5.0.1 seems to have worked

[andymac2210]

I didn't think I had any major battery problems, was getting a full day from a charge with general use, wifi browsing, calls, 3G browsing, Siri requests, general stuff.

Battery %'s would drop off while I was browsing and playing games quite quickly, but I'd still get about a days standby and 6 hours 'use'.
After updating to 5.0.1 I've been playing games for 20 minutes and browsing the web and I've only lost 1%, I'd normally lose about 5-7% in the same time on 5.0.

 

[saving107]

I've been playing games for 20 minutes

Yup, thats an accurate test.

Apple Releases iOS 5.0.1 to Address Battery Life Issues [Updated]
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1273556/

 

[r0k]

I found my battery to be pretty solid under 5.0 so I'm hoping 5.0.1 is even better. I was a little apprehensive about doing the update "on the fly" rather than the old way with the cable and the backup and so forth but all seems to have gone well, albeit somewhat slow. I think the update took over 20 minutes from the time I dug for my charger (so the update would run) to the time I was asked for my screen unlock code.

 

[aperry]

I didn't think I had any major battery problems, was getting a full day from a charge with general use, wifi browsing, calls, 3G browsing, Siri requests, general stuff.

Battery %'s would drop off while I was browsing and playing games quite quickly, but I'd still get about a days standby and 6 hours 'use'.
After updating to 5.0.1 I've been playing games for 20 minutes and browsing the web and I've only lost 1%, I'd normally lose about 5-7% in the same time on 5.0.

FWIW, on my 4s I've noticed that it takes an unusually long time to go from 100% to 99%. After that, the percentage drops are much more rapid. Hopefully your battery issue is really fixed, but I'll be interested to know how it does over the next day or two.

 

[dffdce]

...I dug for my charger (so the update would run)...

The update will actually run w/o the charger. I think that's just a suggestion.

 

[HazyCloud]

The update will actually run w/o the charger. I think that's just a suggestion.

It will only run if your battery is above 50%. If it's not, Apple requires a power source.

 

[maflynn]

This is being discussed on the front page
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1273556/