Does Leaving Wi-Fi on Drain Battery- iPhone?

Phone batteries only have a limited timespan which is measured in charge cycles. There are multiple power-hungry features that may tamper with your phones charge cycle and drain your battery faster than you would really expect.

Among the biggest complaints in the electronic industry is battery-related. A great number of people complain that their battery either complain that their battery doesn’t last too long even after charging it to 100% or their batteries seem to drain faster even when their phones are locked. For this simple reason, majority of the phone users have linked their battery-related issues to different phone features including Wi-Fi.

Considering the fact that Wi-Fi uses radio signals to ensure that your network, telecommunications and entertainment needs are met, it is not necessarily as power hungry as cellular radios and would not exactly drain your phones battery when you leave it on.In fact, leaving your Wi-Fi on has more benefits than negatives, which we will look at in the other parts of this article.

So, why should you leave your Wi-Fi on?

Wi-Fi does use your battery, that’s a fact but when compared to features such as cellular data it is safe to say that it consumes way less and cannot be compared to a battery drain. When you enable Wi-Fi on your iPhone, it instantly connect when it is in range, and when out of range, it consumes a very little amount of battery when trying to look for a network to connect to.

You should also acknowledge the fact that turning off the Wi-Fi option on your iPhone would mean that you need to connect your phone to mobile data so that you can use the internet. In as much as you may have unlimited data, using cellular data in itself is a battery consuming option and has the potential to damage your battery in the long run if you use it too often. In addition, when you turn off the Wi-Fi feature on your phone and forget to turn it back on, you would be wasting a valuable amount of data in your cap that you could have otherwise obtained over a Wi-Fi connection.

Generally, if you are going on a long trip that would keep you of Wi-Fi for a while, then may be that would be a great reason to turn off your Wi-Fi connection but it isn’t the most practical option if you are moving from one Wi-Fi zone to the next. If you are looking to conserve your phone’s battery in the long run, you can always disable the Auto-Sync feature instead of having to disable Wi-Fi as this significantly reduces any distracting notifications and battery-draining activities on your device.

Wi-Fi is quite beneficial because;

1. It doesn’t only give you seamless access to the internet but also helps with location services

As a matter of fact, having your Wi-Fi turned on is very important when you are going on a trips. Majority of the time, when you start navigating, you may begin to wonder why your phone prefers to turn on the Wi-Fi than the GPS. This usually happens due to the Wi-Fi Positioning System which is often used in areas where GPS signals are finding it difficult to navigate or are blocked out by others sources.

2. Wi-Fi is the most cost friendly way to access the internet

Wi-Fi is literally free to use and it is very accessible wherever you go, whether malls, offices, the gym or theme parks. Also, there are multiple mobile carriers such as AT&T and Verizon among others, who have a Wi-Fi hotspot networks designed for you to use. These hotspots give you a chance to automatically log into one if you are within its range. All in all, make use of free data whenever you can as the best way to avoid any unexpected phone bills at the end of the month.

Justifying the Myth that turning off the Wi-Fi saves your battery

If you have noticed, among the most common suggestions for extending your phone’s battery life is to disable the Wi-Fi feature on your iPhone. However, if you are within a range of a very strong Wi-Fi signal, your phone tends to use much less power to connect to the internet via a Wi-Fi connection instead of a cellular one. In addition, if you are continually using applications that tend to rely on your current location, having the Wi-Fi feature enabled on your phone, makes it easier for your iPhone to determine location without having to depend on power-hungry GPS features, so you can rest assured that your battery will last longer.

Unless you are completely at the edge and are really struggling to get a reliable Wi-Fi connection and you have a stable cellular data connection, then you can always bank on using cellular data as you keep your Wi-Fi feature on at the same time.

What exactly can I do to save my iPhone’s battery life?

When it comes to Wi-Fi related matters, you should always try to stay connected to a Wi-Fi network at all times through the day for better results. In addition, when you are unable to connect to the internet via Wi-Fi, you should disable it and when you are unable to connect to any network, whether cellular data or Wi-Fi, you can always conserve your battery by enabling Airplane mode.

Final Thoughts

We cannot eliminate the fact that Wi-Fi has the ability to drain your phone’s battery depending on the specific device that you have connected to but when it is not connected, Wi-Fi should consume very little energy and should ensure a seamless experience at all times.

FAQs

1. Is it OK to leave Wi-Fi on all the time?

Yes. It absolutely is.

2. Should I turn Wi-Fi off at night?

Yes. Actually it is a great idea to turn Airplane mode on when you are going to bed as it contributes to the longevity of your device and battery.