Phone batteries lasting or not throughout the day

[EpcotMark]

I have an Iphone SE. Twice I have had it at Disney World and with all the use of the Disney app, along with taking pictures and video, I find it going down to zero before the day ends, usually around 5 or 6 in the afternoon unless I am careful. Thus, I am bringing one of them recharging packs with me to the park next time next week.

I am curious, does anyone have any experience with the Iphone 8 and how long that would last in the park, with moderate use? Other phone battery experiences?

 

[Captain Barbossa]

I to have an SE, and by mid-late afternoon my battery was somewhere between 40-50%. Luckily, there are plenty of places in the parks to charge. So I would take a break and let my phone get back up to 70% (it charges fast) and I was good to go. A few tips to make your battery last longer.

1. Turn any background refresh off.

2. Only brighten your screen enough so you can see it. (depends on the light)

3. Close all apps when your not using them.

 

[TwilightZone]

Airplane mode is your friend when you're not using internet.

 

[winstongator]

You can turn off location services as well. You won’t get directions in MDE, but if you need that you can turn location services on and off as needed.

 

[LAKid53]

Airplane mode is your friend when you're not using internet.

^^THIS

 

[lazyboy97o]

Closing apps doesn’t actually help with battery life on iOS and can actually be worse if you keep opening and closing.

Airplane Mode can be useful if you don’t need cellular service and you can still connect to Wi-Fi.

Instead of individually toggling settings like Background App Refresh, you can turn on Low Power Mode.

An iPhone SE is potentially old enough that it is possible that your battery has degraded over the years. iOS 11.3 has more tools available for you to check your battery health and adjust if you prefer performance speed or longer battery life. An iPhone 8 would have better battery life because it is a bit larger and new. You could try getting a new battery installed instead of getting a new phone this late in the update cycle.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Turn off your wifi...an Apple battery wont last through the day unless it’s “exceptional” for the brand.

 

[correcaminos]

Turn off your wifi...an Apple battery wont last through the day unless it’s “exceptional” for the brand.

This! The wi-fi at Disney is marginal a lot of times and phones in general lose battery trying to connect to it when it's weak or as you move around the park. We rarely use wi-fi now at Disney.

 

[Master Yoda]

While I don't have experience with iPhones, smartphones in general just don't fare well at WDW. Not only does the averages person's usage go up dramatically, but it seems like every building you walk into is a Faraday cage.

While turning off services can slow the bleeding, I have found that it is much easier to just get a decent portable charger.

Anker has several that are about wallet size that support fast charging and can fully charge your average smartphone 6 or 7 times on a single charge.

If size is an issue, Anker has several pocket friendly models that will give you around 2 charges.

 

[Hayley In Wonderland]

I had the galaxy S7 when I visited last year. My battery would last virtually the whole day, perhaps dying on the bus back to the resort, without the need to charge, with power saving turned on and data switched off, just with wifi.. I have the S8 this year, my partner had this last year and it lasted him until we were back in the room.

 

[wdisney9000]

Thus, I am bringing one of them recharging packs with me to the park next time next week.

Just pay the one time $30 for the Fuel Rod and you get unlimited swaps at any of the stations located in each park and Disney resorts. We have had ours for over a year and bring it with us each trip. You can also charge it at home to use when not at Disney. IMO, definitely worth the one time $30 charge vs bringing your own because once its out of energy you have to charge it. The Fuel Rod can just be swapped out for a fresh one as many times as you want.

 

[Master Yoda]

Just pay the one time $30 for the Fuel Rod and you get unlimited swaps at any of the stations located in each park and Disney resorts. We have had ours for over a year and bring it with us each trip. You can also charge it at home to use when not at Disney. IMO, definitely worth the one time $30 charge vs bringing your own because once its out of energy you have to charge it. The Fuel Rod can just be swapped out for a fresh one as many times as you want.

We got one of those when they first came out and ran into a number of problems with them. When we exchanged them it was like a 50/50 shot as to weather we would get a working one. After getting 3 back to back duds in a single day, I just gave up and purchased my own.

 

[donsullivan]

Turn off your wifi...an Apple battery wont last through the day unless it’s “exceptional” for the brand.

Nice generalization without facts. An iPhone battery will absolutely last through an entire day in the parks without question. With the exception of the 24 hours days, I have never once had my iPhone battery not last an entire day in the parks or anywhere else for that matter. Lets keep in mind a couple of facts, not inuendo in this situation. The OP made no statement about the age of the phone. All phone batteries degrade over time which results in shorter battery life. The iPhone SE is the smallest form-factor iPhone which as a result, has the smallest battery (and lowest price). A smaller battery will obviously have a shorter life than a model with a larger battery. Again, this is not an iPhone thing but a battery thing that impacts ALL phones. Many people have vastly different usage patterns when in the parks which results in abnormal battery drain on the devices.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Nice generalization without facts. An iPhone battery will absolutely last through an entire day in the parks without question. With the exception of the 24 hours days, I have never once had my iPhone battery not last an entire day in the parks or anywhere else for that matter. Lets keep in mind a couple of facts, not inuendo in this situation. The OP made no statement about the age of the phone. All phone batteries degrade over time which results in shorter battery life. The iPhone SE is the smallest form-factor iPhone which as a result, has the smallest battery (and lowest price). A smaller battery will obviously have a shorter life than a model with a larger battery. Again, this is not an iPhone thing but a battery thing that impacts ALL phones. Many people have vastly different usage patterns when in the parks which results in abnormal battery drain on the devices.

