iPhone SE (2020) 14mth old SE2 battery life = abysmal

[MajorFubar]

Initially I was impressed with the battery life of my new SE2 I bought March 2021, It replaced a 5 year old 6S whose battery could plummet from 100% to 68% in the 35 minutes it took me to walk to work listening to Apple Music on BT headphones. I cut it some slack because heck it was five years old after all.

But fourteen months in with this SE2, I feel I'm heading the same direction, with the battery health now 85% which is classed as "significantly degraded", even though I'm convinced my use is way less than many others who have their phones loaded with dozens of apps and basically live their lives staring at their phone-screens. (And yes I always use optimised charging.)

I haven't ever kept a phone for less than two years but I'm tempted to trade this in and buy an SE3 and hope it's got a better battery. The battery on this SE2 would be lucky to last 3 hours continuous use. EDIT: Just to preempt anyone suggesting a better iPhone, I want to stick with the SE range because firstly I want touch-ID, and I don't want a huge screen that my one hand can't reach the corners of.

 

[Expos of 1969]

Initially I was impressed with the battery life of my new SE2 I bought March 2021, It replaced a 5 year old 6S whose battery could plummet from 100% to 68% in the 35 minutes it took me to walk to work listening to Apple Music on BT headphones. I cut it some slack because heck it was five years old after all.

But fourteen months in with this SE2, I feel I'm heading the same direction, with the battery health now 85% which is classed as "significantly degraded", even though I'm convinced my use is way less than many others who have their phones loaded with dozens of apps and basically live their lives staring at their phone-screens. (And yes I always use optimised charging.)

I haven't ever kept a phone for less than two years but I'm tempted to trade this in and buy an SE3 and hope it's got a better battery. The battery on this SE2 would be lucky to last 3 hours continuous use. EDIT: Just to preempt anyone suggesting a better iPhone, I want to stick with the SE range because firstly I want touch-ID, and I don't want a huge screen that my one hand can't reach the corners of.

That battery health does seem low for the age and use. My wife bought the SE2 upon release and her battery is at 99%. Granted, she is not a heavy user.

 

[MajorFubar]

I didn't consider myself a heavy user either considering the original battery on my 6S was only really dying after 4 years. There's nothing I can realistically do about it which won't cost me money one way or another because it's beyond its 12-month warranty. I think I probably just got Friday afternoon's dud.

 

[IsaacM]

Small phones with tiny batteries will notice battery degradation way faster.

Not because the batteries will degrade more, but because the battery is so small that any decline will be more noticeable.

If you care about great battery life, get a Pro Max. Sadly that's how it works.

 

[Andeddu]

Normal battery degradation. Your 6S battery realistically became unusable after 2.5-3 years and you continued to use it despite it showing erratic behaviour. I suggest you opt for a battery replacement to bring your SE2 back to 100%. My 12 Mini is down to 84% after 17 months and that is with roughly one charge per day.

 

[MJigolf]

I got the SE2 since launch and it shows 91% battery health with ~500 charge cycles. Seems you were unkucky getting a bad battery.

 

[tenordrum]

My SE2 seems to lose charge pretty fast as well. Purchased just over 2 years ago, battery health is holding at 86% for the last few months. I actually went to BB to take advantage of their advertised trade offer of an extra $100 for the SE2 to get the new SE two days ago. The clerk at the phone desk told me to go to the Verizon store for a better deal. I have some BB gift cards and wanted to buy and even switch carriers, but he didn't want to make a sale.

I don't use it that much as I am retired. I walk a lot though, and use it with the fitness app on the watch so that may draw the charge down. I think the BB clerk did me a favor, since the new SE is not that much of an upgrade over this one. I can either get a new battery, or just trade the phone at Apple for one of the IP13 models. The refurb 12s are hard to find at the apple store.

 

[Frankras]

I got the SE2 since launch and it shows 91% battery health with ~500 charge cycles. Seems you were unkucky getting a bad battery.

Got my SE2020 in may 2020 and use it as my main phone. Is also at 91%. Don’t know how many cycles.

