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Kottu

macrumors 6502a
Sep 21, 2014
761
859
I sleep with my watch and use it all day on LTE without my phone, prefer using the AW as my main device, iphone remains turned off/at home.

Some of my use cases every day.
Imessage, check gmail and whatsap notifications, some SIRI, adding calendar appointments, checking crypto stats, record my exercises through STRAVA and have them directly uploaded from the watch, doing payments from the watch.

I charge it daily from 60%~ battery to full in a hour or so at night time before i go to bed.
Sleeping with the watch cost me around ~10% battery life, theatermode on, because i dont want to be disturbed then.

For everyone reading that thinks these results can be achieved with normal usage as intended.

It is not a garmin, and i am not going to turn off AOD, LTE, and lots of features on a 800 dollar watch to gain a few more hours lol, fun for a experiment, but keep in mind you have a 800 dollar casio watch than that tells you the time vs a smart watch.

Some people get a kick out of charging the watch as little as possible but at 800 USD for the AW U and then to turn off a lot of smart watch features, is interesting, i would almost say why not use a casio that runs of a single battery for years and years, even with AOD on ;)

In regards of my battery consumption:
MOST people dont use their AW standalone via LTE every single day like i do, so your battery life expectations per day will be better then mine. But it is perfect now for me compared to my old AW4 LTE.
I like your argument. It's easy to get obsessed with battery life and health. I use my ultra during the day and AW6 at night.( Easy to sleep with) I turn off Ultra when I am not using it. So I get few days of battery life. There should be a ultra power saving mode in AW when you are not wearing it and not on a charger.
 
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Davelfc

macrumors 6502
Mar 2, 2014
390
651
Liverpool
It seems that ‘look at me I’ve got an apple Watch’ or AOD as it’s called uses a fair amount of battery. I turned it on once when I got the first Apple Watch with it, but I prefer a more discreet watch so turned it off. I don’t see the logic in having a display for others when I am not watching my watch, the activation of the screen awakening when you look at your watch is momentary and worth the wait. The benefit of course is longer battery life which would appear to be the most requested feature of owners.
 
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alongdingdong

macrumors regular
Jul 16, 2014
209
211
It seems that ‘look at me I’ve got an apple Watch’ or AOD as it’s called uses a fair amount of battery. I turned it on once when I got the first Apple Watch with it, but I prefer a more discreet watch so turned it off. I don’t see the logic in having a display for others when I am not watching my watch, the activation of the screen awakening when you look at your watch is momentary and worth the wait. The benefit of course is longer battery life which would appear to be the most requested feature of owners.
I dont think most people use it to show off, first off all the apple watch is not too expensive.
Mine is on but under my sleeve most of the time, i have had my AW4 for four years without AOD and after a period of getting used to i prefer AOD now.
 

Davelfc

macrumors 6502
Mar 2, 2014
390
651
Liverpool
I dont think most people use it to show off, first off all the apple watch is not too expensive.
Mine is on but under my sleeve most of the time, i have had my AW4 for four years without AOD and after a period of getting used to i prefer AOD now.
Always on, under your sleeve. Makes sense.
 

dubvulture

macrumors regular
Mar 15, 2015
179
469
I guess when I wear my old analog watch I should attach a paper flap to cover the face, lest anyone think I’m trying to show off.

I’m kidding of course. Isn’t it nice that we have the option to turn AOD on or off to our liking?
 

BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,032
Absolutely loving how I only have to charge this thing once every couple days and if I wanted to 3 is easy to do.

Thanks to Tivoboy’s post above - we know that AOD does use a significant % of battery. I prefer it off because I find AOD very distracting for me personally. I am very glad we have the option :).
 

alongdingdong

macrumors regular
Jul 16, 2014
209
211
Turned off AOD, i gave in lol.
Seems like a improvement in battery usage after a night of sleep tracking and a day standalone via LTE, currently in the 70~% battery before i charge it where it was in mid 55/65% earlier.

Honestly ending a day at 60~ 70% gives me a bit more piece of mind as i then still have a good reserve if i have to make several phone calls/exercises recorded that day IF needed.

AOD seems indeed to be using needless power (5/10%? )
Also need to find out if in sleepmode i can have it set automatically to flight mode + teather mode on.
 
Last edited:
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BenGoren

macrumors 6502
Jun 10, 2021
499
1,421
Anyone have an idea of how much power the Hey Siri setting takes?

Hmm … I don’t think that’s the right question.

The first question: are you running out of battery? If not, you’re suffering from premature optimization and should ask your doctor about the latest miracle drug from your favorite multinational pharmaceutical megacorporation.