Sorry...”my experience is”...

And you get 10 yards for unnecessary snit. These are opinions...not encyclopedia britannica.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

While I don't have experience with iPhones, smartphones in general just don't fare well at WDW. Not only does the averages person's usage go up dramatically, but it seems like every building you walk into is a Faraday cage.

While turning off services can slow the bleeding, I have found that it is much easier to just get a decent portable charger.

Anker has several that are about wallet size that support fast charging and can fully charge your average smartphone 6 or 7 times on a single charge.

If size is an issue, Anker has several pocket friendly models that will give you around 2 charges.

I like the idea of the clip on solar cell chargers...they have them on amazon. Unfortunately it seems that they haven’t gotten the efficiency up to snuff yet.

Good advice on the anker though...I could use something like that for long kayak runs as well

 

[Master Yoda]

I like the idea of the clip on solar cell chargers...they have them on amazon. Unfortunately it seems that they haven’t gotten the efficiency up to snuff yet.

This is especially true for the charger only models. The ones that combine a charger and battery are not too terrible, but seem more gimmicky than practical especially in a theme park setting.

 

[crxbrett]

When I visited DW last summer I would usually get to the parks around 8am and be back to the resort room by 1:30 and was usually around 85-90%. The keys to extending battery life are to shut wi-fi, GPS and bluetooth off, make sure any automatic syncing is off, use Power Saving Mode and switch to Flight Mode when in the parks. Also turn off any ringtones & message alerts using sounds or vibrations, and shut off haptic feedback if you use it. I also turn off notifications and incoming text message previews or light-ups/alerts. And lastly, keep the screen brightness as low as possible - indoors it can be all the way down, obviously outside you will have to crank it up if it is sunny. I only take my phone out of flight mode if I have to add or make Fast Pass updates.


I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 if it matters lol

 

[MacRtst]

Just pay the one time $30 for the Fuel Rod and you get unlimited swaps at any of the stations located in each park and Disney resorts. We have had ours for over a year and bring it with us each trip. You can also charge it at home to use when not at Disney. IMO, definitely worth the one time $30 charge vs bringing your own because once its out of energy you have to charge it. The Fuel Rod can just be swapped out for a fresh one as many times as you want.

I will add on to the Fuel Rod comments (HIGHLY RECOMMEND). BUT, if you purchase them from their online store you can save $5 OR purchase them at MANY airports and public centers. Check the website if there is a location near you. EXCELLENT customer service also. But we never worry about having battery life now that we have one.

 

[jloucks]

Anytime the phone is 'searching' for wifi or cellular it consumes massive amounts of power. Turn off wifi, and consider airplane mode when not expecting texts.

 

[DisAl]

When I visited DW last summer I would usually get to the parks around 8am and be back to the resort room by 1:30 and was usually around 85-90%. The keys to extending battery life are to shut wi-fi, GPS and bluetooth off, make sure any automatic syncing is off, use Power Saving Mode and switch to Flight Mode when in the parks. Also turn off any ringtones & message alerts using sounds or vibrations, and shut off haptic feedback if you use it. I also turn off notifications and incoming text message previews or light-ups/alerts. And lastly, keep the screen brightness as low as possible - indoors it can be all the way down, obviously outside you will have to crank it up if it is sunny. I only take my phone out of flight mode if I have to add or make Fast Pass updates.


I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 if it matters lol

There are two reasons WDW is such a phone battery killer. First, although WiFi is generally available the signals can be quite week in a lot of areas. That means your phone WiFi has to transmit at a higher power to get back to the WiFi. The same thing is true for cellular coverage. The signals for some carries can be quite weak in some areas meaning you phone also has to transmit the cellular signals at higher power. Keep in mind that this is happening even if you are not using your phone! Your phone is constantly communicating short bursts of data with cell towers or WiFi even when you are not actively using it. That's why putting it in airplane mode helps; that disables all transmitters in the phone.

crxbrett you are right on everything you said. I also went in settings and turned off every application that runs in the background that I did not need so that those would not be draining the battery when I was using the phone. On the Galaxy Sx phones if you turn on extreme power save it disables everything but critical functions, but I wanted to leave WiFi and GPS on for use with MDE.