Battery saving tip

[Stay Alive 305]

When you have 5 bars of EDGE, use it! It is pretty fast. I'd say almost as fast as 3G. It also takes way less battery than 3G does. Also, on the iPhone 3G you get much better EDGE reception than on the first iPhone because of that plastic back. So you usually have 4-5 bars of EDGE. This will save you so much battery on long outings. Try it yourself.

Here is a pic of my usage:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a340/grul27/4ced9d31.jpg

50 minutes on the Internet and 5 minutes on the phone and about 85% battery life. I tried EDGE today and I don't think I'm ever going back to using 3G unless I want to watch several YouTube videos.

By the way, I copied and pasted the URL for that image with my non-jailbroken iPhone 3G right now. I'm out at a gun show and still using the battery. I'll post another pic of my usage and battery life when I get home just to emphasize even more how much battery EDGE saves you.

[Ed2020]

I'd say almost as fast as 3G.

Either you're getting amazing EDGE speeds or truly awful 3G speeds! My 3G connection is *much* faster than five bars of EDGE connection.

Good tip though. Most of the time a 3G connection is simply not necessary. I can tell virtually no difference in call quality (with or without 3G it's very good), automatic checking of emails certainly doesn't require 3G speeds. Unless I'm downloading large email attachments or apps in a hurry my 3G is usually switched off. Even GPRS is sufficient for the basic, scheduled background tasks.

Ed.

[zardoz66]

3G just takes more battery. Also take in count that a bad (low signal) also can take more battery. Here are some tips to save on battery.

1. If you have low 3G signals turn it off.
2. Turn on wifi and Bluetooth only when you need it.
3. Low email fetch rates or manual.
4. Don't go in standby in open apps (go to home screen then standby)

[Stay Alive 305]

Also turn off Bluetooth and Location Services when not in use. Turning off Location Services saves A LOT of battery.

[deftdrummer1]

Also turn off your phone completely so its unusable. 100% battery savings in that simple step alone.

[zardoz66]

Location Services o'rly? I will have to try that. Drftdrummer1 don't be a nerd :D

[n3tfury]

you must have awful 3G speeds. no way is Edge even close to 3G when both are up to their best.

[Stay Alive 305]

Deftdrummer, that is a bad idea even if you're joking. The start-up of the iPhone can take a good 3% of battery life. Also, I may have exagerrated about EDGE speeds. It's not almost as fast as 3G but it is fast enough to do what's necessary.

[TheMBC]

Either you're getting amazing EDGE speeds or truly awful 3G speeds! My 3G connection is *much* faster than five bars of EDGE connection.

Good tip though. Most of the time a 3G connection is simply not necessary. I can tell virtually no difference in call quality (with or without 3G it's very good), automatic checking of emails certainly doesn't require 3G speeds. Unless I'm downloading large email attachments or apps in a hurry my 3G is usually switched off. Even GPRS is sufficient for the basic, scheduled background tasks.

Ed.I can, on 3G it drops calls :P

No, but seriously, it sounds worse on 3G, for me at least. It's getting better after the 2.0.2 update.

Thanks for the tip, it's good to turn of 3G if you have 1-2 bars because it's wasting more battery that way...and EDGE is everywhere

[vwTouaregMike]

i never had any qualms with the download speed of the EDGE network and I usually don't even attempt to use the 3G network because of the battery stats for usage on it. That said, the few times i have switched over to 3G, I've never gotten more than the first two bars. The majority of the time i get no service at all. I've tried it in several places, too. So basically i'm paying $15 more per month for absolutely nothing.

I'm excited for the 'significant increase' in promised battery life in the new update though. More battery life is always good. But again, running solely on the old network i've had pretty good battery life so far.

plus the Audio on the new iphone is miles above and beyond what i experienced with the prior generation.

take care,

Mike

[zardoz66]

oh one other thing you can do is lower the brightness on the screen, that can also help with battery.