Is my 3gs battery ok?

120_Minutes

got my voda 3gs on launch day and its had about 2 full charges with a bit of topping up since then. i was aware that the battery might not be the best comapared to other phones so i did a bit of reading last night on conserving battery power.

so, taking off charge last night (100%) with location services on, 3g on and brightness at auto, it was at about 83% at 2am when i decided to turn location services off, 3g off, bluetooth off, and brightness at auto. i forgot to turn wifi off, but doesnt this go off anyway when the phone sleeps? when i woke this morning it was at 70%. switched on bluetooth for a 10 min car journey then off again, and just took a quick call now and the battery is at 64%

i understand it may take a few full charges for the battery to reach full strength but does this sound normal to you? i've not switched location services or 3g back on since 2am.

Gryzor

doesn't sound that unusual for an iphone to me....it'll depend on your installed apps and the way they are configured. Like, do you use Push email, thats meant to be a battery killer. 3G also sucks the life out of the battery in no time...have you many other apps that are checking for updates etc

couple of things i do is put the phone in airplance mode at night, no gsm or data activity. I'd turn it off, only i use it as my alarm clock...

Manually turn the brightness down, i've mine at about 10%, and I rarely have to turn it up..

i also use a car charger, but if your commute is only 10 minutes, it mightned be all that much use to you...

120_Minutes

I've configured all my apps to not push anything, and i dont use push email. i check everything manually. in fairness today is the first day i've turned off 3g since i got it, so i'll see how i get on with that.

Leiva

Dont laugh...

My battery seemed to be draining quicker than usual , when i checked my stop watch and timer it was running in the background , not alot of people know that this feature runs in the background , even on a vanilla phone.
Check it

I only ever have wifi on full time and bluetooth when needed .

120_Minutes

not laughing, but the stopwatch hasnt been touched! after a 5 min call an hour or so ago, i'm at 53%!


*edit* just to add that i work beside a voda mast so the phone doesnt have to work too hard to get a good signal.

SK1979

To be honest OP, that sounds a little bit worrying. I am in a pretty similar position to you, I got a vodafone I-Phone on thursday, since then charged it every day, but I've definitely been using it pretty much all day. I charged it last night and unplugged the charge around 12:00 (Phone was fullly charged), it sat there connected to Wifi constantly and various other push notifications etc during the night, then this morning after 2 alarms had woken me it was still at 96%. As others have mentioned, we dont know what apps you have installed but I have quite a few installed myself and some have push enabled.

The battery aint great but I wouldn't expect to be seeing it drain as quickly as yours appears to be? :mad:

deep1

120_Minutes wrote: »

not laughing, but the stopwatch hasnt been touched! after a 5 min call an hour or so ago, i'm at 53%!


*edit* just to add that i work beside a voda mast so the phone doesnt have to work too hard to get a good signal.

My Usage status since this morning, hope give you some idea.


Since this morning, 1 hr of music, 50 mins of call, 40-50 min of browsing including mail, 20 mins of games, rest just texting checking miss call etc.

Usage = 3hrs 13 min
Stand By= 8hrs 20 mins

Battery 48% left

No 3g, Bluetooth, GPS.
Had wi-fi for about 20 mins then switched off.

120_Minutes

I called apple and explained the situation. they agree that its unusual, but i offered to keep the phone for a few more days and see if the battery improves after a few more charges, if not they'll replace it. (they even offered to replace it now)

dave oc

Well just so you can compare, heres how my iphone's set up:

Wifi ON
3G ON
Location Services ON
Push Gmail through Mail ON
Brightness 50% Auto-brightness OFF
Bluetooth OFF

These are my settings (i dont change them apart from bluetooth when in the car) and I rarely run out of battery. I charge every night and text alot, use data and wifi (data at odd times during the day and wifi at home), and listen to music in/out of college, push emails recieved constantly throughout the day.

120_Minutes

Dave6195 wrote: »

I charge every night

thats the thing, do you have to? or just do it out of habit. i'll only charge if i have to, and its looking like i'll have to do it again tonight, with minimum use and all extra stuff switched off.

*edit* 36% with another 5 minutes call and a small bit of browsing/email (over gprs)

dave oc

I charge it every night because the battery will usually be 30% or less so it wouldnt last another full day.

120_Minutes

One thing I forgot to mention, I'm using a cygnett case with it and I notice the phone can get warm, even on standby. Could this be adding to it?

Fully charged again last night, airplane mode overnight, no bluetooth this morning, small bit if 3g browsing switching off 3g when finished and I'm at 77%. I don't think that's right?


*edit* just noticed that under usage/time since last charge that the usage and standby times are identical....so i called apple again and they recommend a software restore before going any further......what gives? i aint been using the phone for 8 hours straight!

Khannie

120_Minutes wrote: »

it was at about 83% at 2am when i decided to turn location services off, 3g off, bluetooth off, and brightness at auto. i forgot to turn wifi off, but doesnt this go off anyway when the phone sleeps? when i woke this morning it was at 70%.

Something horribly wrong there. At most I've only ever lost 1% overnight when in airplane mode.

120_Minutes

Khannie wrote: »

Something horribly wrong there. At most I've only ever lost 1% overnight when in airplane mode.

i think i have it sussed. i googled the fact that my usage and standby times were identical, and in some cases a power off cycle fixes it. it seems to have slowed up the drain, and the times are now different. we'll see what develops...

Khannie

Interested to hear if that sorted it for you?

120_Minutes

it seems to have, left it charging overnight on airplane mode, small bit of wifi browsing this morning and i'm at 96% the drain has deffo slowed up. i'll post back tonight with a figure, today could be the first day the battery lasts more than 24 hours!

Kashkai

I've got a 3G model and I use it as my alarm, ipod, internet browser, location/gps service, email, games, text and of course phone and it gets a hell of a lot of usage each day (4 - 5 hours in total per day) but I find it only needs to be charged every 3 days. Perhaps the 3GS is a lot more power hungry but your phone shouldn't be draining that fast.

120_Minutes

I'm pretty sure the problem is fixed, using the phone yesterday and my battery was at 60% by bedtime, with pretty much no drain overnight.

whew!