iPhone 3G review supplemental: battery life and MobileMe tests

We spent most of the weekend putting the iPhone 3G's battery life (and to a lesser extent, MobileMe implementation) to the test, and we've got far more encouraging results to report back than we had on day one. Pretty much everything we've found thus far jibes with Apple's claims, if not exceeds them. (Our video results early on skewed low because we had mistakenly left on push and fetch data, which dropped the battery life by almost 25%. After re-testing, they're back up to spec.)

All tested with 3G on, WiFi on (not connected), Bluetooth off, no data fetching enabled (unless specified otherwise). Media tested with stock headphones, medium volume, and medium screen brightness, auto-brightness disabled.

• Music (continuous playback, large library, occasionally turning on screen): 31h 23m
• Video (continuous playback, no push/fetch data): 7h 5m
• Video (continuous playback, with push and 15 minute fetch data): 5h 24m
• Daily data use (browsing, email, and GPS / maps): ~6h 30m

Those numbers definitely are not bad, but if you're anything like us and you kill time on your phone reading feeds and checking email like a fiend, by 3 or 4pm you'll likely be wondering if you'll even make it home with any power left -- especially if you leave on the 3G. Just be warned, the kind of prolonged usage on the original iPhone you used to get away with probably isn't possible with the iPhone 3G. For some, this may be an issue, while others may never notice. Click on for more on our MobileMe testing and enterprise stuff, and, of course, check out the full iPhone 3G review.

MobileMe
After nearly a week, we still haven't really had a positive experience with MobileMe among our editorial team. One editor, who had fewer issues than anyone else, still had difficulty syncing his 1,300+ contacts. MobileMe would choke on sync and require disabling / re-enabling to keep that sync moving. Another problem we saw was that email deletes weren't synced to other devices, requiring the same message be deleted in multiple locations. In some cases, a deleted email that wasn't properly synced would actually repropagate to back out other devices. Nothing better than zombie email.

Another thing we (and a lot of people noticed) is that MobileMe on the desktop is faux-push -- it only gets updates every 15 minutes because it's actually pulling them, unlike the iPhone's proper push. (We're, like, totally sure someone's going to sue.) You can edit a certain .pref file (details here) to make it fetch every minute -- but fetching every minute isn't push, now is it? Apple has since acknowledged this issue (among others).

We also noticed on the phone that if you have synced MobileMe calendars, your calendar subscriptions (like, say, shared iCal or Gcal or what have you) are disabled. Super lame that you keep having to choose between one thing or the other when syncing your data. Can't all our calendars and contact lists just play together on the same device? We think so.

All in all, right now our feeling is that MobileMe still feels like it's in beta -- when it's up -- and is generally falling way short of what was promised by Apple. We believe they're earnest when they say they're trying to get it all up and running to fulfill their commitments, but for the time being we think it's best to steer clear until they work out the kinks.

Some other enterprise bits
We came across a list of ActiveSync features not supported, many of which we already know. To recap, here are a few:

• Folder management
• Opening links in email to documents stored on Sharepoint
• Task sync
• Setting an out of office autoreply
• Creating meeting invitations
• Flagging messages for followup

We did also did get a chance to test WPA Enterprise / 802.1x with PEAP, and it works well.

[Ted @ Jul 16th 2008 1:09PM]

I guess it would suck if I were unable to plug my phone in at work, but it doesn't bother me.

[Fozzy Bear @ Jul 16th 2008 1:32PM]

this is why i bought the extra USB cable so i can charge at home and work as necessary as a heavy enterprise user.

plus, when i'm not enterprising... i'm cro-mag rallying or aurora feinting... which really drains the battery...

of course, when you go into the woods for an overnight hike... it's important to remember to bring things you need like tools to hunt and make fires with...

but when you use an iphone all day, no one thinks to bring a spare USB cable to charge and your friendly easily accessible USB point on nearly any computer.

[Fitz @ Jul 16th 2008 11:20PM]

Well it sure would be nice when on travel if I could replace the battery.

[Jeff @ Jul 17th 2008 11:54AM]

I'm with Ted. Turns out i've had an iPhone charger in my car and at my work place for years before ever even owning an iPhone. ...because i use an iPod.