So AP has a phone with kind a bad battery.

 

[rui no onna]

That battery health does seem low for the age and use. My wife bought the SE2 upon release and her battery is at 99%. Granted, she is not a heavy user.

I’m not a heavy phone user either (10 minute average screen on time, no background music streaming) but my SE2’s battery has gotten noticeably degraded (380 cycles, 87%, drains quite quickly).

Alas, no wifi and 1-2 bars of cell signal at work really kills the battery. Also, hot SoCal weather and sometimes, the AC isn’t working.

 

[rui no onna]

Small phones with tiny batteries will notice battery degradation way faster.

Not because the batteries will degrade more, but because the battery is so small that any decline will be more noticeable.

If you care about great battery life, get a Pro Max. Sadly that's how it works.

This is the sad reality. Mind, the batteries do actually degrade quicker since small phones tend to discharge quicker thus requiring charging more often.

I still upgraded to the SE3 despite the battery caveats because OLED gives me headaches and I simply prefer smaller phones.

 

[CE3]

85% seems a little low for 14 months, but if you’re tempted to upgrade to the SE3, I find the battery life to be solid (coming from an iPhone 11 w/ 88% battery health after 18 months).

These stats are mostly on Wi-Fi, but I’ve had some heavier GPS usage days on cellular, and it’s done fine.

 

[Paddle1]

Initially I was impressed with the battery life of my new SE2 I bought March 2021, It replaced a 5 year old 6S whose battery could plummet from 100% to 68% in the 35 minutes it took me to walk to work listening to Apple Music on BT headphones. I cut it some slack because heck it was five years old after all.

But fourteen months in with this SE2, I feel I'm heading the same direction, with the battery health now 85% which is classed as "significantly degraded", even though I'm convinced my use is way less than many others who have their phones loaded with dozens of apps and basically live their lives staring at their phone-screens. (And yes I always use optimised charging.)

I haven't ever kept a phone for less than two years but I'm tempted to trade this in and buy an SE3 and hope it's got a better battery. The battery on this SE2 would be lucky to last 3 hours continuous use. EDIT: Just to preempt anyone suggesting a better iPhone, I want to stick with the SE range because firstly I want touch-ID, and I don't want a huge screen that my one hand can't reach the corners of.

Do you use fast charging or wireless charging?

 

[MajorFubar]

Do you use fast charging or wireless charging?

Neither. Always plugged it in via the lightning port and optimised charging has always been on

 

[saber32au]

I wonder if you have a rogue app which is causing excessive battery drain (notwithstanding the fact that your battery health is at 85%)?

The only suggestion I could offer (which doesn't cost you any money) is to perform a full backup of your phone, then re-install iOS. At that point, you could either restore from the backup you've created, or setup the phone without your existing data.

If that doesn't work, well I guess you'll need to decide whether it's worthwhile changing the battery, or upgrading to the SE3. Yes, the SE3 has a slightly larger battery (2018mAh vs 1821mAh in the SE2) and (according to Apple) a more efficient chip (A15 vs A13 in the SE2), but whether you'll experience the same usability issue in 18 months post purchase is unknown...

 

[johnscully]

The battery health of my iPhone SE 2020 was at 85 percent after two years of usage – as a consequence the battery life was way worse than at the beginning. Battery was exchanged in an Apple Store and now it is back to normal (which still isn't really good compared to other iPhone models, but what can you do...)

 

[MajorFubar]

I wonder if you have a rogue app which is causing excessive battery drain (notwithstanding the fact that your battery health is at 85%)?

The only suggestion I could offer (which doesn't cost you any money) is to perform a full backup of your phone, then re-install iOS. At that point, you could either restore from the backup you've created, or setup the phone without your existing data.

If that doesn't work, well I guess you'll need to decide whether it's worthwhile changing the battery, or upgrading to the SE3. Yes, the SE3 has a slightly larger battery (2018mAh vs 1821mAh in the SE2) and (according to Apple) a more efficient chip (A15 vs A13 in the SE2), but whether you'll experience the same usability issue in 18 months post purchase is unknown...

