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iPhone XR iPhone XR battery really that great?

J

jntdroid

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 12, 2011
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I have the Xr and I'm really enjoying it. I came from an 8, so it's clearly a step up in battery life. But my question is comparing to the Xs. Every battery test I'm seeing online is showing the Xs to be on par with, if not better than the battery life than the Xr. And yes I'm talking about the Xs and not the Xs Max.

I'm still within my 14 day exchange period, which is why I'm curious. I went with the Xr for the battery life, but honestly I'd prefer the smaller form factor of the Xs, and the dual lens would be a nice perk as well, assuming battery life is really that similar.

TIA!
 
If you believe Apple, the XR significantly outperforms the XS in battery life.

In some tests, the XS may outperform XR because of various issues. For example, the XS may be more likely to overheat due to the design of the logic board. This results in processor throttling, which will increase battery life.
 
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JPack said:
If you believe Apple, the XR significantly outperforms the XS in battery life.

In some tests, the XS may outperform XR because of various issues. For example, the XS may be more likely to overheat due to the design of the logic board. This results in processor throttling, which will increase battery life.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's the thing - I would like to believe Apple, but I'm seeing so many comparisons where they're similar, or the Xs outperforms, but then the reviewer will say something like, "I know that happened in that test, but in day to day use I can tell you the Xr has been rock solid for battery life."
 
The other day I charged my phone before bedtime to 100%. Then it went the whole night, the whole next day the whole night after that and I started charging at 30% in the morning times.
 
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Lekro said:
The other day I charged my phone before bedtime to 100%. Then it went the whole night, the whole next day the whole night after that and I started charging at 30% in the morning times.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's about what I'm getting as well, though I normally charge it before bed when I'm in the 35-45% range.

I found an Anandtech article that breaks it down a bit more and I *think* explains why the tests I'm seeing on Youtube, etc, are showing similar performance for the Xs and Xr:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/13912/the-apple-iphone-xr-review-brilliant-battery-life/5

It sounds like the base power consumption on the Xs is always higher than the Xr due to the screen. In all of the tests I'm seeing, they're running videos or games or performance benchmarks - things that will push the base power consumption of the Xr to the max, and likely closer to the level of the Xs.

But in normal day to day activities, the Xr's base power consumption is going to be lower than the Xs, as the Xs's is high even for doing basic things like emailing, texting, browsing, etc, due to the OLED screen.

So I *think* that's the answer... seems to make sense.
 
jntdroid said:
Yeah that's about what I'm getting as well, though I normally charge it before bed when I'm in the 35-45% range.

I found an Anandtech article that breaks it down a bit more and I *think* explains why the tests I'm seeing on Youtube, etc, are showing similar performance for the Xs and Xr:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/13912/the-apple-iphone-xr-review-brilliant-battery-life/5

It sounds like the base power consumption on the Xs is always higher than the Xr due to the screen. In all of the tests I'm seeing, they're running videos or games or performance benchmarks - things that will push the base power consumption of the Xr to the max, and likely closer to the level of the Xs.

But in normal day to day activities, the Xr's base power consumption is going to be lower than the Xs, as the Xs's is high even for doing basic things like emailing, texting, browsing, etc, due to the OLED screen.

So I *think* that's the answer... seems to make sense.
Click to expand...

It's interesting because actually one of the main selling points for me was the LCD 326 ppi screen for the XR.

I know it's less stress for the CPU/GPU which means better battery life and over the years the A12 won't take that big of a hit in performance like an XS probably will due to the higher resolution.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the 3GB vs 4GB RAM down the line.
 
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Lekro said:
It's interesting because actually one of the main selling points for me was the LCD 326 ppi screen for the XR.

I know it's less stress for the CPU/GPU which means better battery life and over the years the A12 won't take that big of a hit in performance like an XS probably will due to the higher resolution.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the 3GB vs 4GB RAM down the line.
Click to expand...
I'm willing to bet that the 3 GB of RAM will be a larger hindrance down the line than the higher resolution display. With GPU's as powerful as they are now, the differences between Xr and Xs and Xs Max performance are minute at best in terms of graphics in the real world.
 
In my opinion yes

Surpasses battery optimized versions of iOS 10 with 7+ which used to be the champ imo, tho I never had an 8+ on 11 ...

just 7+ and X on 11 which was a battery nose dive

It’s one of the best features, can confirm apples
Marketing pitch
 
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Lekro said:
It's interesting because actually one of the main selling points for me was the LCD 326 ppi screen for the XR.

I know it's less stress for the CPU/GPU which means better battery life and over the years the A12 won't take that big of a hit in performance like an XS probably will due to the higher resolution.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the 3GB vs 4GB RAM down the line.
Click to expand...

Same here - I also know I'm in the minority on this, but my eyes have always preferred LCD to OLED.

jakeuten said:
I'm willing to bet that the 3 GB of RAM will be a larger hindrance down the line than the higher resolution display. With GPU's as powerful as they are now, the differences between Xr and Xs and Xs Max performance are minute at best in terms of graphics in the real world.
Click to expand...

Maybe - but Apple does so much with so little RAM compared to other OEM's and OS's (Android...), I'm hoping that's a non-issue.
 
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XR battery is a country mile ahead of the regular XS battery which is comparable to X battery which is comparable to previous 8,7 and 6 non-Plus iPhones (i.e. garbage).

