# iPhone 5 Battery Life and Rogers LTE



## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

Hey All,

So I've been very disappointed with my iPhone 5 Battery life and was wondering if the real culprit is Rogers shoddy LTE. I only ask because I've been noticing that the phone doesn't get nearly as many bars on LTE as it does 3G (Note: I live around Bathurst/Eglinton) and is often switching between 3G and LTE.

Figured I'd throw this theory out there and see what anyone else has experience?

(Today I've decided to disable LTE and see if the phone lasts longer on 3G, I'll update tomorrow)


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## Rounder (Aug 9, 2008)

Yeah I've somewhat noticed the battery draining faster than usual. Look forward to hearing the results of your experiment tomorrow!

I myself today am running the battery to 0% to do a full cycle. I've already noticed the percentage indicator is off. I unplugged my iPhone this morning and immediately it dropped to 97%, when I got to work, it was at 94%. I rebooted the phone and when it restarted it was at 100%.

Needs a cycle me thinks.


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## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

I'm also seeing a decrease in battery life.

I charge my phone before going to sleep, and usually it drops around 10% overnight. I'm seeing a consistent 20% or so drop with the iPhone 5 over the same 8-9 hour period of idle time.


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## Seagull21 (Sep 23, 2008)

I also wouldn't be surprised if it's LTE. I've been playing with my push and notification settings to try and get better battery life. Waiting for Emalen's report back.

EDIT: My LTE isn't working at all now at home. 

EDIT 2: Still out, but I've been at 1% battery for about an hour now, mostly standby, some imessages. A calibration is in order.


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## Tech Elementz (Mar 15, 2011)

iPhone 5 Battery Life May Be Impacted Greatly by Cellular Signal Strength - Mac Rumors

It seems to have become a known issue by a lot of people now. This MacRumors article should fill in the details about this issue.


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## Adguyy (Jun 11, 2008)

It's Rogers LTE, I turn LTE off for the day and my battery life was so much better. The switching between LTE and G3 sucks the life out of the battery. Hopefully it be fixed soon.


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## Benito (Nov 17, 2007)

That is interesting. I wonder if turning on the Do Not Disturb helps with battery drain overnight. It probably helps at least a bit since the screen won't activate with notifications.


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## Rounder (Aug 9, 2008)

Well, I'm conducting a test of my own. Last night I drained the battery to 0%, and calibrated. I unplugged it at 7:00am, sent a few text messages and it's still at 100% right now. (17 min usage, 2.5 hours standby). Yesterday I was already at 85% at this time.

Also, for some strange reason, I find that plugging it into a computer vs. wall makes a difference. Don't know why, but I'm not plugging it into my Mac overnight anymore to test.

I'll report battery status and usage tonight before I plug it in.


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## cchaynes (Oct 25, 2007)

i picked mine up and have yet to even see the phone go into LTE, and i am at yonge and eg. Pretty bad.

and the phone behave in 3g like in 2g (it gets white hot and drains quickly)

so far, happy to report that i am selling it and moving my business to bell!


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## fyrefly (Apr 16, 2005)

I'm getting much worse battery life on my iPhone 5 than I was on my iPhone 4. LTE might be to blame. That MacRumors article certainly sounds valid. But I get full bars downtown TO - if the signal's not good here, than where *would* it be good? Jeez.

But seriously, on LTE I can literally watch my battery life drop a percentage point every few mins. Even on standby I lose battery life percentage every few mins. Glad to at least know I don't have a lemon... or do we *all* have lemons?

cchaynes, have you updated your carrier settings? On my Fido iPhone 5 I had to update the carrier settings from 13 to 13.1 before I could get LTE working.


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## Rounder (Aug 9, 2008)

fyrefly said:


> I'm getting much worse battery life on my iPhone 5 than I was on my iPhone 4. LTE might be to blame. That MacRumors article certainly sounds valid. But I get full bars downtown TO - if the signal's not good here, than where *would* it be good? Jeez.
> 
> But seriously, on LTE I can literally watch my battery life drop a percentage point every few mins. Even on standby I lose battery life percentage every few mins. Glad to at least know I don't have a lemon... or do we *all* have lemons?
> 
> cchaynes, have you updated your carrier settings? On my Fido iPhone 5 I had to update the carrier settings from 13 to 13.1 before I could get LTE working.


Have you calibrated your phones battery? Mine is holding up much better today. Light surfing, texting and emailing, oh and downloaded Bad Piggies  and my battery is at 87%. 