When i listen to music in the car, my iPhone is charging. when i plug my iPhone in at work and listen to podcasts or music, it's charging.

I literally have a dozen cables for my iPhone (remnants from other iPods) laying around my house. - and even if i didn't, i can grab one off ebay for $0.99 or monoprice for $4 shipped. ...and if i go to a friends house, and haven't charged my iPhone in too long, and don't have any cables, there's a damn good chance THEY have a cable i can use, because *everyone* owns an ipod.

...and that's all irrelevant, because i haven't yet needed to charge my iPhone other than the default over-night charge all my previous mobiles got.

[SuperSexyErik @ Jul 16th 2008 1:11PM]

iPhone kicks ass :)

[Dave @ Jul 16th 2008 1:21PM]

Oh wait, how about the talk-time battery life? Didn't see that on here...maybe that's because it's only 4 and 1/2 hours...

[Prometheus25 @ Jul 16th 2008 1:24PM]

@Dave:

I seem to be getting a fair bit more than that. Turn off "Wifi stumbling". Also, with 3G turned off, battery life is much better on this edition.

[SuperSexyErik @ Jul 16th 2008 1:31PM]

poor anti-apple fanboys :)

iPhone is the best mobile phone out. Checkmate

[fischju @ Jul 16th 2008 1:39PM]

I've always found it interesting that the people that give facts to support their side always meet a response like:

'poor anti-apple fanboys :)
iPhone is the best mobile phone out. Checkmate'

I should do a case study, but my involment in science would most likely provoke 'poor atheist, burn in hell'

[SuperSexyErik @ Jul 16th 2008 1:44PM]

LOL iPhone is kickass :)

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Jul 16th 2008 1:47PM]

Looks like playing music on the new iPhone barely phases battery life. I've been playing a shuffled mix of songs for about 3 hours now (3G off), at a relatively low volume and my battery life is still completely full.

[Hold McGroin @ Jul 16th 2008 2:15PM]

Oddly enough my non-iPhone (i'll speak in Apple-centric terms so you poor souls locked into proprietary hell will understand) gets a good 2 full days without being charged, could run VNC, AIM, plenty of games, over a year ago.

It's also 3G (EVDO to be specific, but I wouldn't want to confuse the Apple people with technology, so I'll just say 3G from now on) and has been for over a year. Nice of you guys to buy an outdated phone, only to turn around and buy another outdated phone a year later.

[Obvious @ Jul 16th 2008 6:02PM]

I love these posts touting how great a non-iPhone is for it's inclusion of missing features in the current device... You people don't get it. The whole revolutionary thing is the interaction design. Sure the thing is missing copy/paste (how often to I need this for casual browsing?) and MMS (my only real gripe, but fixable via software update), but those are nothing compared to lacking nature of archaic interaction restrictions such as chiclet keys and stubby navigation pointers.

You have fun twiddling your little stick or ball, trying to be precise enough to navigate a web page or use additional non-phone features (like maps)... I'll just be here enjoying the great UX design.

(PS: All this being said, STFU Apple fanboys. Just because the device is well made does not give you the right to be a snobby ass: it's just a freakin' phone)

[Jeff @ Jul 17th 2008 11:41AM]

can you be much douchier, Hold McGroin?

seriously.

I've had an EVDO phone for a few years. so what? i'll tell you right now my iPhone 3G is leaps and bounds better than my old EVDO device.

being so condescending isn't really helping your case: it just makes you look like an asshole.

[Raheem @ Jul 16th 2008 1:13PM]

You too.

[isdnelson @ Jul 16th 2008 1:14PM]

Lack of the above enterprise features is enough to make me not buy an iPhone 3G. No task sync is unacceptable. Probably doable though with some 3rd party effort.

[art-boy @ Jul 16th 2008 1:44PM]

Also Folders in your email are expanded by default and there is no way to collapse them.
The Calendar exchange syncing in Calendar only seems to happen when you first set it up and when you get new invitations. When I create appointments on my computer they do not push to my iPhone and there isn't a manual sync button.
Invitations to calendar appointments show up as maybe on the iPhone unless you accepted them on the iPhone.
So far I'm disappointed with the iPhone's implementation of Active Sync. These problems are going to convince my IT department to stick with RIM.

