iPhone 5 Battery Life

[Christine]

I just got a new iPhone 5 Friday evening. This is my first smartphone. Prior to that, I had an LG something-or-other for close to 4 years. I would have to charge my battery once a week. I don't use a phone for much--hardly ever take/make any calls but I do use it for texting, mainly for my DD who is away at college and this is how she communicates with me. So, yeah, minimum cell phone use.

So I get the new phone Friday night. It was fully charged. I spent about an 2 hours getting everything set up and just exploring the phone. I downloaded a few apps. One of them was an app to record your sleep patterns so the app was "working" all through the night Friday night.

Saturday morning I had very little battery life left. I fully charged the phone, then went online to do some research. Made some changes to my settings so that I wouldn'tt get "PUSH" all the time (now I manually access e-mail, disabled weather, etc). I didn't use the phone much at all yesterday. Just texted a few times. My son played around on the phone for about 45 minutes. He was just browsing apps and felt compelled to download the "flashlight" app. He played with that for a few minutes.

This morning I've got more battery life than yesterday but I'm still surprised how much it went down with very little use.

Is this normal? Is there something more I could be doing to conserve the battery?

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

Every time Apple releases a new version of iOS or a new iPhone, it seems battery life becomes an issue. I had the same problem. Instead of wasting time trying to deal with it yourself (short of turning it on or off, which sometimes helps), take it by an Apple store and they'll get it resolved for you.

 

[Christine]

Every time Apple releases a new version of iOS or a new iPhone, it seems battery life becomes an issue. I had the same problem. Instead of wasting time trying to deal with it yourself (short of turning it on or off, which sometimes helps), take it by an Apple store and they'll get it resolved for you.

Thanks! That sounds like a good idea.

 

[RadioNate]

Frankly that sounds normal. It's a smart phone, you'll likely be charging daily. I thought this was a good article.

Going a week between charges is not possible. I've been getting about 16 hours of pretty "heavy" use. Music, apps, data which is great. My "testing" is skewed a bit because I connect to the car stereo via USB which also charges while I'm playing the music.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/26/technology/iphone-5-review-battery/index.html

 

[Bounce_Tigger]

I have a sleep app too (sleepcycle) and it advises me to have my phone charging while I sleep. I have an outlet right next to my bed so its easy. I use my iPhone (4S) heavily and still only charge it once a day (always at night). It's often down to 5-10% by then. If I know I'll be out late and using it, I'll give it a boost in the afternoon. It charges so quickly that it doesn't bother me to have to do that.

 

[Christine]

Okay, so this sounds like something I'm just going to have to get used to. Welcome to the 21st century right???

Thanks for the link to the article. I found a few more articles so it sounds like what I'm experiencing is fairly normal.

 

[aprilgail2]

I am always texting or listening to music- and generally my iphone4 needs to be charged by 2pm- I plug it in and charge it up at work and then by nighttime it needs another charge- but I am on it all the time playing games too...I have the charging case too so if I am not near a plug I just flip the switch and the case charges the phone up fully.

 

[SaraJayne]

It's normal. I went from a phone I had to charge about once a week (non smart phone) to an iphone 4s and it needs to be charged daily.

 

[gator75]

i just got my first smart phone and it is a i phone 5 i don't use it heavily and i get about 4 days between charges.

 

[Christine]

i just got my first smart phone and it is a i phone 5 i don't use it heavily and i get about 4 days between charges.

There is no way this phone would make it for 4 days.

 

[SaraJayne]

There is no way this phone would make it for 4 days.

One thing I do to help save the battery is if I've been playing with a bunch of stuff on my phone (apps, etc), I double click the home button, touch one of the apps until they start to vibrate and a red minus sign comes up. You can then hit the red minus sign on each app you want closed, so it won't be running in the background.

 

[jeepwreck]

that seems right I just have the iPhone 4s and I charge it daily, because it seems to go through battery life very quickly.

If you Google iPhone battery issues you will find a lot of helpful tips to help extend the battery life

 

[gator75]

Oh yes it does because i was told i might have to charge it every night not so i even asked my husband what gives and he just figures i don't use it har enough. The last time i charged it was 10-3 -12 nd it is now 10-7-12 and is still raring to go.

