Other i'm leaving the iPhone

[firelighter487]

so i daily'd an iPhone SE second gen for the last 2 and half or so years, and i'm leaving the iPhone now.

the reason is battery life. it was ok when my SE was new, but now it's at the point where it's basically empty around dinner time, which is not fun. i'm not a heavy phone user either. i don't play games or watch movies on them, i use my computer for all of that. my phone is used for music while i'm cycling (an hour or so a day), texting and a bit of scrolling twitter when i'm outside smoking. totalling 2 hours ish of screen on time a day and an hour of screen off playing music a day.

the phone i'm switching to is an old one i bought from a friend of mine. it's a midrange phone from 3 years ago, an Oppo A72. the reason for the switch is this:

now, i haven't charged it since i got it from him. i did an OS update as it had been collecting dust for a year since he bought an iPhone 11, i installed all my apps, synced all my stuff and then used it like i normally do. all without charging it at all. and i got more than 2 days.

mind you, this phone is old. it's not brand new by any means.

this brings me onto my rant about the iPhone. why can't Apple put a decent battery in the lower end models? this Oppo was a midrange phone around the same time my SE 2 was new, and look at the difference. it doesn't take much browsing around either to find that most low end android phones that cost less than the cheapest iphone have WAY bigger batteries. why can't Apple do that?

i know if you buy a high end iPhone, you won't have problems. but why must apple be so mean to the lower end phone market? why not put a decent battery in those? i simply don't understand it.

 

[iphonehype]

If you buy high end everything is better, it’s the laws of life. Also Apple protect their brand and known to be a more expensive phone than others hardly do sales etc

 

[eyoungren]

so i daily'd an iPhone SE second gen for the last 2 and half or so years, and i'm leaving the iPhone now.

the reason is battery life. it was ok when my SE was new, but now it's at the point where it's basically empty around dinner time, which is not fun. i'm not a heavy phone user either. i don't play games or watch movies on them, i use my computer for all of that. my phone is used for music while i'm cycling (an hour or so a day), texting and a bit of scrolling twitter when i'm outside smoking. totalling 2 hours ish of screen on time a day and an hour of screen off playing music a day.

the phone i'm switching to is an old one i bought from a friend of mine. it's a midrange phone from 3 years ago, an Oppo A72. the reason for the switch is this:

now, i haven't charged it since i got it from him. i did an OS update as it had been collecting dust for a year since he bought an iPhone 11, i installed all my apps, synced all my stuff and then used it like i normally do. all without charging it at all. and i got more than 2 days.

mind you, this phone is old. it's not brand new by any means.

this brings me onto my rant about the iPhone. why can't Apple put a decent battery in the lower end models? this Oppo was a midrange phone around the same time my SE 2 was new, and look at the difference. it doesn't take much browsing around either to find that most low end android phones that cost less than the cheapest iphone have WAY bigger batteries. why can't Apple do that?

i know if you buy a high end iPhone, you won't have problems. but why must apple be so mean to the lower end phone market? why not put a decent battery in those? i simply don't understand it.

I would suspect that Apple's focus is primarily upon the camera. At least it seems to be the dominant issue with them. I suppose they figure that with plenty of options to charge your device it really doesn't matter.

And the bloody screaming murder that would result from sacrificing camera features for a bigger battery is probably something they want to avoid.

 

[firelighter487]

I would suspect that Apple's focus is primarily upon the camera. At least it seems to be the dominant issue with them.
*snip*
And the bloody screaming murder that would result from sacrificing camera features for a bigger battery is probably something they want to avoid.

the camera module is in the corner of the device. the battery is not. on what planet would fitting a better camera result in a smaller battery?

I suppose they figure that with plenty of options to charge your device it really doesn't matter.

...what? wireless charging is slow and takes forever, cable is faster but i don't wanna charge my phone twice a day, sometimes 3 if i happen to need it for something heavier like navigation. that's insane to use as an argument.

 

[FeliApple]

iOS 16 is that bad? A 2nd-gen iPhone SE can’t get 2 hours of SOT and one hour of music with battery left?

I don’t even think iOS 16 is the culprit, there has to be something else going on. Yes, 4.7-inch iPhones don’t have amazing battery life, but it should be enough for that without breaking a sweat.