[TiberiusMonkey @ Jul 16th 2008 2:12PM]

With OmniFocus available the iPhone has some of the best task management and sync you're likely to see on a mobile device.

[David @ Jul 16th 2008 2:58PM]

Here is a very detailed review on Exchange implementation. This guy isn’t very thrilled either.

http://www.robichaux.net/blog/2008/07/the-iphone-as-a-mail-device.php

[Oskin @ Jul 16th 2008 4:46PM]

I can understand why you don't like the implementation of Active sync on the iPhone but I really don't see why its unacceptable not to have the task sync... I seriously never use the tasks, what's it used for anyway? I just put what i have to do (aka my tasks) in my calendar and thats it. Still sad for some other features not available on the iPhone regarding Active Sync.

[Ghen @ Jul 17th 2008 7:52AM]

Its not like blackberry enterprise and therefore fails.

With business stuff just has to WORK. Activesync is not that.

[Justfine @ Jul 22nd 2008 5:27PM]

A large reason for buying 2 newiPhones was that my wife and I could see our shared calendar subscriptions anywhere we were--on our phones. This does not work (hopefully that's not work YET). Additionally the me.com site itself also does not sync the calendars. Also, what happened to the tasks/to do in Mail? Also missing.

This morning my mac/me.com email was down for several hours. It's my primary email. I was not a happy chappy. Formerly, in mac.com, there was a running list of the staus of the system. That's also gone.

After 3+ years of having 2 subscriptions to mac.com (about $800 worth) I am beyond annoyed at this horrendous "upgrade'.

[Prometheus25 @ Jul 16th 2008 1:15PM]

Turn off Wifi Stumbling (only connect to known networks). It seems to make a big difference, but most people don't know it.

[CraigJ @ Jul 16th 2008 1:17PM]

@ Raheem: Indeed.

[Abuzar Baloach @ Jul 16th 2008 1:20PM]

To fail.

[ThePerfectCompanion @ Jul 16th 2008 1:22PM]

Its amusing how you guys are giving him or her exactly what they want...attention.

Even lowranking them feeds into this whole "FIRST" crap...

And really does it bother you THAT MUCH?

[Jason @ Jul 16th 2008 1:23PM]

And here I was, thinking that I had configured something wrong with MobileMe. I'd consider buying a subscription if they work the bugs out.

[Matt @ Jul 16th 2008 1:29PM]

6.5 hours of daily data use isn't bad at all. I think this will be the kind of phone where, when I'm at my desk at work, I'll just drop it in the dock to make sure it's always getting juice (yeah, I'll likely pick up an extra dock).

[Miguel @ Jul 16th 2008 1:31PM]

In addition to battery life, I want to know about how good 3g coverage is. Ive heard that 3g coverage/signal is very spotty especially here in Atlanta where I live. Whats the point of upgrading to iPhone 3g and paying $15 more per month if 36 coverage/signal sucks.

[BOB @ Jul 16th 2008 1:31PM]

IF YOU HATE APPLE SO MUCH, WHY DON'T DO GO OUT OF THE HOUSE AND FIND SOMETHING BETTER TO DO THAN BEING A TROLL WITH EVERY APPLE NEWS. IT'S NOT FUCKING HARD TO IGNORE THESE STORIES

[SuperSexyErik @ Jul 16th 2008 1:42PM]

I second that. If all of you prefer to use old tech(blackberry)
Then go use it and stop badmouthing a great device like iPhone :)

[Chance @ Jul 16th 2008 1:52PM]

Jeez..... you dont have to yell!

[mcatrage @ Jul 16th 2008 1:53PM]

No one said anything.

[Shane @ Jul 16th 2008 2:56PM]

I would not say that the iPhone is "newer tech" than the Blackberry. The only real substantive feature the iPhone has over a Blackberry is the touchscreen, which has been around for years on other phones so isn't really "new tech."

[kccboy2004 @ Jul 16th 2008 3:01PM]

oh come on. these people are not bad mouthing Apple. They are giving objective opinions.

Even I who love Apples am finding that I am swayed by their comments. I don't think that I will buy an iPhone now.

