iPhone 4S TERRIBLE BATTERY life. Why?

goz83

My secretary has an iPhone 4S for the job. I got it with Three just over a year ago and it's now out of contract. The problem is that for several months, the battery life has been really bad. Going from full to empty in a few hours. I put a new battery into a few days ago and the new battery is draining just as quick. This happens despite all open apps being closed (properly). Hotspot and bluetooth are left on usually. It's used for tethering a couple days per week. Phone is used casually to infrequently most days, so it's not like calls are coming through constantly. It's bugging me that it loses power so quickly. Any ideas?

dilallio

How did you manage to put a new battery in? The 4s is a sealed unit.

goz83

dilallio wrote: »

How did you manage to put a new battery in? The 4s is a sealed unit.

It's actually quite easy. Plenty of youtube videos on it. Took only a few minutes.

guil

goz83 wrote: »

It's actually quite easy. Plenty of youtube videos on it. Took only a few minutes.

Where did you get the battery? The new one could be worse than what it replaced.

Kensington

Tethering (hotspot) will drain the phone in a very short length of time, having bluetooth on won't help either. If tethering, plug it in to power.

Reamer Fanny

Disable 3G it's a big drain on battery life

Creamy Goodness

justryan wrote: »

Disable 3G it's a big drain on battery life

With this attitude he might as well just get a nokia 3210. what's the point of an iphone if you're going to have a ****ty Edge connection 24/7?

Tethering is a huge drain on iphone 4s' battery same with bluetooth if it's paired with anything. turn off any if they aren't in use.

I'm guessing here though that the battery you replaced is of worse quality than the original battery.

JDxtra

Is it used for Exchange based email and calendars? If so, make sure it has the latest version of iOS installed. Older version had a bug which meant it kept querying for updates and drained the battery.

Reamer Fanny

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

With this attitude he might as well just get a nokia 3210. what's the point of an iphone if you're going to have a ****ty Edge connection 24/7?

Tethering is a huge drain on iphone 4s' battery same with bluetooth if it's paired with anything. turn off any if they aren't in use.

I'm guessing here though that the battery you replaced is of worse quality than the original battery.

Well don't blame me for Apple's product design, in the older firmware versions they even warn you that enabling 3G can shorten the battery life.

guil

justryan wrote: »

Well don't blame me for Apple's product design, in the older firmware versions they even warn you that enabling 3G can shorten the battery life.

Of course it can reduce battery life, its faster so uses more power but its the same as the people asking how to turn off data when away from wifi. What's the point of getting an iPhone if you're going to turn off key features

Creamy Goodness

again the misunderstanding. It's not bad product design. pretty much all phones on the market today and back in the time of the iphone 4s use 3g radios from the same factories. they all have the same amount of battery drain.

apple stuck the notice there to cover their ass in case a stupid people wants to (nay will) sue.

goz83

Thanks for replies. I will mention to switch off hotspot when not needed. The rest will just have to be lived with.

dodzy

justryan wrote: »

Disable 3G it's a big drain on battery life

What??:eek:

You gotta be kidding.

Creamy Goodness

dodzy wrote: »

What??:eek:

You gotta be kidding.

don't think he is, sure we all go out and buy ferrari's and limit the engine to 30kmph right?

Reamer Fanny

Sorry lads didn't realise you had shares in Apple, the OP asked for suggestions to conserve battery power my suggestion is valid and is recommend by Apple themselves.

Now lets stop the d1ck measuring.

murpho999

justryan wrote: »

Well don't blame me for Apple's product design, in the older firmware versions they even warn you that enabling 3G can shorten the battery life.

I also find that using the phone, even standby eventually drains the battery!

culabula

Let's keep the tone civil and all advice helpful.

V4

My 4S battery life is shocking too compared to my old 4.

This helped alot:
http://www.battsaver.com/

Turns off 3G and EDGE when on WiFi and visa versa.

I now get a full day before I need a charge.

Have to be jailbroken though

goz83

Wont jailbrake. Dont like the sound of it. Turning off hotspot helped. At least i know its not faulty now.

Dublinstiofán

I have 4S at the moment and the batteries great.

If it was restored from a backup file on iTunes this could be
the problem. Might be worth a shot backing up your stuff to
iTunes or iCloud and trying the following.

Go to settings and Erase the iPhone

Plug into iTunes and set it up as a new iPhone (DO NOT
Restore from a backup file)

Then download your contacts from iTunes and install
essential apps gradually (3 or 4 a day)

Most of the time there is one App putting a serious
drain on the battery and if you do this it might help
figure it out.

If it doesn't work you can restore from your backup
and your back where you started anyway so you've
lost nothing

goz83

Dublinstiofán wrote: »

I have 4S at the moment and the batteries great.

If it was restored from a backup file on iTunes this could be
the problem. Might be worth a shot backing up your stuff to
iTunes or iCloud and trying the following.

Go to settings and Erase the iPhone

Plug into iTunes and set it up as a new iPhone (DO NOT
Restore from a backup file)

Then download your contacts from iTunes and install
essential apps gradually (3 or 4 a day)

Most of the time there is one App putting a serious
drain on the battery and if you do this it might help
figure it out.

If it doesn't work you can restore from your backup
and your back where you started anyway so you've
lost nothing

The phone has never been backed up. It's an office phone and only has a maybe half a dozen apps added for basic business use.

It is used only for calls, texts and the hotspot. Very rarely anything else.

yer man!

goz83 wrote: »

My secretary has an iPhone 4S for the job. I got it with Three just over a year ago and it's now out of contract. The problem is that for several months, the battery life has been really bad. Going from full to empty in a few hours. I put a new battery into a few days ago and the new battery is draining just as quick. This happens despite all open apps being closed (properly). Hotspot and bluetooth are left on usually. It's used for tethering a couple days per week. Phone is used casually to infrequently most days, so it's not like calls are coming through constantly. It's bugging me that it loses power so quickly. Any ideas?

I replaced a battery in a 3GS before and it was terrible, lasting only a few hours from full charge to empty. The none official apple batteries are awful. I'd only get mine done by an approved apple technician. My iPhone 4 lasts about 30 hours and thats with push email, 3G on all the time and a mix of calls and texts throughout the day. It's brilliant.

goz83

the unofficial battery has lasted the same as the one that was in it. Turning off hotspot made all the difference according to the secretary.

ablelocks

check the location services too. there could be one or more apps using location services.

dolce

Goz83,

I had the same issue even without using hotspot & I found that one of the worst location service drains was coming from the weather App pre-installed on the phone.
It was set for 'current location' rather than ones I added myself. I saw on the US apple forum that it would then constantly keep checking & refreshing even when App closed (ie using the x after double clicking the home button)
So, I actually changed that in the settings to two locations I refer to regularly, took the App out of the notification bar altogether & the result was very noticeable.
You'll find that if you're doing any iCloud syncing between devices that you'll also get a bigger drain.

pbarr

Would this help:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kinps%C2%AE2300mAh-external-rechargeable-battery-charger/dp/B0038GSZU0/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380016702&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=gimps+2300+battery+4s

goz83

OK it has been a few months, but since the thread has been resurrected:

I changed the battery in the 4S and it made no difference. However, after a few weeks, the battery life just improved dramatically. Now, instead of it needing at least a charge a day, it will last several days without a charge.

wush06

goz83 wrote: »

Turning off hotspot made all the difference according to the secretary.

I'm sure it did.