Battery life hit on iPhone while using apple watch

[Premium1]

So since the apple watch will be relying on the iPhone for some of the tasks, and being paired over bluetooth, will there be a noticeable hit on battery life while using the watch? I never left bluetooth on with my iPhone so not sure how much battery using bluetooth, or being paired with the watch will drain from iPhones. Thoughts?

 

[kch50428]

If it were much of an issue, at least one of the people who got one to use to write a review would have written a screaming headline blog article about how bad it was if it were to be bad...

 

[Premium1]

If it were much of an issue, at least one of the people who got one to use to write a review would have written a screaming headline blog article about how bad it was if it were to be bad...

No, they were too busy praising everything else to stay on apple's good side lol.

 

[anon(4698833)]

You know, there are several things I've used that rely on the iPhone for some functionality if you choose to (Xbox One, Xfinity DVR's, my car's audio system...to name a few)...and in all of these cases, the battery drain on the iPhone seemed rather tiny. I would imagine that power drain on the parent product would have certainly been on the fore front of development with this watch.

 

[scwleung]

If it were much of an issue, at least one of the people who got one to use to write a review would have written a screaming headline blog article about how bad it was if it were to be bad...

Did the reviewers mention which phone they were using? We all know that battery mileage varies quite a bit from the 5 to 6 series phones.

 

[Rainwater50]

You know, there are several things I've used that rely on the iPhone for some functionality if you choose to (Xbox One, Xfinity DVR's, my car's audio system...to name a few)...and in all of these cases, the battery drain on the iPhone seemed rather tiny. I would imagine that power drain on the parent product would have certainly been on the fore front of development with this watch.

Good to hear your use doesn't seem to have a substantial battery drain.

Like the OP, I rarely use bluetooth on my phone, (and when I do it's usually under 15 -30 min tops for a bluetooth speaker)

Like you said, I'm sure this was addressed during development.

And I still plan on using it over wifi at home, don't even need to have the phone nearby!

 

[bigdad84]

Of course there is going to be a slight battery drain, but I don't think you will notice it whatsoever, while in fact you might actually notice your battery life being better, because with the Watch you won't be pulling out your phone (which lights up the screen and antennas causing battery drain) every time something comes in.

 

[Bigeric23]

I'm glad to hear that. I usually leave my radios off, but with the watch, I'll be leaving Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on.

 

[Premium1]

You know, there are several things I've used that rely on the iPhone for some functionality if you choose to (Xbox One, Xfinity DVR's, my car's audio system...to name a few)...and in all of these cases, the battery drain on the iPhone seemed rather tiny. I would imagine that power drain on the parent product would have certainly been on the fore front of development with this watch.

Thanks. I've never really paired anything with my phone, so wasn't sure how much drain those items caused.

 

[Premium1]

Of course there is going to be a slight battery drain, but I don't think you will notice it whatsoever, while in fact you might actually notice your battery life being better, because with the Watch you won't be pulling out your phone (which lights up the screen and antennas causing battery drain) every time something comes in.

But won't the screen still be turning on in pocket when a notification arrives? I understand you wit be pulling the phone out and unlocking it.

 

[Dave Marsh]

My Bluetooth and WiFi are always on on my iPhone 6, so that it automatically connects with my car and home front door for unlocking, plus reconnecting to WiFi in the background for my favorite locations (home, select businesses, etc.). I've never noticed any substantial battery drain, however, I expect the Apple Watch will be more demanding. Perhaps the lagginess some are reporting when opening apps that pull data from the iPhone is an effect of battery optimization, in that it's not updating the watch in the background, but only when it's invoked by the user, and that takes a few moments to pull across Bluetooth LTE.

 

[ctt1wbw]

I haven't used a bluetooth device since about 2006 or so and it was the usual earpiece. I quit when using it when I lost the hearing in my right ear, so since 2006 I haven't even had bluetooth on.

 

[dianahk]

I keep my Bluetooth on for Fitbit, radio, and a few other things. I have a 5S. I am expecting a slight drain, but if I am doing a few things on the watch and not getting my phone it could be a wash or at least less of a drain. I agree, if the watch is lagging it won't help the battery drain.

 

[shanghaichica]

I don't know but the 6 plus should be able to handle it with it's monster battery

 

[Nanci]

I have bluetooth connected to various things all day- Fitbit, car stereo, GPS- my 6 Plus' monster battery handles it just fine. I don't anticipate the watch battery outlasting the phone battery. (The biggest, fastest battery drain, for me, is shooting video. This is GREATLY improved with the 6 Plus.)

 

[pkcable]

Of course there will be a hit, BUT I'm pretty use they are using the Bluetooth low power technology, so it should not be significant. My Note4 ain't too bad connected to my Moto360 or Pebble (and Passport to Pebble). As Keith said the media would have mentioned it, as they did with the perceived slowness. (Software updates should improve this, plus in inherently going to be a little slow since you ARE transmitting data from 1 device to another, I'm sure it's not as bad as soon are saying)