C|Net's Brian Tong Gets Superior Battery?

[Maverickster]

I'm not saying there's a conspiracy, and I'm not saying that Apple may have given C|Net's Brian Tong a phone with a "beefed up" battery, but I am saying something is amiss here (go to 30 seconds in):

http://cnettv.cnet.com/show-your-true-battery-life-iphone-3gs/9742-1_53-50073864.html

If you don't want to click the link:
Usage: 7 Hours, 34 Minutes
Standby: 1 Day, 7 Hours
Battery Remaining: 83% (without an intermediate charge*)

Honestly, who else is getting results like that?

--Mav

*the "iPhone has been plugged in since the last full charge" notification does not appear.

 

[Ishimaru]

You also notice he's on EDGE...

 

[geoffreak]

It is possible, but more likely that what they define as "usage" isn't what would be usage in the real world.
I did a test on my iPhone 3GS a couple of days ago to find that I can get 5 hours of high powered use (fully bright screen, 3G connection, playing lossless audio, refreshing a web page every 15 seconds, wifi on but not connected, push notifications on and email checked every 15 minutes) before my phone shut off.
These past few days, I have found that I can listen to music all day with periodic email (push or every 15 minutes) and Facebook checks in addition to a short period of game playing and still have around 40-50% battery remaining at the end of the day. My day goes from 8:30 to 5:30.

 

[zeeflyboy]

also depends what you get up to.... I have to use airplane mode for extended periods and as such can get rocking standby times on my phone.

I imagine putting it on airplane mode at night would achieve similar.

 

[Maverickster]

For the record, since he had 83% battery remaining at the time, if you calculate that out, this means that if he continued to use it in the exact same manner for the entire life of the charge (100% to 0%), his usage stats would be as follows (roughly):

Usage: 1 Day, 20 Hours, 30 Minutes
Standby: 7 Days, 14 Hours, 24 Minutes

What is it he could possibly be doing that would yield stats like that? I'm doubtful I would get 7 days of Standby with ZERO usage (on Edge).

--Mav

 

[Ishimaru]

Also, you can charge the phone up until 99%, and the usage meter will continue to grow. Meaning, you can charge it until it hits 99%, remove the charger, let it drain again, charge it back up until 99%, lather, rinse, repeat. Your usage meter will continue to grow until it hits 100%. So technically you can cheat the usage meter if you really want to.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

I'm betting his iPhone isn't reading when he partially charges it correctly. That is unless he said he hadn't plugged it in...

 

[uberamd]

I'm not saying there's a conspiracy, and I'm not saying that Apple may have given C|Net's Brian Tong a phone with a "beefed up" battery, but I am saying something is amiss here (go to 30 seconds in):

http://cnettv.cnet.com/show-your-true-battery-life-iphone-3gs/9742-1_53-50073864.html

If you don't want to click the link:
Usage: 7 Hours, 34 Minutes
Standby: 1 Day, 7 Hours
Battery Remaining: 83% (without an intermediate charge*)

Honestly, who else is getting results like that?

--Mav

*the "iPhone has been plugged in since the last full charge" notification does not appear.

That guy is a huge tool, so anything he says I just ignore. He bugs me.

 

[Maverickster]

Also, you can charge the phone up until 99%, and the usage meter will continue to grow. Meaning, you can charge it until it hits 99%, remove the charger, let it drain again, charge it back up until 99%, lather, rinse, repeat. Your usage meter will continue to grow until it hits 100%. So technically you can cheat the usage meter if you really want to.

This is true, but if he did that then the "iPhone has been plugged in since the last full charge" notification would be there and it's not, so....

--Mav

 

[dagomike]

I doubt that's right. If I just left my phone on standby with nothing on for 1.5 days it would probably be like 83%, which I think is still good. I think he's either full of crap or forgot he charged/sync'd in there.

 

[slapguts]

When the iPod is playing, it counts as usage. iPod playing, headphones plugged in, volume on its lowest setting, screen off, in airplane mode would probably get your usage way past that.

 

[daneoni]

Either he is only uses edge, has everything else turned off or he's plugged it in and that part was cut off from the camera inadvertently

 

[Maverickster]

I doubt that's right. If I just left my phone on standby with nothing on for 1.5 days it would probably be like 83%, which I think is still good. I think he's either full of crap or forgot he charged/sync'd in there.

