Apple Products i.e Iphone

[liberatordeluxe]

Does anyone else have the Apple IPhone 5s? How do you rate it? I have bought one myself a couple of months ago and find the battery life poor. What smartphones do you find the best for long battery life? And do you think Apple are any better than Windows or Android? Beginning to regret buying this iPhone.

 

[gusherb]

I never had very good battery life with the 5S when I had one. Wasn't really a fan of that phone overall. Know a few people with them and have had them a couple years now and they work ok, they're getting a little slow these days though. I personally have an iPhone 6, there are a lot of things I like about it, and there are things I hate about it, but so far I've kept it the longest of any smart phone I've ever had. I will probably upgrade to the 6S in the fall when the prices come down, since it looks like the 7 will come with no headphone jack which is a big annoyance to me, and I've learned my lesson in buying a new design phone when they first come out...

 

[henene4]

I personally switched to a Windowsphone, a Nokia 725 to be exact. I simply don't use my phone for much else then texting, navigation, misic and serving a tiny bit. And it really behaves much like any Win10 system I have used.

Android just started to annoy me because any Android phone works well for 2 years and the drops dead to the stage of crashes and slow performance.

iPhones perform actually quite good over quite sone time. If your battery life lacks, first check all the settings for high usage systems like locations, WiFi, bluetooth etc. You should get a at least a light day of use out of it.
Otherwise, the battery might be just dead.

 

[stricklybojack]

.
My Samsung Android also died after 2 years. My Apple 5s is going strong for nearly 3 years now.
Yes not much battery, get a protective case with a battery built in for extended (double) duration of use.
We did for ours and it made all the difference.[this post was last edited: 6/26/2016-22:08]

 

[lordkenmore]

Other issue with Android that's worth pointing out: software support has been problematic with many phones. They don't get security patches, or they get them long after the patch is created. I also see a lot of phones at the cheap end of the market that appear to still be using an old version of Android.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

My other half has an iPhone 5s. Battery life sucks shit but more than doubles with a Lemmark(sp?) protective case which has an additional battery in it. No problems getting through a day now.

 

Me? I'm a sucker for a physical keyboard. I have a BlackBerry Q20 (aka Classic) as a daily driver and a BBerry Q10 as my back up. The Q10 has a normal replaceable battery so I can switch out when needed. If I were to go back to Android I'd probably go with a Samsung J3V because it's not too huge and I can swap out the battery at my discretion.

 

Jim

 

 

 

[tolivac]

I have an IPhone 6S like it generally-but the weird touch screen functions I DON'T like-my old IPhone 6 had the standard touch screen-you touched it,did what you wanted the phone to do.The 6S you have to fiddle with a pop up menu.Also,sometimes my phone will come up with a function I didn't want it to do.I charge the phone battery daily so the battery life isn't such a concern.Just started using the phone as a music player-esp thru the Bluetooh function with my cars radio.Works well,but I don't like the songs being mixed up-random play.Don't know how to fix that.Right now just happy it can play thru the cars sound system.HATE commercial radio-just CRAP now-and sat radio just plays the same records over and over-and the songs get interrupted by DJ's that say largely---NOTHING-just blabbing.

 

[vacerator]

I Phone?

I have no need for one, nor a data plan. I have not yet even sent a text message.
I can probably get that in the Guinness book.
Even my dental hygienist said I need to get with the times.
Really? Like my dental insurance which paid 80% in the 80's, and only pays 50% today?
On top of that, my old dentist used to sell a rider to offset what my insurance didn't cover for $40 per year.

 

[liberatordeluxe]

Thanks for your responses. Unfortunately I broke my iPhone this afternoon by dropping it. Screen completely shattered. Not getting it repaired as the quote rediculous amount of money. I mainly got the iPhone for call quality and wi if calling but I can't justify that cost just for something like that. I've dropped various other smartphones before but he screen has never broken, Beginning to think I may be better off going back to a feature phone as want a phone really just for calls and texts and maybe the odd picture. I have a proper computer and a camera at home. Has anyone else gone back to a basic phone after having a smart phone and regretted it?

 

[cadman]

Sorry to hear about the screen shattering. If you're handy you might take a stab at replacing it yourself (<$30 on ebay).

I'm surprised at the poor battery life. I have a 5S and can go several days between charging, but I also have push notifications turned off. I find that apps making use of location services can have a negative impact and some have this turned on by default. -C

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

I used a 4S (still have it) and the battery went bad (would drop from 25-30% to less than 5% in 10-12 mins.)   Had the battery (and the glass back) replaced and it did much better.  

 

I replaced the 4S with a 6S in October and like it a lot.   Unlike the majority, I do NOT live my life through my phone.   I use it for phone calls (surprise!), texts and face time calls.   I'm usually near a computer or my iPad, so I'll rarely do internet searches through my phone.

 

Of course the longer my calls and face time calls are, the quicker the battery drains.   I let the battery get down to 15-20% before charging and always let it charge fully each time.   Most of the time it will go 2 full days between charges.  Like Cory, I have the majority of the apps and background stuff turned off.   However I do use the Yelp, Waze and Shazam apps pretty regularly.

 

Kevin

 

[kb0nes]

I have a nearly 4 year old iPhone 5 and I have zero complaints. Just before year 3 I did replace the battery. (A replacement battery is $15 and you can change it in less then 10 min if you are handy). I can't imagine that the 5S would have a significantly different battery life...

Sorry to hear of the damaged display. Replacement shouldn't be ridiculous price wise, certainly would make more sense financially to repair then to trash a usable high value phone.

