iPhone Weirdness

[Brian Stirling]

My 3G iPhone will be two years old in July and I'm leaning towards moving to the HTC Evo but that's not what this thread is about.

My usage pattern is probably towards the lower end in that my monthly minutes is typically in the 200 minute range and I send very few text messages. My biggest use is for email. So, I've found that I could usually go two days between charging the battery with only the occasional need to charge more often. That is until the last couple weeks. About two weeks ago my iPhone would go below 20% in the afternoon or about 5-7 hours so I checked the settings and confirmed that the wifi was off but the blue-tooth was on so I turned the blue tooth off. There did not appear to be any difference in battery life.

OK, the phone is nearly two years old so it's not shocking that the battery might be dieing EXCEPT that a few days ago the battery lasted well over 34 hours but, following the next charge the phone once again drops below 20% within 5-7 hours. How the hell did the phone fix it self for one and a half days then fail again? I should add that my average use has remained very constant and moderate.

So, if it is the battery what are my options given my plan to either upgrade to the next iPhone or switch to the Evo at then end of my contract in July. I don't want to send it to Apple and am capable of replacing myself and I don't want to spend much money for 3-4 months of use.


Brian

 

[rudeguy]

temperature can dramatically affect battery life. Here in MI, batteries stay charged a lot shorter in the winter than in the summer. Has the temp changed much?

I can't help you on iPhone repairs, but that's my $.02

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Do a hard reset. Then drain your battery all the way, let it sit for a couple hours. Charge your battery until 100% and then try it again.

 

[pm]

Good advice about the hard reset and the temperature... although it has to get really cold (like well below freezing) to affect performance that much.

Also, the cell phone signal (the number of bars) has a huge impact on battery life. The worse the signal, the worse the battery life. Have you been in a place with poor reception?

34 hours per charge for an iPhone is amazing. My iPhone 3GS with it's supposedly superior power numbers lasts about 12 hours between charges, or about 18 hours if I turn off Exchange synching.

 

[Brian Stirling]

Good advice about the hard reset and the temperature... although it has to get really cold (like well below freezing) to affect performance that much.

Also, the cell phone signal (the number of bars) has a huge impact on battery life. The worse the signal, the worse the battery life. Have you been in a place with poor reception?

34 hours per charge for an iPhone is amazing. My iPhone 3GS with it's supposedly superior power numbers lasts about 12 hours between charges, or about 18 hours if I turn off Exchange synching.

Well temperature isn't the issue as the temps have been warm. I don't think reception is the issue either as I get at least 3 bars and usually more in the locations I've been using it.

I did mention that I'm not a heavy user so getting 48 hours on about 60% of the charge isn't unusual. When I have used it a lot the battery life dropped off to about 16 hours and once or twice even less. Again, my usage pattern is probably less then most smart phone users. When I first got the iPhone I did surf the web quite a bit but the screen is just a bit too small and low resolution for my 53 year old eyes so after a month or two I hardly ever web surf with it. In fact, one of the reasons I'm looking at the Evo is that the display is enough larger that surfing the web should be more practical. The HD2 looks interesting but I'd prefer Android over Windows. I just think Google is going to work harder to develop apps and the OS than MS has/will.

So, unless something changes or I replace the battery I'm now charging the battery twice or three times a day versus once every other day. If I can find a low cost battery replacement I may do that but since I plan to get a new phone in a few months I'd rather not spend much to do so.


Brian

 

[Brian Stirling]

Did a hard reset -- no help. Looks like a new battery...


Brian