Apple chose the 4.7-inch design as its canvas for the 2nd and 3rd-gen iPhone SE, and battery life is one drawback, yes, but it shouldn’t be that poor.

 

[okkibs]

I have the same iPhone and after less than 3 years it's down to 80% capacity, loses 15-20% battery overnight on airplane mode with Wifi on, and if I actually use it I'll need to charge it at least twice a day. Hence it's got 1k charge cycles on it.

I fully understand your frustration, but the priority with the SE is to give you a fast responsive iOS experience with most of the software features that an iPhone Pro has. That old hardware design and those lackluster specs for display and so on, and especially the battery, that's what makes the SE cheaper in the first place.

You want just an increase in battery life, others would say, if they just added this camera lens/feature, and the next user wants something else. That phone already exists, it's the regular iPhone. I agree with you that it's expensive and I chose the SE as well just like you, but I waited for reviews and I saw that the SE had quite some limitations and I decided I'd be okay with that.

About that Android phone: Sorry but it's trash, and I say that using a Pixel as my main phone, actually I prefer Android over iOS. I do not trust a company like Oppo to release security updates on time and update Android regularly, I do not trust them to have implemented security features correctly such as secure boot that prevents third parties from gaining access without knowing your lock code, and secure enclave that stores data such as fingerprints or face unlock.

In fact, there currently is no Android phone other than the discontinued Pixel 4 that has a safe, biometric face unlock. Yet many phones offer it, for example Oneplus does, that Oppo is based on, so perhaps that Oppo you have now supports it too? But it actually just takes a photo of your face, and you can literally trick it to unlock your phone if someone holds a photo of your face to the camera. Oneplus phones have been shown to be unlockable that way.

And then the Android will be not the clean stock Android that you get on a Google Pixel, there will be preinstalled apps that might phone home and that I can't even remove... and once you get a Pixel that has none of these issues, you're almost back in the iPhone pricing territory.

I don’t even think iOS 16 is the culprit, there has to be something else going on.

Yes, the battery life on my 2nd gen SE wasn't great to begin with, so i racked up 1k charge cycles in 2.5 years. OP's battery is very likely shot on a 2+ years old SE that still has the original battery installed.

why can't Apple do that?

The simple reality is that if they did that they'd charge more for the SE. You'd want the better battery at the same price point but that's not how Apple runs its business. Their thinking is that after 2.5 years with the SE you'd have Airpods, maybe an Apple Watch, perhaps even an iPad or a Mac, and that you'll fix the poor SE battery life by upgrading to a new more expensive iPhone.

And I don't think there is anything wrong with this, we knew back from the first iPhone SE that battery life wouldn't be good, we knew that the SE is neutered to get the price down, and there is always the option to replace the battery for $70. Check your battery health, mine says service required now and I am sure yours is pretty shot too.

 

[FeliApple]

Yes, the battery life on my 2nd gen SE wasn't great to begin with, so i racked up 1k charge cycles in 2.5 years. OP's battery is very likely shot on a 2+ years old SE that still has the original battery installed.

I don’t think battery health is all too relevant, honestly. My 63% health iPhone 6s on iOS 10 is amazing with the 7-year-old original battery and almost 1500 cycles.

That’s why I ask whether iOS 16 could be that poor. Either iOS 16 obliterated the 2nd-gen SE, or the user’s usage is too heavy (perhaps too many settings on, and brightness may be too high).

It’s likely that OP’s usage pattern is simply incompatible with the device. You want the SE? Light to moderate use. If you need more, I’d get something else.

 

[eyoungren]

…and once you get a Pixel that has none of these issues, you're almost back in the iPhone pricing territory.

My wife and I went with the Pixel 3a XL in May 2020. Plastic and glass, but it only cost about $400. At the time I wanted to try Android again, but wasn't willing to pay the expense of a pricier Pixel only to find out I didn't care for Android.

Android was much improved and both my wife and I still have an use our Pixels - but we went back to iOS with the 11 Pro Max nine months later.

Not sure if Google is doing a version of the Pixel like this now.

 

[3166792]

i know if you buy a high end iPhone, you won't have problems. but why must apple be so mean to the lower end phone market? why not put a decent battery in those? i simply don't understand it.

Most of it is already battery. It's just a very small and thin form factor. Your new Oppo is nearly twice the volume and has a 5000 mAh battery.