He doesn't say anything about it. It's in the video, plain as day. All he's talking about is how to turn on/off the Battery %. He didn't charge/sync it in the interim because if he had, the notice would be there. Something is amiss here.

--MAv

Either he is only uses edge, has everything else turned off or he's plugged it in and that part was cut off from the camera inadvertently

That's the thing, the part with the notice wasn't cut off from the camera; it was shown and there's no notice. Watch the video.

As for Edge as the answer, it wouldn't make that big of a difference. We're talking about 7+ times what the rest of us seem to be getting.

When the iPod is playing, it counts as usage. iPod playing, headphones plugged in, volume on its lowest setting, screen off, in airplane mode would probably get your usage way past that.

You're telling me you think I can play my iPod for 1 Day, 20 Hours, 30 Minutes, and then leave the phone on Standby for another 7 Days, 14 Hours, 24 Minutes before the battery goes kaput? Really?

--Mav

 

[daneoni]

That's the thing, the part with the notice wasn't cut off from the camera; it was shown and there's no notice. Watch the video.

Just looked at it again and see what you mean. The other explanation is lots of iPod use...doesn't drain the battery as much since the device is mostly sleeping.

Either that or his battery meter is glitchy which has been reported on the forums *shrugs*

 

[SeanZy]

You use the word amiss a lot. Something is amiss here.

 

[samcraig]

Isn't it entirely possible that he's thrown his phone on and off the charger never getting to 100 percent before he shot the spot? The other day I didn't hit exactly 100 percent and had to unplug - went the whole day and still had the stats from the day before (usage and standby) To someone who didn't know what I had done it would look as if I got hours and hours of usage + hours and hours of standby and still had 60 percent of my charge at the end of the day.

 

[Maverickster]

Isn't it entirely possible that he's thrown his phone on and off the charger never getting to 100 percent before he shot the spot? The other day I didn't hit exactly 100 percent and had to unplug - went the whole day and still had the stats from the day before (usage and standby) To someone who didn't know what I had done it would look as if I got hours and hours of usage + hours and hours of standby and still had 60 percent of my charge at the end of the day.

No because if he did that then it would show the "iPhone has been plugged in since the last full charge" notification and it doesn't. That's why I think somethings amiss (that one's for you Sean!).

 

[SeanZy]

I think this whole battery thing is just a hit and "amiss" situation!

*Ba dum psh*

 

[samcraig]

I'm not 100 percent sure - but I don't think mine said that either.. so perhaps an (innocent) software glitch...

 

[TurboSC]

battery life is always going to be debated. There are so many factors involved it's really hard to pinpoint in a real-world situation, as everyone and everyday is different... and this applies to how they use their iPhones too.

 

[55test55]

i get that often, but when i do im not really doing tons of stuff with the phone. edge too.

 

[Maverickster]

I think this whole battery thing is just a hit and "amiss" situation!

*Ba dum psh*

Well done.

battery life is always going to be debated. There are so many factors involved it's really hard to pinpoint in a real-world situation, as everyone and everyday is different... and this applies to how they use their iPhones too.

Agreed. But those numbers are so ridiculous, it's striking. Nearly 2 days worth of usage and over a weeks worth of standby on A SINGLE CHARGE? That takes it out of the realm of "yymv".

i get that often, but when i do im not really doing tons of stuff with the phone. edge too.

Really? Can you post a screen shot? If that's to be exected, then my phones going back.

--Mav

 

[lavinci]

His phone must have a glitch or something, I would love that battery life even if running on edge

 

[55test55]

Really? Can you post a screen shot? If that's to be exected, then my phones going back.

--Mav

Sure, but i just charged it last night. How can I post a picture here? The other time it was closer to 9 hours of usage. Of course I could just be crazy, but i try to monitor it because you guys always talk about battery life on here. Also I dont use it when being charged because you guys say that'll mess up the time (counts it as before the charge).

 

[alFR]

You're telling me you think I can play my iPod for 1 Day, 20 Hours, 30 Minutes, and then leave the phone on Standby for another 7 Days, 14 Hours, 24 Minutes before the battery goes kaput? Really?

--Mav

No, because if you use it more you won't get as long a standby time. As others have said, he probably was using it for low-power stuff like audio.