iphone models (1 Viewer)

I am getting to the point of purchasing either of the following models: iphone 4 vs 4s vs 5 (or maybe even 5s). How do these compare regarding battery life, antenna strength (including the GPS antenna), etc? I would purchase an unlocked model through for example amazon and use it (mostly) without actually using the device as a phone but for birding related issues such as GPS, apps with images and sound, birdlog for logging bird observations, etc.

Niels

If you're not going to use the phone, would buying an IPod touch together with something like a separate GPS device connecting to it be a potentially cheaper solution? (There's also a version for the 4th Gen Touch). No relying on having a phone signal this way.

Andrea

Thanks Andrea, that might work together with my pre-existing ipad mini, I did not know such a device even existed. Do you know anything about battery life when this is attached?

Niels

I found this because your question made me wonder what the situation was with gps for a touch (or an ipad). I've dug up one review at <http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/bad-elf-ios-gps-dongle-1000.php> where the comment on battery life is as follows:

`The flip side is that, as with all GPS devices, they are power hungry and so you should not expect to use this for more than a few hours unless you have some form of external power, either via power in your vehicle or an external battery pack. My iPhone4 managed 3hrs constant use running MotionX GPS with the Bad Elf GPS attached and pulling in map data over 3G. With careful use, WiFi/3G off and backlight reduced this could easily be stretched out to >4hrs.'

(I don't know how long an Iphone lasts if you keep the gps running.) And from the FAQ at bad-elf.com:

`GPS receivers are power-hungry devices, and running location-based apps continuously can drain your battery quickly. This is true of both the iPhone/iPad internal GPS chips and of external Bad Elf GPS products. Luckily, the iPad battery is HUGE in comparison, so battery drain is not as much of an issue. In our experience, a fully charged iPod touch can power the Bad Elf GPS for four hours or more. For an iPad, it’s 10 hours or more. Interestingly, screen brightness usually has a greater impact on battery life than the Bad Elf GPS. '

Something to think about?

Andrea

This looks like a great device, however, one downside of using it with an iPad Mini is the screen which is almost impossible to see in sunlight.

As for the iPhones, the 5 is much lighter & slimmer than the 4s and battery life is much improved, and even better with IOS 7.

Thank you both. I have already used my ipad mini with the sibley app in New Mexico and Arizona last may, so I have a pretty good idea that I can see enough on that screen (casting shadow with my head) - especially if I can set the GPS to register every 10 minutes, close the lid, and forget about it for a few hours. Obviously, using other apps during that time will cause a drain.

Niels