So I've been on a number of cold weather outings with iPhone users who always end up with VERY POOR battery life in the cold. Most go dead in a few hours. Multi-day hunts to simple scout overnighters, if it gets too cold, they all seem perform the same. What was a fully charged battery goes dead in a few hours.

I have an Android based phone that I can use for days on a cold weather hunt without charging. Both types of phones can turn off GPS, Bluetooth, wireless, data, etc to save battery life.

So it makes me wonder, is it the iPhone (multiple generations) or their choice of battery which has such poor performance?

I'd say they are crap, since (per Apple) you cannot replace them. Way to go Apple! You can get third parties to replace the battery for you however.

I have an Android, but my wife and son have iPhones. Their battery life is very good during normal times. Better than my Android. I don't know about during extended cold though.

I have a Mophie battery case for my iPhone which doubles the battery capacity, but not sure what that does in arctic conditions. That said, is it the battery or the phone itself using more juice? I put my phone in airplane mode a lot and in arctic conditions I'd just turn it off to conserve power and then carry it under my coat so it doesn't freeze. Take it out of airplane mode only when needed. $.02

The Apple spec sheet for the iPhone says:
In spite of that, I have not had many issues using mine in Alaska. I just make sure to carry it in my shirt pocket inside my jacket. Taking it out for a few minutes to make a call doesn't seem to be a problem.

The only time I had a problem was once when I absent mindedly put it in an outside pocket and went out cross country skiing at about 5 deg F (-15 C). It didn't like that at all, and when I tried to make a call it died immediantly. Once it warmed up again it seemed fine, however.

Although I love my iPhone, and often have it with me when out hiking or skiing, I don't really look at it as a field item. I put it in a baggie to keep it dry, and keep it in an inner pocket so it stays warm. Unless I'm expecting a call, I turn it off to conserve battery. I don't consider an iPhone as a primary GPS, but only a back up.

all batteries have issues with the cold. it is just the way it is.

Like he said, all batteries will have worse performance when cold. But remember every product design has tradeoffs. The iphone (like most all Apple devices) looks is a high priority. The many generations of their products from phones to computers have suffered from other issues due to function being a lower priority. be it batteries in the phones and laptops that have issues, laptop hinges, power adapters, phone antennas, all the way back to the engineering issues with making the PCB in the Apple II look pretty.

Goatman ... how about tucking that iPhone in an internal pocket inside a jacket or coat. keep it warm with body heat. And if the iPhone wont fit in the inside pocket, at least carry a backup battery there.

this is a useful takeaway - sew some inside pockets in your shirts so you can carry sensitive kit close to your body (for cold weather trekking).

Pete

I'll keep this in mind. I have not had issues down to about 32 degrees. I will say that I won't be planning beforehand to test my iPhone 5. I have doubts about any thin smart phone. I am still fascinated that they can do what they do, and so I don't expect them to perform well in the cold.

Battery life is one of the things I utterly hate about my Iphone. I used to get days of use out of my old "dumb" phones before needing to recharge them. By comparison, my Iphone needs to be recharged every single day, even on days when I only use the phone to make and recieve calls. When I first got it I actually thought there had to be something wrong with it!

After a while I got used to the poor battery life (and started carrying a charger everywhere), but I would trade some of that sleek thin design for a longer lasting battery in a heartbeat. My brother has one of the Motorola Droid phones and he easily gets a weekend out of his phone under similar usage conditions.

iPhone users, if you're not aware of the tricks for "preserving battery life on iPhone", I recommend doing a Google search for that.

In addition, I downloaded a program from iTunes that gives me reminders to do certain things to keep battery life.

For me, the best practices have been the following:

1. Turn down the brightness on your screen to as dim as you can handle. I have better than 20/20 vision. So, my screen looks quite dim to everybody who looks at it.

2. Turn on Wifi and/or turn off cellular data. Wifi uses less battery than cellular data connection. The phone must put out a stonger signal (more battery draw) to maintain a cellular data signal.

3. Release programs from being pre-loaded in RAM. Go to home screen. Double click home button. Swipe away all your programs. Do this every time you think about it.

4. Use Airplane mode when you can.

5. Use your phone less often. The screen being on is probably the biggest battery drain.

6. Don't use speaker phone. The speakers use way more battery than earbuds.

7. Set your phone to auto-shutoff after 3 minutes or less.

8. Turn off location services (GPS) when not in use. Communicating with the satellite uses energy.

9. Power off your phone. This is the ultimate battery preserver.

Yep, do that, especially Airplane mode I keep memory limited to phone and settings (which is how one activates/deactivates Airplane mode). All those other apps especially memory intensive map apps are tossed.