XS Max battery life is a little bit shorter than XR (but still a marked improvement. Sadly that battery has to power a gigantic screen)

XR gives me 12h of use, guaranteed (i.e. lasts a full day and then some). It's great.
 
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AppleHaterLover said:
XR battery is a country mile ahead of the regular XS battery which is comparable to X battery which is comparable to previous 8,7 and 6 non-Plus iPhones (i.e. garbage).

XS Max battery life is a little bit shorter than XR (but still a marked improvement. Sadly that battery has to power a gigantic screen)

XR gives me 12h of use, guaranteed (i.e. lasts a full day and then some). It's great.
Click to expand...
What is a country mile?
 
Resurrecting this after a few months of usage. Honestly, while I still like the Xr overall, I wouldn't recommend it over the 8 (or 8 plus for that matter) on battery alone. So I'm recanting a bit of what I said originally on that front. I do agree it's a step up from the Xs on battery life (tried one for a little while). But I'm consistently *not* seeing much better than I had on my 8. Is it a little better? Sure. And maybe that fed into a placebo affect early on when I first switched.

But I'm still needing to charge up at the end of the day like I was with my 8. There might be a 5-10% difference at the end of the day, but that's it. It's still at a point where it needs to be charged (30% vs 20-25% for example), so it hasn't made any noticeable difference in my day to day usage.

Based on everything I'm reading, this doesn't sound like the norm. But I've consistently double checked to make sure nothing is taking over in the background (I have almost everything off for background refresh, just like on my 8). My habits and usage haven't changed either. And anecdotally, it simply feels like it drains just as fast as my 8 did throughout the day. A part of me wonders if it's a cell signal issue, pointing back to the Intel modem, vs Qualcomm I had on the 8...

Anyway, just updating. Still a great phone, but for me the battery life was a big reason for choosing the Xr, and that simply hasn't been all it was touted to be.
 
EdwardC said:
I go 2 days between charges with mine.
Click to expand...

That's kind of what I was expecting, or something close. But besides a couple of days where I was in meetings all day and literally never touched my phone, I can't get anywhere near that.
 
jntdroid said:
Resurrecting this after a few months of usage. Honestly, while I still like the Xr overall, I wouldn't recommend it over the 8 (or 8 plus for that matter) on battery alone. So I'm recanting a bit of what I said originally on that front. I do agree it's a step up from the Xs on battery life (tried one for a little while). But I'm consistently *not* seeing much better than I had on my 8. Is it a little better? Sure. And maybe that fed into a placebo affect early on when I first switched.

But I'm still needing to charge up at the end of the day like I was with my 8. There might be a 5-10% difference at the end of the day, but that's it. It's still at a point where it needs to be charged (30% vs 20-25% for example), so it hasn't made any noticeable difference in my day to day usage.

Based on everything I'm reading, this doesn't sound like the norm. But I've consistently double checked to make sure nothing is taking over in the background (I have almost everything off for background refresh, just like on my 8). My habits and usage haven't changed either. And anecdotally, it simply feels like it drains just as fast as my 8 did throughout the day. A part of me wonders if it's a cell signal issue, pointing back to the Intel modem, vs Qualcomm I had on the 8...

Anyway, just updating. Still a great phone, but for me the battery life was a big reason for choosing the Xr, and that simply hasn't been all it was touted to be.
Click to expand...

The thing is, sometimes that 10-15% difference goes a long way when you are NOT yet ready to charge it.

While I would get home with X at 10-15% around 7PM, now I get home with my XR at 30-35% which means I can still use it to catch up with people/have it by my side in the kitchen/living room and finally plug it in by bedtime. It's the little things that actually makes a lot of difference.
 
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rdy0329 said:
The thing is, sometimes that 10-15% difference goes a long way when you are NOT yet ready to charge it.

While I would get home with X at 10-15% around 7PM, now I get home with my XR at 30-35% which means I can still use it to catch up with people/have it by my side in the kitchen/living room and finally plug it in by bedtime. It's the little things that actually makes a lot of difference.
Click to expand...

That's a good point for sure, I guess my expectations were maybe just a bit too high on the battery front. Still a great device overall.
 
Loving XR battery life. Even better than the OnePlus 6T and that was pretty impressive.

Right now, for the last 12 hours (full charge), my battery is exactly at 50% and I’m at 4h29m screen on time. 1+ would be about 3hours.
 
If Apple made a phone to rival the Asus Zenfone 6 or Moto G7 Power I would get it at any price. As it is, the XR with an Apple battery case is as good as it gets if you want to stick to iOS.
 
I try the battery life of new iPhones by putting them in Low Power Mode and browsing in Safari + some app downloading and all the things one does when upgrading, and the XR battery life is insane.
3.3 hours on-screen, 89% left. This is more than every other Apple device I’ve ever tried. I am actually amazed. Initially I thought, well, it cannot be THAT much better than my previous 7+ on iOS 10. I’m glad to say it’s way better than that. Incredible.
For the record, the 7+ had two hours of usage with 90% remaining, and a 6s on iOS 9 lasted around 4.25 hours with 50% remaining.
Total battery life of the 6s was around 8.5-9 hours, and the 7+ was at 11-12.
 
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