battery – Matt Hauger

I like the new Apple Watch. The always-on screen is great and I’m okay with a trade-off. But come on, let’s just be honest: the battery life is *far* worse than the previous couple generations as a result.
— M.G. Siegler (@mgsiegler) September 28, 2019

Siegler’s right. I wouldn’t give up the Series 5’s always-on display, but it comes at a high price: significantly worse battery life than its predecessors. I didn’t buy the original (“Series 0”) Apple Watch, but I’ve owned the Series 1, 3, 4 and 5. The S5 is easily the poorest battery performer of that bunch.

Case in point: it’s currently 8 PM, and my Series 5 Watch has fallen “into the red”—18% charge left. Now, to be fair, I haven’t charged the Watch since last night (I wear it as a sleep tracker). And, thanks to the time change here in the U.S., this day has been an hour longer than normal. But I’m still disappointed to be skating so close to “power reserve mode” each evening.

For now, the Series 5’s battery life is… adequate. But I’m not sure that will be true two or three years from now, after a thousand charge cycles. Those are big charge cycles, too; fully depleting the battery day after day will take a toll on battery health.

How much better does Apple Watch battery life need to be? With the Series 3, I could expect 50–60% battery life at the end of an average day. That seems just about right—that extra juice helped the device last through more demanding days. It also left some headroom for the inevitable battery degradation endemic to lithium-ion technology.

Let’s hope that Apple can clear that bar again someday, with some future Watch hardware iteration.

There are plenty of things I love about the Apple Watch Series 4’s hardware: its thinner profile, its faster processor, and (especially) its larger screen.

What don’t I like? I really only have one gripe: battery life.

Based on my few weeks of use, the Series 4 has noticeably worse battery life than its predecessor. I rarely cracked the 50% barrier after a full day wearing the Series 3. With the 4, however, I’m often down to 40 or even 30 percent by day’s end.

That anecdotal evidence jives with more measurable figures; according to Apple itself, the larger Series 4 has 16.5% less battery capacity than the comparable Series 3 model. Presumably, Apple shaved away battery volume in order to produce a thinner aluminum enclosure. Honestly, I’m OK with that compromise. After all, the Watch still easily makes it through a busy day.

However, the decreased battery life does degrade my Watch experience in at least one way. In the past, I could set the Watch on its charger when I climbed into bed, and by the time I would get sleepy, it had fully charged. That meant I could slip it onto my wrist before drifting off, use it to track my sleep quality, and still wake to more than 90% charge.

Alas, that’s not possible anymore. It’s rare that the Series 4 has reached 75% charge by the time I get drowsy. I either have to (a) forgo sleep tracking altogether or (b) don the Watch for sleep and start the new day with handicapped battery life. ■