Genius Bar says phone isn't defective, it clearly is, what are my options?

[Bawstun]

Here is a backstory on how I use my iPhone 3GS:

Brightness: 25%
Push: Off
Bluetooth: Off
Fetch: Manually
Wifi: Off
3G: On
Autolock: 1 Minute

For a few weeks (ever since I purchased the phone, LOL) I had been wondering if I had been experiencing poor battery life. Part of me thought it was my imagination but I wasn't sure since I had never really "tested" it.

The other morning as I took the phone off the charger (on for over 6 hours, full charge), I went to work and started my "test." I had read that the specs for continuous music playback on the iPhone 3GS were 30 hours.

In my test, using NO texting, NO data, and NO calltime at all, my battery was at 7% after only 6 hours and 5 minutes of usage, and 2 hours of standby. Strictly music playback (with the screen locked/black/off).

That's less less than 25% of what Apple says!

I schedulee a Genius appt. and showed up with my phone. I said I was concerned about the battery life, showed the guy the screenshot I had taken of the phone usage where it showed 7% battery after 6 hours 5 mins of just music playback and handed him my phone. He hooked it up and said the battery usage appeared to be normal. THEN I showed him a speck of dust which has gotten under the glass and moved almost towards the middle of the screen - just a little to the left. He said since it isn't widespread, and such a small fleck (about the size of 1 pixel) that it didn't warrant a replacement phone.

Is it normal to have this bad of a Genius Bar experience? I read on here all the time about people taking their phones in with problems and they have a relatively hassle-free time of getting it fixed or replaced. I don't NEED a new phone, just fix the one I've got! I can't believe he told me the battery usage was normal when I can't even get 6 hours of music on my phone WITHOUT using it as a phone! Is he suggesting that it's "normal" I have a $599 mp3 player that can't even run 6.5 hours?

Is there anything I can do? Can I contact Apple directly? Can I complain about the Genius Bar experience and maybe get a new appointment? Do I call back again and schedule another? I really don't know what to do...

 

[abijnk]

You aren't going to be able to replicate the music playback times that Apple publishes. You have no way of knowing under what conditions they did the test, and to be honest, considering that you had 3G turned on your battery life sounds about right to me.

As for the dust, they aren't going to replace it until it gets worse. They were somewhat lenient about it in the beginning with the 3G until people started going OCD on them and it proved to be such a widespread problem.

 

[Bawstun]

I'm considering putting the phone into Airplane Mode and playing music and seeing what I get out of the battery.

I wasn't looking to get 30 hours exactly - (up from the 24 hr spec for the 3G) - but 6? That's literally 20% of what Apple says I should get.

I didn't do ANYTHING other than play music. It doesn't seem right at all to me. If I spend 15 minutes browsing on Safari I can drop the meter down 10% or more.

 

[Dmac77]

I'm considering putting the phone into Airplane Mode and playing music and seeing what I get out of the battery.

I wasn't looking to get 30 hours exactly - (up from the 24 hr spec for the 3G) - but 6? That's literally 20% of what Apple says I should get.

I didn't do ANYTHING other than play music. It doesn't seem right at all to me. If I spend 15 minutes browsing on Safari I can drop the meter down 10% or more.

I would suggest calling Apple Care. I've had much better experiences with them then I have ever had with the ***** geniuses. They may or maynot do something about your problem, but you have a much better chance with them then you do with a genius.

Don

 

[AiralynRose]

I couldnt get a genius to replace my first gen iphone that kept turning off randomly and doing some other strange things. I called AppleCare and the guy was very nice and even gave me a claim number to give to the Apple Store for them to give me a new phone.

 

[drjuice]

You aren't going to be able to replicate the music playback times that Apple publishes. You have no way of knowing under what conditions they did the test, and to be honest, considering that you had 3G turned on your battery life sounds about right to me.

As for the dust, they aren't going to replace it until it gets worse. They were somewhat lenient about it in the beginning with the 3G until people started going OCD on them and it proved to be such a widespread problem.

iPhone Battery Test Performance Information

Testing conducted by Apple in May 2009 using preproduction iPhone 3GS units and software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks, a combination of content imported from CDs using iTunes (128-Kbps AAC encoding) and content purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). All settings were default except: Call Forwarding was turned on; Wi-Fi was associated with a network; the Wi-Fi feature Ask to Join Networks and Auto-Brightness were turned off. Battery life depends on the cellular network, location, signal strength, feature configuration, usage, and many other factors. Battery tests are conducted using specific iPhone units; actual results may vary.

They'll probably tell you to Restore and then Set up as new iPhone first.

 

[Bawstun]

Since my original post I've looked into some reviews of the iphone 3G, and the reviews say that the phone, sometimes, even sailed PAST 24 hours of continous music playback. With 3G on. If this is true, and several users report in their own tests that they can achieve that on the 3G, how the hell is my phone battery not defective if I can't even get 6 and a half?

Our CNET Labs team has unveiled their battery performance results for music and video playback on the iPhone 3G. We’re still working on iPhone talk time testing and we’ll be doing another round of audio and video tests with 3G disabled–but at least we have another piece of the puzzle to add to our review.

To give the test results some context, we also retested the first-generation iPhone, and simultaneously tested a comparable 3G multimedia phone, the Samsung Instinct. Apple’s public tech specs claim the iPhone 3G is capable of up to 7 hours of video playback and 24 hours of music playback. Surprisingly, with 3G switched on the iPhone sailed past 24 hours of music playback, but tanked when it came to video. Further testing with 3G disabled may yet redeem Apple’s claim of 7 hours of video playback.

Enough talk–here’s the numbers:

Music playback battery drain

Apple iPhone 3G (Wi-Fi off, 3G on): 25.5 hours

Apple iPhone (Wi-Fi off, EDGE on): 31.4 hours

 

[Bawstun]

And here's another chart from someone else who did a test with their 3G (yes, I know I have the 3GS...supposedly it's supposed to last even longer! ROFL)

Edit: With my phone in "airplane mode" I'm able to obtain roughly almost 8 hours of continous music playback before the phone dies. Still not even 40% of what Apple claims.

 

[ArmanSLR]

I think my iPhone has a bad battery too. I just got it and I let it die then did a full charge and today it is at 54% after 3 hours of mediocre use 3g and the occaisonal text

 

[Bawstun]

I'm convinced my battery is faulty. Not HORRIBLE as some people have experienced - it doesn't die within 3 hours of taking it off the charger.

But if I've pulled up at least 10 reviews of people testing music playback CONTINOUSLY and with higher screen brightness than I am using and they are all achieving close to the 24 hours that Apple claims - and I'm only getting 6, then there's a problem.

Standby-wise the phone is great and meets specs, but if it does anything regarding internet or music...it dies...and way too fast. Almost like it's a processor/hardware problem moreso than battery.