time a week, play music not more than an hour a day, but do use the browser constantly. I manually get my mail, and I do use sms for maybe 20 messages a day.

Can I ask the forums experiance with battery life, and if my results are normal? Would the use of edge versus wifi have any effect on this?

Many thanks everyone!

Eragon · 05-27-2008, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by thatmtnman

Thanks Larry...I had no idea the browser would take so much juice...I think Apple is quoting a lot of hours?

Do you think using edge versus wi fi has any effect?

Cheers!!!

I would think that EDGE would tend to consume more power given the longer download times. Some websites load slowly even with WiFi. Thus, the conclusions are mixed. A simple test you can do is to observe the amount of time the spinning wheel turns when you are actively using the radio (WiFi or EDGE). In general, long spinning times mean the radio is blazing with little or no result. If that happens, kill the application by stopping the web page load, or hold the Home button until the app closes.

gotpancakes · 05-27-2008, 02:08 PM

turn the brightness down to pretty much zero... ull get used to it and it gives at least 2-3 extra hours with high browsing etc. also when not in wifi..turn it off.

chazm · 05-27-2008, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by thatmtnman

Of all of the phones you used, which gives the longest life if you browse? I have often thought of a Blackberry of some type...does it get much better life? Does it have the kind of really good web browser experience or is it more primitive?

Cheers!!

Its hard to say, I would definitely say my dash was the least conservative. I'd really have to say the Pearl gives the best battery consumption I guess, but probably very close to the iPHone and given the iPhone has a bigger brighter screen, I would give the nod to the iPhone.

Also, do what gotpancakes said. Turn down the brightness, I did that and it helpls

adseguy · 05-27-2008, 05:11 PM

WiFi consumes much less power then EDGE does, not because WiFi is faster, but because the signal strength is much much much less. Look it up if need be.

Biggest battery hog is the screen. If you can get that to as low as you can be comfortable with, this will help you a lot. Browsing is one of the biggest, if not the biggest application hog (besides 3rd party apps) so not much you can do their.

5 and half hours seems about right for usage time. If you mean 5 and a half total hours including standby then, yes, you have a problem. I can't believe that you have five and a half hours a day to play on your phone.....you need something to do :P