I dunno, but mine is definitely better. I reset the settings two days ago which seemed to have made it worse, and then calibrated the battery yesterday. There's an improvement for sure on my end. My LTE at work downtown Ottawa is generally between 3-5 bars depending on my location in the building. At home, I only get 3 bars of LTE (but still achieve 30Mbps +).

If you have time, I would try what I've tried. What have you got to lose? It takes 2 full days and a couple of settings to redo...


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## Adguyy (Jun 11, 2008)

Rounder said:


> Have you calibrated your phones battery? Mine is holding up much better today. Light surfing, texting and emailing, oh and downloaded Bad Piggies  and my battery is at 87%.
> 
> I dunno, but mine is definitely better. I reset the settings two days ago which seemed to have made it worse, and then calibrated the battery yesterday. There's an improvement for sure on my end. My LTE at work downtown Ottawa is generally between 3-5 bars depending on my location in the building. At home, I only get 3 bars of LTE (but still achieve 30Mbps +).
> 
> If you have time, I would try what I've tried. What have you got to lose? It takes 2 full days and a couple of settings to redo...


how do you calibrate the iPhone 5?


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## Rounder (Aug 9, 2008)

Adguyy said:


> how do you calibrate the iPhone 5?


Run it until the battery shuts itself off, wait let it sit off for 5 minutes or so, and then plug it into the wall charger to charge at 100% (do not disturb it while it charges). Best to do this before bed.


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## Adguyy (Jun 11, 2008)

Rounder said:


> Run it until the battery shuts itself off, wait let it sit off for 5 minutes or so, and then plug it into the wall charger to charge at 100% (do not disturb it while it charges). Best to do this before bed.



thanks I'll try that tonight.


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## Seagull21 (Sep 23, 2008)

I feel mine is running a little better after a calibration. Still nothing special though.


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## voyager_rob (Oct 11, 2009)

Running the battery to '0' will decrease battery life. This type of chemistry works best if you DON'T run it down.


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## Rounder (Aug 9, 2008)

voyager_rob said:


> Running the battery to '0' will decrease battery life. This type of chemistry works best if you DON'T run it down.


While this is true, it's still good practice when getting a new device. First thing I calibrate, and then usually I never require it again. My 4S was only calibrated once, and it has stellar battery life. 

Definitely don't run the battery down every time you charge or more than once a month.


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## ldphoto (Jul 9, 2009)

voyager_rob said:


> Running the battery to '0' will decrease battery life. This type of chemistry works best if you DON'T run it down.


Many devices keep a buffer zone in the battery. When it says 0%, it's not really 0, it's just the lowest that the engineering team was willing to let the battery discharge.

I'm not sure if apple has done this or not, but it would make sense.


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## Biti (May 26, 2005)

So far my iPhone 5 is using less juice than my 4S and I'm in the LTE reception area. I did have a problem with the 4S draining down overnight to 75% of full charge when it was plugged into the computer. The iPhone 5 isn't doing that. Also, the 5 interferes less with my wireless sound system.


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## The G3 Man (Oct 7, 2008)

emalen said:


> Hey All,
> 
> So I've been very disappointed with my iPhone 5 Battery life and was wondering if the real culprit is Rogers shoddy LTE. I only ask because I've been noticing that the phone doesn't get nearly as many bars on LTE as it does 3G (Note: I live around Bathurst/Eglinton) and is often switching between 3G and LTE.
> 
> ...


As you know. ROGERS coverage in that area is horrible. I chill with friends near the starbucks across from the rexall. (Live in the area.),

My iPhone 5's been alright. As long as it isnt struggling to maintain a signal.


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## phphreak (Jul 7, 2008)

The G3 Man said:


> As you know. ROGERS coverage in that area is horrible. I chill with friends near the starbucks across from the rexall. (Live in the area.),
> 
> My iPhone 5's been alright. As long as it isnt struggling to maintain a signal.


Bathurst and Eglinton has horrible Rogers coverage? it's in the heart of Toronto?!


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## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

Hey All,

So I conducted an experiment over the past few days with my iPhone 5 and 3g versus LTE.

I've attached an image. Below are the results. On the left is LTE (I was on wifi to send screen shot), on the right is 3G. Oddly enough I got fairly similar usage throughout a regular day which for me includes checking email, words with friends, talking on the phone, twitter and listening to music.


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## Tech Elementz (Mar 15, 2011)

So the experiment was conducted by running from 100% to 0% or is this simply from 100% to whatever battery life was left at the time of taking the photos?


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## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

I just arbitrarily choose 13 hours and 50 minutes based on when I woke up and when I ended the experiment. Not sure it was the best experiment, but just figured it would give people an idea of iPhone 5 battery life for a normal workday.


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