 

[topolino]

It's perfectly normal. I think the issue is that you're comparing the battery life of a basic flip phone to a smart phone. The battery usage you describe is normal for a smart phone, and iPhone (I can speak for 4S) has a better battery life than many other smart phones.

 

[Christine]

Oh yes it does because i was told i might have to charge it every night not so i even asked my husband what gives and he just figures i don't use it har enough. The last time i charged it was 10-3 -12 nd it is now 10-7-12 and is still raring to go.

Can you tell me what you actually do on the phone just for comparison's sake?

This morning I was at about 58%. Right now I am at around 29%.

I texted with my daughter a few times. Texted once with my son.

When I went to get my hair done, as my highlights were processing, I went to the Apps store and looked around. Then I sent one e-mail. Oh, and on my way to get my hair done, I tried to use Maps just to see how it works but I didn't really get very far with it (I was trying to drive and figure it out--not going well--so I stopped).

That's all I've done today.

 

[Albort]

it depends on usage. If i dont use it at all all day long at home, it only goes down by 15%-20%.

a little ot but OP, when did u order your iPhone? just curious cuz i wonder when mine will come...

 

[Christine]

it depends on usage. If i dont use it at all all day long at home, it only goes down by 15%-20%.

a little ot but OP, when did u order your iPhone? just curious cuz i wonder when mine will come...

I didn't order it. My old phone died 2 weeks ago. I was told that to order it would take about 3 weeks; however, I knew that stores were getting them in bit by bit: Target, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, etc. Each store has a list and they will call you everyday they come in. So on Friday, I stopped at Radio Shack and asked if any came in. The manager said none had but they had an expected delivery that day (it was already 4PM). Sure enough, at 6:30 she called me and said she got one extra phone in and did I want it. She couldn't hold it for me so if someone walked through the door and wanted it, it was theirs. I got there in about 15 minutes and got my phone.

All the stores are getting them in weekly (mabye only 4-5 at a time). They are essentially selling them to walk-ins. I've heard the next big "pre-order" shipment at all stores is approximately 10/15.

 

[Feralpeg]

Can you tell me what you actually do on the phone just for comparison's sake?

This morning I was at about 58%. Right now I am at around 29%.

I texted with my daughter a few times. Texted once with my son.

When I went to get my hair done, as my highlights were processing, I went to the Apps store and looked around. Then I sent one e-mail. Oh, and on my way to get my hair done, I tried to use Maps just to see how it works but I didn't really get very far with it (I was trying to drive and figure it out--not going well--so I stopped).

That's all I've done today.

Do you have Wifi turned on? If so, it sucks down the battery. I keep Wifi off unless I need it and I can go for about a day and a half without recharging. If I use a bunch of apps, I have to recharge more often. I've just gotten into the habit of charging it each night.

 

[Albort]

I didn't order it. My old phone died 2 weeks ago. I was told that to order it would take about 3 weeks; however, I knew that stores were getting them in bit by bit: Target, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, etc. Each store has a list and they will call you everyday they come in. So on Friday, I stopped at Radio Shack and asked if any came in. The manager said none had but they had an expected delivery that day (it was already 4PM). Sure enough, at 6:30 she called me and said she got one extra phone in and did I want it. She couldn't hold it for me so if someone walked through the door and wanted it, it was theirs. I got there in about 15 minutes and got my phone.

All the stores are getting them in weekly (mabye only 4-5 at a time). They are essentially selling them to walk-ins. I've heard the next big "pre-order" shipment at all stores is approximately 10/15.

damn, i wish i can cancel my order and just do that...

 

[Christine]

Do you have Wifi turned on? If so, it sucks down the battery. I keep Wifi off unless I need it and I can go for about a day and a half without recharging. If I use a bunch of apps, I have to recharge more often. I've just gotten into the habit of charging it each night.

Yes, my Wi-Fi is on. So, are you putting it in Airplane Mode then? If I turn Wi-Fi off in my house all day, will the phone then go to 4G to receive texts?