Apple Watch Series 3 & battery life

Apple General
#1

I have had my series 3 (cellular) Apple Watch since ~December 2017.

It mostly does all I want it for. In the last couple weeks, I’ve noticed it shut down on four occasions. All late in the day. Twice whilst surfing, the other two times whilst on a 3km run (with AirPods and Apple Music) away from my phone.

I thought this was battery life, though before I went did my last run, I checked the battery and it was only a little under 50% charged. It lasted about 12 minutes before the watch shut down (approximately the same amount of time when on the previous run).

I checked the battery health, which is listed at 92%. I know being away from the paired phone drains the battery. But 12 minutes is a stretch (it lasts closer to an hour when surfing).

I was considering replacing the battery, though not sure how much difference this would make given 12 minutes when away from the phone.

Does anyone have experience with more recent models and battery life away from phone??

#2

I’ve just replaced my series 3 cellular with a series 8 (due to adhesive giving way and the face falling off).

This was my second series 3, as it was a replacement from Apple when my first one died back in 2020 (from the the face falling off).

Before either incident, I was still getting about 18hrs between full charges ( this was after about 2.5 years use on each watch.

The series 8 is currently lasting about 30 - 36 hours between full charges, but doesn’t strike me as being substantially better than either Series 3 was when new.

Definitely loving the upgrade, for new features, larger and display and a fresh battery. Just wondering how long until the face falls off…

#3

I don’t know what kind of life the batteries are meant to have… but wife and I both have 2nd hand Series 3’s off eBay… neither of us do much more than just wear them as watches (ie not music etc) but mine lasts a day no problems, but hers sometimes doesn’t get through the day.

#4

Thanks for sharing.

Mine lasts a day as a watch. It’s when I do activity tracking and/both I am away from my phone that it runs out of juice…

#5

Yep, current model and previous model go hours away from the phone. I also swim and surf and am away from my phone half a day, no impact on battery level.

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#6

My Series 3 had cellular and battery life suuuuuucked when away from the phone. The series 5 I didn’t bother since I didn’t think I really used it, the series 7 I have right now is cellular again but had never been activated because COVID and remote working has meant I don’t need it so much… but every now and then when something doesn’t work because it’s our of range I think about turning it on.

#7

I had the battery die again whilst surfing yesterday. This time my phone was ~100m or so away. It might be constantly trying to connect that causes the battery drain. Last time, my phone wasn’t there and it was fine (ill test again)