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Old 11 February 2010, 10:54 AM
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RRH
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Default iPhone 3gs battery usage

I always charge the phone overnight, and have the battery meter turned on so it displays % rather than just the bar.

This morning, dropping my daughter off at school, I happened to notice that I was already down to 94%- the phone had only been on about 45 minutes and I hadn't made or received any calls.

Think I'm going to have to get a powerskin for it a this is getting stupid- its flat by 6pm latest every day!

Last edited by RRH; 11 February 2010 at 08:10 PM.
Old 11 February 2010, 10:59 AM
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Diesel
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Noooooo!!! I'm getting one today to replace the abysmal Nokia N97 mini that too was flat by 1900 with nothing other than a few phone calls during the day. Say it aint so.
Old 11 February 2010, 11:11 AM
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RRH
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I do use 3g, wifi and bluetooth constantly which is more than likely a considerable drain.
Old 11 February 2010, 11:13 AM
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4 days between charges for my blackberry. I tend to charge it every 2nd or 3rd night though.

Pointless having these fancy phones if you have to turn off all the gadgets to get a decent battery life out of them.

I would guess a full reboot to clear running apps in memory etc may help your battery.
Old 11 February 2010, 12:36 PM
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Markus
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Have you upgraded to OS 3.3.1? I ask as it is meant to have a fix for a battery display issue, which could well be what you are seeing.
Old 11 February 2010, 12:51 PM
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I think that is just the way they are unfortunately.

Try turning the brightness down on the screen for one thing.

Thats usually what you find with gadgets like an i phone, they have all the bells and whistles and they suck the battery dry within hours when using apps and internet.
Old 11 February 2010, 01:17 PM
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Originally Posted by RRH
I do use 3g, wifi and bluetooth constantly which is more than likely a considerable drain.
Would you expect a laptop battery to last all day under the same usage?

Also make sure that you allow the battery to go completely flat followed by a full recharge on a regular basis.
Old 11 February 2010, 01:25 PM
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Put brghtness down to 40%, turn off 3g and bluetooth, that will help alot!
Old 11 February 2010, 01:58 PM
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turn off 3G on a 3G phone?
Old 11 February 2010, 02:03 PM
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3G is only needed if you want faster internet. Pointless for phone calls, and to be honest if you are checking your emails then 2G is perfectly fine. Even web page load fine under 2G. I rarely use the 3G and I'm on my phone all day long doing emails etc etc.

On the iPhone, turn down the brightness, make sure location services is turned off (that's the GPS), if your not using services like bluetooth and wifi then turn them off too. Just flick them on as you need them.

Also do a reboot on the iPhone as mentioned above.
Old 11 February 2010, 02:05 PM
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All sound advice but you have to see the funny side in having the all singing all dancing 3GS!!! and then running it on a 2G network
Old 11 February 2010, 02:10 PM
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I use the 3g a lot on my 3gs, and have a few phone calls and text messages every day. Tend to play a few games on it as well. The battery usuall lasts a couple of days before needing a top up.
Old 11 February 2010, 02:14 PM
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How do you use the Bluetooth on it?

Or am I being a mong?
Old 11 February 2010, 02:19 PM
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I think you may have a problem if going flat by 6pm. I have everything turned on, use the phone for calls at least an hour a day. Check emails and use web/games quite a bit and I always get a full day and has 25% is at 11pm. I always need to charge overnight.

The battery life isnt brilliant but that is the turn side of having such a powerful phone. For me as long as I get a full day out of any battery, on my laptop (samsung nc10 has 7 hour battery life) /phone etc then that is ok. It isnt good enough having anything less than a day, I will send mine back as soon as it dips below what it is currently.

Chop
Old 11 February 2010, 03:41 PM
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Originally Posted by huzzy1
How do you use the Bluetooth on it?

Or am I being a mong?
I leave the bluetooth on all the time (lazy, I know) but its only used when I'm in the car. I'll try turning it off and see if it makes much difference.

I've switched 3g off, and location services. Will also try turning wifi off, although I'm kind of turning off everything I love the iphone for.
Old 11 February 2010, 03:52 PM
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89% battery at 16:52 after charging to 98% at 07:00, quite a few phone calls, plenty of email but not much browsing or apps today.
Old 11 February 2010, 03:59 PM
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52% (which is surprisingly good), no apps, 3g bluetooth and wifi turned on until about half an hour ago, maybe 90 mins of calls.
Old 11 February 2010, 04:21 PM
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When i first got my HTC hero was needing charged every day as everything was on constantly .

Once it was tweaked, i managed to get it down to 3/4 days worth of charge.
Some of the things i did which i would assume will work on other phones

Switch off WIFI unless i need it
Switch off Bluetooth unless i need it
Adjust Email/Tweets/ to synch every hour instead of 15 mins
Adjust Blogs to synch oncer per day instead of 15 mins.
Switch off background data usage unless i need it (basicaly junk checking for updates)
Have a good look at the installed apps, some of them were preventing the phone from entering a sleep state, increasing cpu speeds and draining the battery.
Never bothered turning off 3G at all to be honest as the rest of the tweeks made such a difference.

If i sit and abuse the internet, or play a game then it will sure drop fast, but now its allowed to chill out properly in between uses, its lasting for yonks!
Old 11 February 2010, 04:53 PM
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All the latest smart phones will run down in a day when using wifi satnav, making calls etc. Fortunately my Google G1 allows me to change the battery to a larger capacity.
Old 11 February 2010, 05:09 PM
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Mines OK for several days, web browsing affects it but I'm not unhappy with the battery performance. Better than my Nokia 6300
Old 11 February 2010, 07:49 PM
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>jeez this i phone is good - makes me really realise the****e Nokia peddles< Wish I'd defected to the orchard earlier - it aint hype and simple products for people who cant quite get their head around a right click!
Old 11 February 2010, 08:01 PM
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Two finger click is the new right click.
Old 11 February 2010, 08:17 PM
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When the penny drops it drops loudly with me! It just works - it aint all just pretty colours and slick marketing for people who dont know their WPSK from their POP to their IMAP

D
Old 11 February 2010, 08:49 PM
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i spoke too soon - it wont import a 'industry standard' csv of exported contacts. Grrr. D
Old 11 February 2010, 09:44 PM
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I'm currently developing a power source for small applications that will NEVER run out of charge..... well I can dream, but imagine the revenue on that invention! I don't know why mobile/smartphone manufacturers don't use solar cells to top up the charge.

Last edited by bioforger; 11 February 2010 at 09:45 PM.
Old 11 February 2010, 09:50 PM
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Yeah - flip it over to charge it... My watch has solar cells under the face... D
Old 12 February 2010, 09:24 AM
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Originally Posted by Diesel
i spoke too soon - it wont import a 'industry standard' csv of exported contacts. Grrr. D
Import it to your PC or Mac and sync, tada!
Old 12 February 2010, 11:23 AM
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55% now, lots of Calls and a little Facebook.
Old 12 February 2010, 11:26 AM
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Just in case of doubters



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