AW3 battery life while connecting to AirPods and LTE

[Applemacfan]

Hi everyone, I was trying to find out how long will the Apple Watch last if connected to AirPods(or any other bluetooth headset) while connecting to the LTE. I know you still can not streaming music at this point, but can still play music saved on the watch.
I have the 38mm S3 LTE, which I know 38mm has inferior battery capacity than the 42mm. Can someone who has done it share their experience? A member here posted a video but its a test on 42mm version, not the 38mm.
Thank you

 

[co1f]

I would think playing music off the watch to AirPods would be negligible compared to whatever else you’re doing with LTE. I listen to music off the watch all the time with Airpods. It’s BT, so low power, but does use up a little. If you’re doing a lot of texting/data off LTE that’ll use battery much faster. Make any calls, and that’ll be even faster. I think there are some threads on here talking about running half marathons doing this, and they get, what, 5 hours or so? But they’re also using GPS and probably HRM.

[edit] learned after writing above that I had workout power saving mode on, so if you turn that Off, you’ll get significantly less life. Didn’t realize I had that enabled.

 

[Mabus51]

roughly 5 hours of straight music to airpods on LTE standby and simple txts & notifications with heartrate monitor active. LTE talk time itself is still 1 hour for complete drain. So with all of the above, I'd say you would get about 40 minuets of straight talk time if you were listening to music before hand. I have the 38mm. I walk around with LTE all the time and get notifications, txt, rarely listen to music off the watch, rarely take long calls on the watch.

 

[Applemacfan]

I would think playing music off the watch to AirPods would be negligible compared to whatever else you’re doing with LTE. I listen to music off the watch all the time with Airpods. It’s BT, so low power, but does use up a little. If you’re doing a lot of texting/data off LTE that’ll use battery much faster. Make any calls, and that’ll be even faster. I think there are some threads on here talking about running half marathons doing this, and they get, what, 5 hours or so? But they’re also using GPS and probably HRM.

That’s is not bad at all, and very close to the video review I saw (I should post a link once I find it again).
I am going to run 5k next weekend, the run itself will not take long, but I’ll be hanging out with friends and have lunch afterward. It would be great if I don’t have to bring my phone with me.

 

[MJ22]

I’m a runner, and for example today when I started my run I was at 70%~ish. I did 5 miles in around 43 minutes, with LTE on and Powerbeats connected, listening to music. I didn’t make/receive any calls but I did get a several notifications during my run. Also had GPS running through the Workout app. I still had 51% after my run. My watch is the space gray aluminum 38mm. So I think you will be fine for what you described!

 

[Applemacfan]

roughly 5 hours of straight music to airpods on LTE standby and simple txts & notifications with heartrate monitor active. LTE talk time itself is still 1 hour for complete drain. So with all of the above, I'd say you would get about 40 minuets of straight talk time if you were listening to music before hand. I have the 38mm. I walk around with LTE all the time and get notifications, txt, rarely listen to music off the watch, rarely take long calls on the watch.

How do you think about the 38mm battery life so far? It’s good enough for my use, but I think 42mm last much longer according to some reviews.
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I’m a runner, and for example today when I started my run I was at 70%~ish. I did 5 miles in around 43 minutes, with LTE on and Powerbeats connected, listening to music. I didn’t make/receive any calls but I did get a several notifications during my run. Also had GPS running through the Workout app. I still had 51% after my run. My watch is the space gray aluminum 38mm. So I think you will be fine for what you described!

Thank you, that is really good to know, now I feel more comfortable not taking my phone with my next week. Glad to see another owner of 38mm reporting good battery life.
5 miles in 43 mins is very fast, I hope to completed 5k(3.1 mike) in 40 mins.

 

[Leica Dad]

Now I wish I kept the 38mm and run a test on the battery life with AirPods.
I will say your 38mm should be fine with half day since you will only run for 40+ minutes, even if it kills 40% battery life with the workout+music. Or see if you'd like to invest in a keychain watch battery just to be safe, in case you don't get to charge until the end of the day.

 

[Mabus51]

How do you think about the 38mm battery life so far? It’s good enough for my use, but I think 42mm last much longer according to some reviews.
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Thank you, that is really good to know, now I feel more comfortable not taking my phone with my next week. Glad to see another owner of 38mm reporting good battery life.
5 miles in 43 mins is very fast, I hope to completed 5k(3.1 mike) in 40 mins.

I had the original in 42mm. Hated the size of the thing. I like the 38mm it doesn’t feel like a house arrest device. I get 2 days out of the 38mm with normal use on a single charge. With the 42mm you might get an extra hour but it won’t be significant enough to really debate which one to get. Get the size that’s most comfortable to you.

 

[Leica Dad]

I had the original in 42mm. Hated the size of the thing. I like the 38mm it doesn’t feel like a house arrest device. I get 2 days out of the 38mm with normal use on a single charge. With the 42mm you might get an extra hour but it won’t be significant enough to really debate which one to get. Get the size that’s most comfortable to you.

I love the size of 38mm too, especially I bought to for fitness purpose, the light weight is really a plus.
However, I ended up switch to 42mm because of the battery life. I've done a series of test on 38mm and later computer them both side by side, 42mm is about 20-25% better. I hope the next gen 38mm will have at least the same battery performance as the S3 42mm, then I might switch back to 38mm.

 

[musicpenguy]

I don’t think you’ll have an issue with battery life with LTE on standby (getting the occasional notification and sending iMessages) - the biggest battery drain on the watch now is tracking workouts (GPS/heart rate monitoring).