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Battery Drain - iPhone 3G S

In reading reviews and a wide variety of comments following release of the iPhone 3GS, one recurrent theme is the issue of battery drain. Apple claims the iPhone 3GS has longer battery life. In addition, a SFGate review states the “… battery life has also been improved on the 3G S. Apple says you can get nine hours of Internet use with Wi-Fi, 10 hours of video playback and 30 hours of audio playback, all of which are improvements of at least three hours or more over the 3G. Talk time, however, remains the same at five hours on the 3G network”.

A review at Make My Logic, posts the following table comparing the iPhone 3G and the 3G S:

• WiFi      - 3G 6 hrs / 3G S 9 hrs
• Video    - 3G 7 hrs / 3G S 10 hrs
• Audio   - 3G 24 hrs / 3G S 30 hrs
• 2G talk - 3G 10 hrs / 3G S 12 hrs
• 3G talk - 3G 5 hrs / 3G S 5 hrs

I have read many reviews and, in particular, the accompanying comments concerning the iPhone 3G S and battery life. The comments are clearly divided over the issue of battery life, with many disaapointed to disgusted over the inability of the iPhone 3G S to handle a full work day of eight hours using combined stand-by and talk time. Others acknowledge the fact that the iPhone 3G S is not a computer and the fact that its many capability and diverse uses, many of which are utlized throughout the day, contribute to battery drain. Based on the comments of those who have felt motivated to post comments on blogs, however, it would seem that the battery life quoted above is at the high end of the battery life continuum.

Another factor of possible consideration in these early reports of battery life is that of battery conditioning. I don’t think realistic commments can be made regarding battery life until the iPhone battery has been through a number of battery charge - discharge cycles. It seems that about a week is the time frame over which the battery becomes initially conditioned and battery life becomes stabilized.

Finally, after the battery has been conditioned and its battery life stabilized, the most accurate manner to determine your battery life is not through the on screen graphic indicator but to check battery status using ”Settings/General/Usage”.  The time remaining on your iPhone should be (current_time) = “last full charge time” - (Usage + Standby).  For clarification with regard to what constitutes “Usage), check iPhone Help.

To extend battery life during the day, you can always change some of the settings (some argue this defeats the purpose of upgrade to the iPhone 3G S in the first place).  For example, if you don’t need to use 3G, change it to “Edge” mode until you do; turn off the push setting and so on.  Also, some features will drain the battery faster than others.  Using the  iPhone in 3G is the hardest on the battery, playing games will drain the battery faster than listening to your audio library.  It all comes down to choice.  Having bought your iPhone 3G S, you now need to make choices regarding some of the settings so as to optimize battery life for your desired use.

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Tags: battery life, iPhone, iPhone 3G S, reviews