For what it's worth, my 2020 SE lasts a day with battery to spare and always has. Yesterday I finished the day with 4h5m screen on time and 3 hours screen off time with 35% when I plugged in before bed.

 

[Choco Taco]

The SE has garbage battery life. It's always been that way. The smaller the phone, the worse the battery life. If you get a similarly-sized Android phone, you'd have even worse battery life. If you want longer battery life, get a bigger phone. Period.

 

[sorgo †]

An ex of mine went through a couple second-gen SEs—both had just abysmal battery life. One of the worst iPhones ever released for that reason alone IMO.

The third gen is much improved but still nowhere near your old midrange Android phone. Anyway, thanks for the thread—it’s already fun watching the mental gymnastics in defense of Apple’s greed.

 

[sorgo †]

The SE has garbage battery life. It's always been that way. The smaller the phone, the worse the battery life. If you get a similarly-sized Android phone, you'd have even worse battery life. If you want longer battery life, get a bigger phone. Period.

Wrong. I had a first-gen SE that I took with me on a month-long trip to Japan in 2016 and it was quite excellent in terms of battery life; the third-gen SE was shockingly good on battery in the week-and-a-half I spent playing with one. The second-gen was a tragic embarrassment of a product, one of the worst misses by Apple because of absolutely inexcusably tragic battery life. It’s like they wanted to torture poor people or something. Sorry OP had to experience that.

 

[Choco Taco]

An ex of mine went through a couple second-gen SEs—both had just abysmal battery life. One of the worst iPhones ever released for that reason alone IMO.

The third gen is much improved but still nowhere near your old midrange Android phone. Anyway, thanks for the thread—it’s already fun watching the mental gymnastics in defense of Apple’s greed.

I went to the SE a couple of times mistakingly thinking I'll like it. The battery life zapped me back to reality both times. I'm now on the largest phone Apple offers and charge my phone once every two days. I can't deal with needing-to-be-near-a-charger anxiety.

 

[Choco Taco]

Wrong. I had a first-gen SE that I took with me on a month-long trip to Japan in 2016 and it was quite excellent in terms of battery life; the third-gen SE was shockingly good on battery in the week-and-a-half I spent playing with one. The second-gen was a tragic embarrassment of a product, one of the worst misses by Apple because of absolutely inexcusably tragic battery life. It’s like they wanted to torture poor people or something. Sorry OP had to experience that.

No, the SE has garbage battery life. This isn't some metric that's based on opinion. It is far and away the worst battery life of any phone Apple makes.

 

[FeliApple]

Wrong. I had a first-gen SE that I took with me on a month-long trip to Japan in 2016 and it was quite excellent in terms of battery life; the third-gen SE was shockingly good on battery in the week-and-a-half I spent playing with one. The second-gen was a tragic embarrassment of a product, one of the worst misses by Apple because of absolutely inexcusably tragic battery life. It’s like they wanted to torture poor people or something. Sorry OP had to experience that.

The 1st-gen SE on iOS 9 or 10 has a great battery life! It was closer to the 6s Plus than it was to the 6s. I think that says everything.

 

[sorgo †]

I went to the SE a couple of times mistakingly thinking I'll like it. The battery life zapped me back to reality both times. I'm now on the largest phone Apple offers and charge my phone once every two days. I can't deal with needing-to-be-near-a-charger anxiety.

Apple users think only in terms of classic first-world problems; just throw more money at it and it will be better! Yeah, that’s great for you and the other people who want to carry around a heavy, lumpy, overpriced phablet of a “phone” but just because a phone is compact or less expensive doesn’t mean it should have a battery powered by dishwater.

 

[sorgo †]

No, the SE has garbage battery life. This isn't some metric that's based on opinion. It is far and away the worst battery life of any phone Apple makes.

Yes everything on Apple’s website is Biblical truth and there’s no possible way such a thing could vary between users or devices! It’s all just so painfully…simple! 🫨

…As if.

 

[Choco Taco]

Apple users think only in terms of classic first-world problems; just throw more money at it and it will be better! Yeah, that’s great for you and the other people who want to carry around a heavy, lumpy, overpriced phablet of a “phone” but just because a phone is compact or less expensive doesn’t mean it should have a battery powered by dishwater.