If you have an Ultra and you’re running out of battery … your problem isn’t “Hey Siri.” Your problem most likely is that you’re forgetting to charge it when you jump in the shower.

And if you’re “off-grid” for more than a couple days, either you’ve forgotten to turn on low-power mode or you have unrealistic expectations from the device.

In all seriousness, the Ultra is the first watch from Apple where almost nobody using the device in a reasonable manner has to worry about eking out every last drop of battery.

Yes, yes — there are very vocal special snowflakes who hike the Appalachian Trail wearing nothing but bearskins and a smartwatch, and the watch dies on them after 60 hours into a 64-hour marathon sprint the whole length of the trail. And there are others who are disappointed that they can’t talk non-stop on the phone while on an all-day tour of the Manhattan subway system with GPS always on to tell them which station they’re at.

My case is much more typical, I should think. I have all the features turned on — AOD, “Hey Siri,” auto-detect workouts, high heart rate alerts, the works. Many days I’m putting in an half-hour bodyweight workout plus an hour or more total of multiple outdoor walking workouts (just walking from one end of campus to the other — but it counts, right?). I’m not shy about leaving my phone behind; nor am I shy about making calls with the watch. Even when I have my watch with me, it’s almost always in the backpack and I’m using the watch for phone-type things (like messaging, calendar, navigation, etc.).

I put the watch on the charger before I get in the shower and put it back on my wrist after I’m done shaving and the like.

And I don’t think I’ve ever seen the battery lower than 20%. Ever. Usually, it’s charged to 80% - 95% after the shower, and it’s down to 40% - 60% the next day.

So why should you, I, or anybody else care how much battery “Hey Siri” uses?

Do you worry about how much gasoline your car’s stereo uses?

b&
 

BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,032
Hmm … I don’t think that’s the right question.

The first question: are you running out of battery? If not, you’re suffering from premature optimization and should ask your doctor about the latest miracle drug from your favorite multinational pharmaceutical megacorporation.

If you have an Ultra and you’re running out of battery … your problem isn’t “Hey Siri.” Your problem most likely is that you’re forgetting to charge it when you jump in the shower.

And if you’re “off-grid” for more than a couple days, either you’ve forgotten to turn on low-power mode or you have unrealistic expectations from the device.

In all seriousness, the Ultra is the first watch from Apple where almost nobody using the device in a reasonable manner has to worry about eking out every last drop of battery.

Yes, yes — there are very vocal special snowflakes who hike the Appalachian Trail wearing nothing but bearskins and a smartwatch, and the watch dies on them after 60 hours into a 64-hour marathon sprint the whole length of the trail. And there are others who are disappointed that they can’t talk non-stop on the phone while on an all-day tour of the Manhattan subway system with GPS always on to tell them which station they’re at.

My case is much more typical, I should think. I have all the features turned on — AOD, “Hey Siri,” auto-detect workouts, high heart rate alerts, the works. Many days I’m putting in an half-hour bodyweight workout plus an hour or more total of multiple outdoor walking workouts (just walking from one end of campus to the other — but it counts, right?). I’m not shy about leaving my phone behind; nor am I shy about making calls with the watch. Even when I have my watch with me, it’s almost always in the backpack and I’m using the watch for phone-type things (like messaging, calendar, navigation, etc.).

I put the watch on the charger before I get in the shower and put it back on my wrist after I’m done shaving and the like.

And I don’t think I’ve ever seen the battery lower than 20%. Ever. Usually, it’s charged to 80% - 95% after the shower, and it’s down to 40% - 60% the next day.

So why should you, I, or anybody else care how much battery “Hey Siri” uses?

Do you worry about how much gasoline your car’s stereo uses?

b&
Oh yeah I was just asking from pure curiosity's standpoint. Ever since Hey Siri came out I have always had it off because I don't like the idea of something always listening to what I say. Was considering turning it back on and just curious how much additional battery something like that consumes. I imagine AOD is probably one of the more battery intensive things.

I absolutely love this watch. I recently had to do a 13+ hour shift away from a desk/computer and I was still 80%+ (I had AOD off and had a long sleeve sweater on). (86% if I remember right). lol.

Yep, I charge only when I'm showering usually and I use a slow charger with a USB A cable (my AW3 cable lol) - the USB C cable charges the dang thing to 100% so fast.


Being able to ask Siri to set a timer instead of holding down a button seems like something that would benefit my life right now. :p
 

Kottu

macrumors 6502a
Sep 21, 2014
761
859
I turned off both Hey Siri and raised to talk. Not for saving battery but for preventing unnecessary talk with her. With a louder speaker in Ultra, I don't intend to make people around me confused.
 

tivoboy

macrumors 601
May 15, 2005
4,044
847
Anyone have an idea of how much power the Hey Siri setting takes?
When you posted this I was currently in a new test of the various Siri functions. I've just completed the one test of "raise to speak" which then will invoke Siri with just a phrase. "whats the weather" or "show me my reminders". Oddly, I think this version of Siri activation doesn't have a broad a list of siri phrases that either listen for "hey siri" does or Press Digital Crown to invoke Siri.