One the reasons why we both have Android phones (Samsung Galaxy S3) is that the batteries can be easily removed and replaced. I purchased 2 of these 2 pack 2300 mah batteries from Ebay which along with the originals, gives us a total of 6 batteries to share. A separate wall charger at the time was only $10.00.

I keep one extra battery in my EDC bag and my SO keeps an extra in her purse. The other 2 spares are kept at home.Like any battery collection, proper rotation and charging is key.

I have a Galaxy S4 and battery life is pretty good. It's great being able to replace the battery, too.

I too am glad that I have an Android phone, for many reasons. I can keep it in any pocket and cold affects it very little. And I'm in cold weather a lot. Glad for that.

I was just curious what others experiences were; as I was noticing a pattern with those I associate with.

Happy Trails.

I'd switch to Android, but there are a few software programs I need that I don't see over there. So, I'm staying with iPhone for now.

battery life explained

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

A whole lot about lithium batteries.

Thanks - very useful....

I agree, very useful. Thanks.

Thanks, both are very interesting.

As I noted upthread, I have not had any serious issues with battery life on my iPhone (except one self inflicted case where I let it get about 5 deg F cold). It turns out I have (inadvertantly) been doing several of the things noted in both links which tend to prolong battery life.

The claim that "iPhone batteries are crap" is considerably overstated, in my opinion. Used properly, mine works just fine, thank you.

Electrical goodies generally don't like cold. I have also found (the hard way, natch) that it is good idea to tuck them away inside the outer layers where they will be nice and warm.

By the way...

When I go snowboarding, I leave my expensive iPhone safe with my stuff at the lodge or in my car. I ride with a trusty Treo 700. The phone is about 6 years old I think, but the battery still holds a charge. The phone is a tank. The service is deactivated, but I at least have a chance at calling 911 if I get stuck in the back country. I recommend this option if you have an old tank cell phone.

Importantly, I don't want to be "connected" while I'm floating on precious powder.

Exactly! Nothing is more annoying than hearing my phone ring when I'm out hiking or skiing.

As noted above, when skiing I carry mine, turned off, in an inside pocket close to my body. If I should really need it, it is there, fully charged, at body temperature. If someone calls while the phone is off they can leave a voicemail message if it is important. If it isn't important enough for them to leave a message, then I don't care if I missed the call.

If what you want is a phone; carry a phone! My £3.95 thick phone can go a week without charging. Yes all it can do is make phone calls; but isn't that the idea?
Smart phones are fantastic pocket computers; as phones they are a joke. They always seem to be not working just when they are needed because the battery life is so poor.
qjs

Well, not exactly. I find I use my iPhone for text messages about as much as I use it as a phone. Note that in an emergency, a text message uses less bandwidth and may have a better chance at getting through than a voice call.
They are a joke? Really? Hmmm...for some reason I haven't had any serious issues with battery life on my iPhone. It always seems to work when I need it. Maybe I just don't waste as much time and batteries in useless chatter as some people?

I think this thread is getting a bit tiresome. I like my iPhone, and it seems to work fine for me. If you don't like smart phones that's your problem, not mine. If you prefer a plain old phone, by all means that is what you should use.

I do the vast majority of my communication by email, then text and last by voice.

I have a Droid Samsung S3, and find great battery longevity on wifi, and less on on 4g. If I am on 4g for about 8 hours, I am almost out of power. But I can turn off the 4g data, and only turn it on to update the que of emails etc. On wifi, I get 2 days (48 hours) easily.

It seems to me, like many things, you need to know, understand and manage your limited resources.

That is not the failure of the technology. All technology has limits.

It is a bit tiresome, but a reminder to toss apps you aren't using is always good. My iPhone also works quite well as a phone. I don't text, but I use it for email and in a pinch can use it as a compass or as a sextant yeah, there's an app for that. Just keep stuff you don't need in the moment turned off and the battery lasts much longer.

Same with my Samsung Note II. I always keep the data connection turned off unless it´s needed for internet surfing. Hardly never call anyone or receive phone calls and texting is not very much used either. This way the battery keeps charged up to a week almost.
It´s the 24/7 dataconnection that suck the juice out of batteries very fast.