It all seemed to start to 'go south' when all UK residents were encouraged to download the NHS Track & Trace app so our phones could scare us sh*tless by telling us we'd been near to someone who'd tested +ve for Covid. As soon as I uninstalled that app in February when near enough all Covid legal restrictions were lifted in the UK, I noticed an immediate improvement. But it didn't last long.

 

[ian87w]

Not sure why people are surprised about this. The SE has a comically tiny battery for a smartphone. It’s less than 2000mAh. I don’t think there are any other smartphones out there with battery that small in the last 5 years, other than the 2022 SE.

So with mere 1800mAh battery, every charge cycle would be achieved faster, and thus degrade faster, since you will be charging it more frequently as well Eg you will be filling up a car with a smaller fuel tank more frequently than a car with larger fuel tank.

 

[theriddler]

Not sure why people are surprised about this. The SE has a comically tiny battery for a smartphone. It’s less than 2000mAh. I don’t think there are any other smartphones out there with battery that small in the last 5 years, other than the 2022 SE.

So with mere 1800mAh battery, every charge cycle would be achieved faster, and thus degrade faster, since you will be charging it more frequently as well Eg you will be filling up a car with a smaller fuel tank more frequently than a car with larger fuel tank.

My new SE3 on its longest day – 12 hours screen on time. I’m in the UK and haven’t reinstalled the COVID close contact app.

 

[jav6454]

Neither. Always plugged it in via the lightning port and optimised charging has always been on

How many times did you charge it per day given your regular usage before you noticed the drop in battery life? How many times do you charge it per day now with the degraded battery?

 

[remington79]

My SE20 is from launch day and is at 87% battery health. At one point I was average a 1% decline a month.

My daughter’s SE20 is only a year old and is at 85%. But she watches a lot more videos and plays a lot of graphic and battery draining games. She complains about the battery all the time but I wasn’t going to get her a more expensive phone for a first new phone. She had the 6s prior for only a few months but it’s battery was gone.

No idea what my wife’s launch day SE20 is I haven’t checked. Sometimes she complains about the battery but she doesn’t use the phone as much.

I haven’t bothered to update to any of the 15s. I figure they’re going to be bigger battery drains. I thought I heard one of the first iOS 15s was.

 

[JPack]

SE2 battery was bad to begin with. It uses the exact same battery as iPhone 8, which had the smallest battery of any 4.7-inch iPhone. SE3 uses a new battery chemistry to pack more WHr into the same space.

If you want significantly better, upgrade to the XR/11 generation.

 

[MajorFubar]

How many times did you charge it per day given your regular usage before you noticed the drop in battery life? How many times do you charge it per day now with the degraded battery?

Probably once per day initially. Now at least twice.

 

[millerj123]

Mine’s also at 85%. I just make sure I can charge when it gets low.

 

[jav6454]

Probably once per day initially. Now at least twice.

Right now you are double cycling the battery which means it is being degraded faster. Your battery life usually sticks to 90% of battery life within the first 12 months. So I'd say you are within range.

 

[MajorFubar]

Right now you are double cycling the battery which means it is being degraded faster. Your battery life usually sticks to 90% of battery life within the first 12 months. So I'd say you are within range.

I'm plugging it in twice a day because its charge literally won't last longer than 3-4 hours use. And by 'use' it can be as little as just streaming music to my APP's, let alone using the screen.
Besides which it's 2022, iOS should (and probably does) already have battery management features that prevent the battery being degraded by being plugged in too often.

Have to admit i'm half tempted to migrate to an Android device, after being an iPhone guy for 10 years now. There are literally dozens available with this ballpark screen-size, rather than being limited to a choice of two (iPhone SE3 / Mini). I'm struggling to believe any of them have a worse battery.

EDIT: Probably not too difficult to find an Android phone with a USB-C port as well, instead of lightning, even though on the one hand Apple was pushing USB-C onto us before we were really ready for it with the 2015 Macbook, but on the other hand seven years later they still won't fit it to a bloody iPhone.