I could be wrong, but it just seemed that it wasn't ready for any more complex things. Surely one can't just raise the wrist and day "what is 17 times 400?" The watch has no idea that your SPEAKING is something it should be LISTENING to. So, yeah its more limited.

And with that, here are the results.

Turning on "raise to speak" but not "listen for Hey Siri" does NOTHING to the battery life. I continued to get 72 hours easily with about 8-10% remaining.

I'm one day now into a test of listen for "Hey Siri". I'll let you know a couple more days.
 
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Kottu

macrumors 6502a
Sep 21, 2014
761
859
I use to turn off my AWU when I am at home and not using it. This morning I had around 65% of battery life. AOD was on but I didn't use my watch other than checking time. Within 10 hrs, battery went down to 9%. This has never happened before. Is it possible to check which app was draining it? EC87A612-5A97-45C6-8F15-821EC1BCD0B7.jpeg
 

brucel86

macrumors newbie
May 17, 2015
21
5
Charged mine at 100% yesterday evening (10 pm local time), used it for sleep tracking. Now it’s 11 am, it’s 86%. Not sure if it’s great or not…

i was planing to charge it every two days so for me to keep his promise, it needs to stay alive until tomorrow 10 pm. I’m not sure it will make it
Keep in mind if the colors on your watch face. If it’s white it will eat up battery and if your gps/compass on your watch face is active it will also eat battery. You can turn off sensors you don’t use and this watch face allows to to turn the crown to turn red which uses the least amount of battery. I Almost got 3 days by turning off all sensors and used that watch face, but I’m happy charging it the 3rd day and keep in mind I’m not that active so I think the norm is 2 day 🔋
 

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The Game 161

macrumors Nehalem
Dec 15, 2010
30,882
20,121
UK
I tend to leave raise to wake off not just for battery but seems more natural on an AOD watch. since launch I've basically been averaging two days of battery life. it's good to know though if I did decide to out on low power mode it could last me 75-80 hours if need be if I had it on low power mode the whole time.

I've stopped trying to obsess over it though and just use it normally and when it needs charging to charge it. hardly a deal breaker. if it's on say 30% when I get up for work at 6am I know Low power mode on all day will get me when I get home about 18.00 to then charge it.

with low power mode off when I sleep it tends to lose about 10-11% overnight sleeping.with low power mode on about 6%
 
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alongdingdong

macrumors regular
Jul 16, 2014
209
211
AOD off,
Raise wrist off
Theater mode and silent mode on
Paired with my phone.

16% battery loss overnight... kinda excessive out of nowhere, no apps running.
 

brucel86

macrumors newbie
May 17, 2015
21
5
I have everything on and took off the charger at 6 and it's now about 2. I have 91% and I would reset the watch to factory to see if the problem still occurs. If it will does just call 800 MY APPLE as it should be covered under warranty even if you didn't get AppleCare, but I'm happy to pay $4.99 a month to never have to worry about anything on my watch or most devices.
 

JTan24

macrumors member
Nov 12, 2016
41
32
I wore the Ultra for the first time to bed for sleep tracking. Sleep focus mode on from 11pm to 6.30am.

Battery dropped 8%. Does this sound high?
Hmm that does sound a little high consider it's a new watch. I took mine off the charger at 1am and sleep tracked for 7 hours in sleep focus mode. Woke up with 96%.
 

brucel86

macrumors newbie
May 17, 2015
21
5
Hmm that does sound a little high consider it's a new watch. I took mine off the charger at 1am and sleep tracked for 7 hours in sleep focus mode. Woke up with 96%.
I went to bed @9 with 77%🔋woke up @6:30 with 64 so I don’t think it’s a big issue. I know when I go to bed with a full battery I would expect to lose about 10% depending on your watch face. I honestly wouldn’t worry unless you are having to charge every night like we do our phones
 

BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,032
Last charged to 100% - Monday at 1:58pm. It’s currently Wednesday at 7am and I’m at 57%. Crazy battery life.
Heh sorry, have to post this... first time I've gone below 50% on my Ultra since owning it. LOL. Monday - Wednesday.

So Monday at 1:58pm I charged the watch to 100% and Wednesday at 1:45 it's at 49%.

Always On off, Hey Siri off, Blood Oxygen Off - other than that, all default (how I've always done my AWs).


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