Apple Watch workout battery life falling short in some cases, owners complain
The Apple Watch can offer inconsistent power consumption while tracking workouts, particularly during outdoor activities like cycling, according to a handful of complaints received by AppleInsider and seen on Twitter.
Apple officially states that the Watch should be able to last up to 6.5 hours under non-stop workout conditions. In many real-world cases the device is close to that mark, but in some instances users said their wearable has fallen well short.
One AppleInsider reader noted that he was able to get just two hours of battery life while cycling. Most Twitter comments appear to praise battery life during exercise, but one example from Twitter mentions power dropping 13 percentage points in 34 minutes of activity.
Another cyclist said his Watch fell to 29 percent after a little over three hours and 15 minutes of riding.
One of biggest drains on the Watch during a workout is the heart rate sensor, which flashes rapid visible or infrared light pulses to monitor blood flow. Apple in fact offers a "Power Saving Mode" in the Workout section of the Apple Watch iPhone app that will force less intense tracking. Users who are experiencing poor battery life during workouts should try this setting to extend uptime.
Outdoor exercises are likely imposing extra drain since they ideally use a paired iPhone's GPS to calculate distance. The Watch has built-in motion sensors, but these are less accurate for distance measurements.
Apple estimates that under regular conditions, the Watch should last 18 hours on a charge, including a 30-minute workout with on-device music playback, and 45 minutes of app use.
Apple officially states that the Watch should be able to last up to 6.5 hours under non-stop workout conditions. In many real-world cases the device is close to that mark, but in some instances users said their wearable has fallen well short.
One AppleInsider reader noted that he was able to get just two hours of battery life while cycling. Most Twitter comments appear to praise battery life during exercise, but one example from Twitter mentions power dropping 13 percentage points in 34 minutes of activity.
Another cyclist said his Watch fell to 29 percent after a little over three hours and 15 minutes of riding.
One of biggest drains on the Watch during a workout is the heart rate sensor, which flashes rapid visible or infrared light pulses to monitor blood flow. Apple in fact offers a "Power Saving Mode" in the Workout section of the Apple Watch iPhone app that will force less intense tracking. Users who are experiencing poor battery life during workouts should try this setting to extend uptime.
Outdoor exercises are likely imposing extra drain since they ideally use a paired iPhone's GPS to calculate distance. The Watch has built-in motion sensors, but these are less accurate for distance measurements.
Apple estimates that under regular conditions, the Watch should last 18 hours on a charge, including a 30-minute workout with on-device music playback, and 45 minutes of app use.
Comments
Two "killer apps" for me: 1) getting notifications while cycling, such that I don't have to stop the bike and get my phone out; 2) seeing my Strava stats while on the bike, again, without the need to stop and get my phone out.
The Apple Watch will fail (for me) if its power capabilities fall short in this respect.
This might be the buggiest hardware product Apple has ever launched. It should have a beta tag slapped on it. All I hear about this thing are complaints. And every time I run into a person wearing one in the wild, their wrist spin never lights up the screen. The wheels are coming off in Cupertino.
LOL! Chicken Little fail.
My experience is not perfect, but it's not what you said. Not nearly.
I think we have an example of people using the device in a way which is not an intended use case nor needed.
Beside the constant monitoring of the heart, I wonder if they are having the same issue that was reported about the display staying on while driving. If while cycling the motion keeps the screen active along with the heart rate monitor being active I can see this killing the battery.
They better fix this fast. I am getting the Sport model specifically for cycling, and using it in conjunction with the Strava app.
Two "killer apps" for me: 1) getting notifications while cycling, such that I don't have to stop the bike and get my phone out; 2) seeing my Strava stats while on the bike, again, without the need to stop and get my phone out.
The Apple Watch will fail (for me) if its power capabilities fall short in this respect.
Wasn't using Strava, but I rode my bike for three hours yesterday using the native Workout app and still had 75% power afterwards. Never had to pull my iPhone out.
My experience at the moment is that 3rd party apps need a Lot of work. Apple and Developers both need more real user experience to iron out the wrinkles.
Of course, "a handful" is like three, so...
Idiots! It's not meant for workouts so long
They were idiots for buying one then.
I can EASILY get 24 hours of battery life including two 30 minute workout sessions. Hard for me to believe the watch can't go 2 hours.
Outdoor exercises are likely imposing extra drain since they ideally use a paired iPhone's GPS to calculate distance. The Watch has built-in motion sensors, but these are less accurate for distance measurements.
Why would using GPS on the iPhone tend to drain the Watch's battery? The iPhone's battery, sure, but not that of the watch.
Total bullshit! Where do people come up with this crap. This article and headline included! This is really simple.for the intellectually challenged - Tip: If engaging in workouts longer than 1 hour, set the "power saving mode" to "on" under "Workouts" in the iPhone Apple Watch application.
Instead of this ridiculous article and headline, AI should have listed this as a "Tip" instead of burying a brief mention of the solution at the end of the article.
They tested the hell out of this thing. That's documented. Apple most certainly field tested just about every possible outdoor fitness use case. If this teeny sample of users are indeed having issues and aren't slinging FUD, there's most certainly some other environmental variable at play.
For what it's worth, I have 4 friends who own Apple Watches and battery life has never been a complaint. Neither has screen activation. In fact, the only complaint amongst the mountain of praise has been a little bit of lag while using some 3rd party apps, which most certainly will be corrected in an upcoming software update.
Definitely no buggier than the first iPhone.
A few observations from my workouts.
1. Bluetooth audio is battery draining, if the user is playing music from the watch to their earphones there will be an additional source of battery drain. It's not obscene, but it's noticeable. (Note that this isn't unusual, it's the same on smart phones, bluetooth audio is a known for this.)
2. If the HR monitoring panel is selected (instead of the default time exercise panel) then more HR measurements are taken, also any triggering of the screen forces the device to take another HR measurement when the HR panel is active.
3. The HR measurement times aren't arbitrary, they seem to be a combination of periodic measurements and additional measurements based on intelligence, likely related to the selected activity and available sensor input (e.g. accelerometers.) One can compare the record of readings using the Health app on the iPhone. Endurance exercise tends to be quite stable with regard to HR; other than being distracting to the exercise, frequent HR checks are unnecessary for long endurance exercising.
If a user needs to get an exceptionally long amount of workout time (say 6+ hours), then they should use bluetooth audio from their phone, a HR chest strap and perhaps opt for the 42mm model which seems to have a noticeably longer battery life. Along with charging before leaving.
That said, this type of athlete is likely to be using these devices already.
First generation model, what do you expect? Apple will sort these things out in second generation.
This might be the buggiest hardware product Apple has ever launched.
Not even close.
Mine has been great. For such a big launch there's been relatively few complaints. Remember antenna-gate?
Are you planning on riding for 6.5 hours?
Weight? Take a look at those gigantic Android watches, you'll get less battery life out of one of them.
Thank you! A ray of intelligence on the subject! AI should hire you.
Wasn't using Strava, but I rode my bike for three hours yesterday using the native Workout app and still had 75% power afterwards. Never had to pull my iPhone out.
My experience at the moment is that 3rd party apps need a Lot of work. Apple and Developers both need more real user experience to iron out the wrinkles.
Apple shouldn't get a pass to "iron out the wrinkles". If and when other non Apple products behave in any way close to this most people say Apple would never do that or the product is crap because of it. Actually, if this Apple Watch wasn't made by Apple and everything else was the same people would be hammering the product big time.