This isn't a first-world problem. It's physics. The smaller the battery, the more quickly it's going to die. Getting mad that bigger phones have better battery life and you don't want to spend money on those bigger phones has nothing to do with people being snobby or pretentious. It's physics. If you want better battery life, either get a bigger phone, get a battery case to extend battery life, or have a portable battery charger with you in case you need to charge your phone in a pinch. You can also get used, big iPhones on Swappa for significantly less money than you would have paid new. You don't need to buy the shiniest big thing to get better battery life. The only way for smaller batteries to last longer is for Apple to keep doing their best to implement efficient software to minimize battery usage. And they do that better than most companies. But you can't defy physics.

Yes everything on Apple’s website is Biblical truth and there’s no possible way such a thing could vary between users or devices! It’s all just so painfully…simple! 🫨

…As if.

This has nothing to do with anyone's feelings toward Apple. Smaller batteries have smaller battery life.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

so i daily'd an iPhone SE second gen for the last 2 and half or so years, and i'm leaving the iPhone now.

the reason is battery life. it was ok when my SE was new, but now it's at the point where it's basically empty around dinner time, which is not fun. i'm not a heavy phone user either. i don't play games or watch movies on them, i use my computer for all of that. my phone is used for music while i'm cycling (an hour or so a day), texting and a bit of scrolling twitter when i'm outside smoking. totalling 2 hours ish of screen on time a day and an hour of screen off playing music a day.

the phone i'm switching to is an old one i bought from a friend of mine. it's a midrange phone from 3 years ago, an Oppo A72. the reason for the switch is this:

now, i haven't charged it since i got it from him. i did an OS update as it had been collecting dust for a year since he bought an iPhone 11, i installed all my apps, synced all my stuff and then used it like i normally do. all without charging it at all. and i got more than 2 days.

mind you, this phone is old. it's not brand new by any means.

this brings me onto my rant about the iPhone. why can't Apple put a decent battery in the lower end models? this Oppo was a midrange phone around the same time my SE 2 was new, and look at the difference. it doesn't take much browsing around either to find that most low end android phones that cost less than the cheapest iphone have WAY bigger batteries. why can't Apple do that?

i know if you buy a high end iPhone, you won't have problems. but why must apple be so mean to the lower end phone market? why not put a decent battery in those? i simply don't understand it.

You test drove the worst iPhone. Get a 14/Plus or 14 Pro/Max. Then use that for a couple of years. Battery is better, and no other display or camera are even close.

 

[Choco Taco]

You test drove the worst iPhone. Get a 14/Plus or 14 Pro/Max. Then use that for a couple of years. Battery is better, and no other display or camera are even close.

The camera in the 14 is great, but the post-processing is absolute garbage, which has led me to take pics with third-party camera software.

 

[sorgo †]

This isn't a first-world problem. It's physics. The smaller the battery, the more quickly it's going to die. Getting mad that bigger phones have better battery life and you don't want to spend money on those bigger phones has nothing to do with people being snobby or pretentious. It's physics. If you want better battery life, either get a bigger phone, get a battery case to extend battery life, or have a portable battery charger with you in case you need to charge your phone in a pinch. You can also get used, big iPhones on Swappa for significantly less money than you would have paid new. You don't need to buy the shiniest big thing to get better battery life. The only way for smaller batteries to last longer is for Apple to keep doing their best to implement efficient software to minimize battery usage. And they do that better than most companies. But you can't defy physics.

Okay, if size is everything, why is my 13 mini so much better in battery life than my old 6.1” iPhone 12? And for that matter how did that third-gen SE I mentioned testing outperform my 13 mini with its even smaller battery?

 

[Sami13496]

In my country they still sell iPhone 11 (new, not refurbished) for 499€. That one has a great battery life for reasonable price.

 

[Choco Taco]

Okay, if size is everything, why is my 13 mini so much better in battery life than my old 6.1” iPhone 12? And for that matter how did that third-gen SE I mentioned testing outperform my 13 mini with its even smaller battery?

The A15 chip is more power efficient than the A14 chip.

 

[sorgo †]

The A15 chip is more power efficient than the A14 chip.

So you agree…it’s more than just battery size.

 

[Choco Taco]

So you agree…it’s more than just battery size.

Yes. Power efficiency means less drain on the battery. More efficient software as well. There are many variables. But when you compare various products of the same generation that are all using similar components, the only thing that's left that matters is battery size. Your desire for the laws of physics to change still isn't going to happen.