As for the Apple vs Android, while I dislike a LOT of the control freak issues from Apple, I just don't have the time to mess with a phone with a 'free' OS and open app development platform and the problems that lie within. Using iMessage over plain SMS is night and day better and I have yet to see an Android solution to the complete backup system that iTunes offers.

 

[vacerator]

Phil,

others have also mentioned the same control complaints with Apple as you have.

 

[kb0nes]

Mike, Indeed, Apple has long keep tight control which is both a blessing and a curse.

I have owned a personal computer since 1981 and I have generally been an Apple basher since the Apple II came out in the late 70's. I have always built my own PC's from parts and I do all my own tech work both at home and at various jobs I have worked. I never had any interest in not having full control at all times...

A while back I got my first Apple product (an iTouch iPod) and for a time I remained repelled at their control. But I have been more assimilated to the point of having a couple iPads and 3 MacOS computers now! I remain distinctly Bi though, I still have 3 PC's at home and all the computers at work are Windows based. I suppose I have come around to it being just a different tool in the tool box and accepted it for what it is.

In general, the Apple hardware is the best made stuff out there. But then again it is expensive too. Keeping tight control allows them to maintain some control of the experience and troubles due to app/hardware compatibility etc. I am still annoyed that I can't have a good WiFi signal meter on my iOS devices, Apple thinks it could be used for bad dontcha know?...

 

[liamy1]

Worked for......

A phone company for over 10 years.

Battery performance was one of the biggest complaints of handsets.

If you haven't already, here are some things to extend your battery life

1st - By far the biggest thing that drains battery, turn your screen brightness down as low as you can bear, also turn of "auto brightness" if convenient as you then have total control of it

- When you are not in range of any Wi-fi, turn it off, your phone will still scan for wifi networks, no point in it doing that if you cant/dont intend to connect to one

- Like wise, if you arent in range of any 3G/4G networks, you'll know this as you wont be able to browse the web, or the 3G/4G symbol next to signal indicator/network name will not be there. Or at best will show GPRS or E (which these signals aren't strong enough to run a data connection on a smartphone. Your phone will always try to connect to the strongest signal it can, so no point having it frantically scanning if you know you're in an area where there is nothing but basic call/text connection.

- Any apps you don't use, delete off the phone, if you have auto app updates turned on, the phone will do updates for any apps that need it, no point doing this for apps you dont use, as it uses battery, and even worse, uses your data allowance if the app updates are done on your mobile networks internet connection

- Turn off the feature that allows apps to refresh in the background. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and set the switch to Off.

- Likewise, your email app, change this from push email to fetch email, this means instead of emails coming through automatically, you will only get new emails come through when you actually open the email app on your phone, as when it is set to push through, your phone is practically always scanning your email accounts server to check for emails, so it can bring it through to your phone.

There are other things you can do, but above is what I can recall off hand

It sounds like a right pain written down, but if you can do any of the above things, it will definitely extend the battery life, I do it of course and it is second nature now.

Lithium batteries (what are used in smartphones over the last 8 years or so), are much better than what was used before. They dont develop memories like older batteries did or degrade as fast. Even so, they will only go through so many charge/discharge cycles before their performance degrades and doesnt perform as well as it did. If you are still happy with the phone, you can take it to apple for the battery to be replaced.

 

[ilovewindex]

I have the LG v10. I love it. I've had good luck with Lg phones and they seem to last the longest. I had several galaxy's and they just didn't last like I needed. In fact the s7 edge is so non tactile I can't even hang on to it correctly

 

[warmsecondrinse]

Good list, Liamy1. Most of these apply to all phones, regardless of operating system.

 

I do know from friends that iPhones are notoriously fragile compared to other phones. Over the years my Blackberries suffered all kinds of abuse, yet I never had any damage beyond scratches and scuffs even though I only ever used thin neoprene/soft gel cases. 

--------------------------

"As for the Apple vs Android, while I dislike a LOT of the control freak issues from Apple, I just don't have the time to mess with a phone with a 'free' OS and open app development platform and the problems that lie within."

 

Exactly.

 

This is one of the main reasons I've avoided Apple products. I have no patience with any entity (be it a person, a company, or whatever) that has exactly zero pieces of information yet behaves as if it knows my needs better than I do.

 

On the flip side I've had several android phones and each one has required a touch more time and energy than the one before to customize to my needs. Unfortunately, the older I get, the less discretionary time and energy I have.

 

I really hope Blackberry gets its act together. I'm very happy with their OS and do NOT want to be foreced to decide between Apple and Android.

 

Jim

 

 

 

[retro-man]

I have gone from an I phone back to a dependable droppable flip phone that I have had for many years. Dropped the I phone once and display was ruined. Never used any of the apps. Didn't surf the internet, didn't get my e-mails on it. Have many computers I am on every day, so no need for instant e-mails while I am out and about. Too many dropped calls on the I phone. Back to the flip phone. Never drops calls, makes and receives calls with no issues. Dropped many many times, the back comes off and the battery comes out. Takes less than a minute to put together and powers right back up. Best of all it fits into my pocket. Can walk ride my bike without holding onto it. It has blue tooth and connects to my vehicle automatically. I for one do not miss my I phone at all and probably will never purchase another one again. It is something I realized that I don't need in my life.

Jon

 

[liberatordeluxe]

Thanks Liamy for those helpful tips will bear that in mind when and if I buy another smartphone but won't be an Apple! I subscribed to Which magazine hence why I bought the iPhone and said it had good battery life and call quality. I found both were rubbish and no one could ever hear me on the phone. Do you think 2G will be obselete in years to come? If so basic phones for just calls will be redundant won't they as they are only 2G