Does turning off cellular data on Series 5 save battery life?

KingBuick

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If I turn off cellular data and use the Watch as I used the Series 2 (GPS and WiFi and connected to iPhone constantly), will battery life be better than with it turned on? Also how do I turn cellular data off? I don’t see a toggle to turn it off in the Watch app on iPhone as on the iPhone Settings app.
 

Just_Me_D

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More than likely, yes. Having said that, if you’re typically connected to Wi-Fi most of the time then the cellular portion really doesn’t come into play all that much, in my opinion.
 

KingBuick

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More than likely, yes. Having said that, if you’re typically connected to Wi-Fi most of the time then the cellular portion really doesn’t come into play all that much, in my opinion.

Thanks for the advice! How do I turn cellular data off: in the control center or somewhere else?
 

Just_Me_D

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Thanks for the advice! How do I turn cellular data off: in the control center or somewhere else?

Swipe up from the bottom on your Watch display and then tap on the cellular icon. After that, disable the toggle next to cellular.
 

Lee_Bo

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It might save a little battery, but I'm not sure how much of an improvement you'll see. Your watch is on wifi or bluetooth to your phone normally, unless your phone is off or, like me, when you run errands you leave your phone at home. Also exercising, unless you have your phone with you, will use LTE service.
 

doogald

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It might save a little battery, but I'm not sure how much of an improvement you'll see. Your watch is on wifi or bluetooth to your phone normally, unless your phone is off or, like me, when you run errands you leave your phone at home. Also exercising, unless you have your phone with you, will use LTE service.

Just to elaborate on this, the watch is designed to connect to your phone via Bluetooth LE for as long as it can, to save energy. If it cannot connect to the phone, it will then try to connect to a known WiFi access point. Only if it cannot connect via BT or WiFi will it use the cellular radio.

You should find that carrying your phone with you always with the cellular radio off and then on should have a negligible effect on battery life.

(I have a cellular S5 that I have not activated yet. I simply use the watch as if it was a GPS watch. Someday I may activate it, but, at this point, I doubt it - I always have my phone with me anyway.)
 

KingBuick

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Thank you everyone for the replies. I turned cellular data off briefly and the battery dropped 1%. Then when I turned it back on it dropped another 1%. I had data turned off for ~20-30 minutes.
 

tcuprof

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Thank you everyone for the replies. I turned cellular data off briefly and the battery dropped 1%. Then when I turned it back on it dropped another 1%. I had data turned off for ~20-30 minutes.

How long is your battery lasting on a typical day?
 

Annie_M

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I am getting an average of 33.8 hours before charges on my Series 3. I have a cellular model, which I make use of quite often.
 

KingBuick

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I am getting an average of 33.8 hours before charges on my Series 3. I have a cellular model, which I make use of quite often.

That’s excellent battery life. I think for me the AOD is the culprit for battery drain; however it does not drain as badly as when I got it in December. I like having the always on display as well; that, the compass, and noise app are why I upgraded from the Series 2!
 

Annie_M

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That’s excellent battery life. I think for me the AOD is the culprit for battery drain; however it does not drain as badly as when I got it in December. I like having the always on display as well; that, the compass, and noise app are why I upgraded from the Series 2!

I do think you are on to something! When Apple announced the AOD I remember wondering how it would affect battery life!
 

KingBuick

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I do think you are on to something! When Apple announced the AOD I remember wondering how it would affect battery life!

According to their official battery specs it does not affect battery life. However I think it does according to my usage!
 

o4liberty

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Series 5 with cellular on getting at least 18 hours a day with ease. Pick it up on launch day and its still going strong.
 

KingBuick

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Series 5 with cellular on getting at least 18 hours a day with ease. Pick it up on launch day and its still going strong.

After testing out a few battery saving features I decided to go back to all the settings enabled. I would say battery life is between 15 and 17 hours if I really pushed it!
 

Spencerdl

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My AW Series 4 Cellular model is off the charger 16-18 hours daily and when I put it back on the charger before bed I'm usually around 60% battery life left at the end of my day. I get several messages during the day, but I rarely use my Cellular services from my watch as my iPhone is always near by and it just "hands off". I never turn anything off because I get great battery life with my AW4 in my opinion so there's really no need to adjust anything.

Example, my watch has been off the charger since 9am and now at 1:25pm (4 1/2 hours later) I'm at 94% battery left, that seem pretty good to me.

d73e623f81bcf7287709252efa844b6c.jpg
 

KingBuick

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My AW Series 4 Cellular model is off the charger 16-18 hours daily and when I put it back on the charger before bed I'm usually around 60% battery life left at the end of my day. I get several messages during the day, but I rarely use my Cellular services from my watch as my iPhone is always near by and it just "hands off". I never turn anything off because I get great battery life with my AW4 in my opinion so there's really no need to adjust anything.

Example, my watch has been off the charger since 9am and now at 1:25pm (4 1/2 hours later) I'm at 94% battery left, that seem pretty good to me.

d73e623f81bcf7287709252efa844b6c.jpg

Wow, that’s really impressive! I’m guessing because the S4 doesn’t have the always on display you can get that good battery life.

After 2 hours and 47 minutes of standby my S5 has gone from 100% to 93%. The AOD is turned on and all the settings are enabled.
 

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