It seems that the battery life is not good. The whole purpose of this phone is to use 3G, but the battery life is terrible with 3G. I don't want to have to switch it on and off all the time.

I think that having weighed up all the facts, and I have done a lot of research, I will skip that iPhone and go for an Android based phone or a Blackberry.

I need a phone that works. It seems that the iPhone doe not work.

[Zee Farrouge @ Jul 16th 2008 4:46PM]

All Bob is saying is that Apple fans don't leave the house.

[Kizorblade @ Jul 16th 2008 10:21PM]

He's actually saying that Apple haters don't go out of the house

[dennis @ Jul 16th 2008 1:31PM]

I just got the white iPhone 3G and did not own the previous iPhone. My one criticism is the battery life. I would have been fine with a thicker and heavier device (maybe 60% thicker, 30% heavier) in exchange for 50 to 100% more battery life. Five hours of 3G or wifi surfing could have been 7 to 10; and that would have put the iPhone's functionality off the chart.

[JS @ Jul 16th 2008 1:34PM]

Yeah, they definitely should have made it a bit thicker and given it better battery life... people would have been OK with that. Apple doesn't always do the right thing though...

[Fozzy Bear @ Jul 16th 2008 1:44PM]

it would also make it morbidly obese... another example of 'off the charts'. just not in a good way.

we're fat enough as it is in america... we don't need fatter phones to compliment.

[JS @ Jul 16th 2008 1:52PM]

I don't agree with 60% thicker... but a bit thicker (maybe 25%) would have been fine... 25% thickness increase probably would have resulted in 50% battery life increase, as not all the space is used up by the battery anyways.

[Reid @ Jul 16th 2008 2:10PM]

If it's true that the iPhone 3G beats most other 3G phones in battery life, then it seems a reasonable assumption that the battery life is good enough. Now, some might argue that the iPhone needs better life to compensate for the non-removable battery, but in my experience people don't carry a second battery just to make it thru the day. They're more often used for travel.

I still have my first-gen and noticed a HUGE hit in battery life once I installed the 2.0SW. Most of it was due to my 15 minute mail check interval, but even with it on 1 hour the battery life seems less than I would have expected. It makes it thru the day, but it used to make it almost 3 days. I'll have to keep playing with the settings to see how I feel about the battery life. I wonder how the 3G compares; does it have a larger battery to compensate for the 3G power draw?

[Keith M @ Jul 16th 2008 3:02PM]

I specifically bought the iphone because it isn't thick - gave up a nice keyboard and tethering (among other sacrifices) for that.

iphone is not as capable as my broken HTC Mogul, but its more elegant and I gained an impressive screen and GPS.

Everything is a tradeoff.

[bob y @ Jul 16th 2008 1:33PM]

Fifteenth! Die Slow BB, Die Slow, iPhone3G FTW! BlackBerry Boldless = Colossal, Epic FAIL!!!!

[JS @ Jul 16th 2008 1:33PM]

Is there some reason you guys aren't doing a test with 3G turned OFF? I mean, who in their right mind is going to leave 3G on while they are watching video or listening to music? You might turn it on when you want to browse, off when you don't. Can you guys do some tests without 3G and give me the results I'm actually looking for?

[Bob Afifi @ Jul 16th 2008 1:33PM]

Thanks Ryan. Can you please share what you think the optimal settings for battery life are?

[JKT @ Jul 17th 2008 2:25AM]

Because 3G is not trivial to turn off. Yes, it's not exactly brain surgery, but the control is buried deep enough that to go in and do it every time you start watching video and turn it off aftewards is gonna get old. Fast. So a fair test is not to assume most users are going to go to that trouble most of the time.

[blevay @ Jul 16th 2008 2:37PM]

Turn it off. The battery will last for days and days and days.

[Alan @ Jul 16th 2008 1:35PM]

Would turning the Wi-Fi off save battery compared to leaving it on while not connected to a network?

[CharlieX @ Jul 16th 2008 1:37PM]

Exactly. I'd like to see an Airplane Mode video test. One long flights (like to Tokyo) I've run my iPhone classic for 6 hours of movies and still had 1/3 battery left.