UPDATE: Dual Bose S1 battery test concluded - Results in top post

[Methos1979]

After reading a recent post about the Bose S1 and the known battery issues I decided I'm in a unique position to run a test since I own two of them. On that thread I believe someone said that after running a firmware update their battery drain issue seemed to be fixed. I figured I'd test that theory!

I have two Bose S1 units. I bought the first one early on in March of 2018. I bought my second on in April of 2019. At some point I did find that I have the battery drain issue on at least one of them after finding that one was dead from leaving it unplugged for an extended period of time. I'm not sure which one.

Since that time I've just left both of them plugged in always except of course when I'm using them for live use at which time I run them only on battery. I have never sent either back to Bose to correct the issue with the battery drain since I had no reservations with leaving them connected to power at home.

So for this test I went in and connected both to the Bose app and updated both to the latest firmware. Both are fully charged. I have now unplugged both and will leave them unplugged and I'll monitor their power levels daily. I may or may not use one of them from time to time to practice at home.

I'll report every day or so what their current battery levels are on this first post below so check back to see how that goes. I'll change the title from RUNNING to DONE when complete.

Date, time, battery level, usage (in minutes if any):

Bose S1 Pro A

3/23/20, 1200, 100%, 0
3/24/20, 1200, 100%, 0
3/25/20, 1215, 90%, 70
3/26/20, 1215, 90%, 0
3/29/20, 1230, 90%, 0
3/31/20, 1430, 80%, 65
4/01/20, 1215, 70%, 90
4/05/20, 1530, 60%, 55
4/06/20, 1030, 60%, 35
4/10/20, 1700, 50%, 60
4/11/20, 1300, 40%, 55
4/13/20, 1400, 30%, 60
4/16/20, 1300, 20%, 60

Bose S1 Pro B

3/23/20, 1200, 100%, 0
3/24/20, 1200, 100%, 0
3/25/20, 1215, 100%, 0
3/26/20, 1215, 100%, 0
3/29/20, 1230, 100%, 0
3/31/20, 1430, 100%, 0
4/01/20, 1215, 100%, 0
4/05/20, 1530, 100%, 0
4/06/20, 1030, 100%, 0
4/10/20, 1700, 100%, 0
4/11/20, 1500, 100%, 0
4/13/20, 1400, 90%, 60
4/16/20, 1300, 90%, 0

Test RESULTS:

So although we're not even a full month in I think I can state that for me at least the battery drain issue has been resolved with the most recent firmware updated. In three-plus solid weeks of testing unit B did not drain at all until it was finally used for an hour. Control unit A generally exhibited an approximate battery usage of 10% per hour powered on. After over 9 hours of use I still had 20% of remaining power. That's pretty darn good in my book.

Although I've drained 10% out of unit B with an hour's use I might just let that one sit since it's my backup anyway and maybe check in once a month or so to see if the power levels hold indefinitely although based on the other post from Mr. Spoon I suspect to see maybe a 10% drain once a month or so even with non-use. Still pretty darn good.

[Justinian]

I got my S1 few weeks ago and started similar test.
I charged mine 100%, unplugged from power, used first day until it dropped to 80% and after 4-5 days now it's still showing 80% when I check it on daily basis through Bose Connect.
Note that my S1 and battery are brand new one and I did update firmware.

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by Justinian

I got my S1 few weeks ago and started similar test.
I charged mine 100%, unplugged from power, used first day until it dropped to 80% and after 4-5 days now it's still showing 80% when I check it on daily basis through Bose Connect.
Note that my S1 and battery are brand new one and I did update firmware.

Good to know. Did you by any chance note any battery drain performance issues before you did the firmware update? Or did you do it as soon as you purchased? I would interesting to see if the most recently shipped S1's from Bose are not having the issue.

[Justinian]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

Good to know. Did you by any chance note any battery drain performance issues before you did the firmware update? Or did you do it as soon as you purchased? I would interesting to see if the most recently shipped S1's from Bose are not having the issue.

It's brand new unit and there was no enough time to compare different scenarios.
Initially I removed battery because I didn't plan to use it (S1 was always connect to power) but I installed after I did research through AGF and Bose forum.
I will definitely monitor in the future but I think I'm OK for now.

[Murphy Slaw]

Very cool, Methos.

I've never had any desire to leave mine unplugged for weeks at a time, so could never figure out how this became such a big deal. I checked it a few times and it would drain down some after a week or so, so I simply leave it plugged in when it's not being used in the field.

I did the update the other day, but haven't bothered to test it because it simply doesn't matter to me. Seems a bit petty of a problem. I mean, I never have NOT charged my phone for 2 weeks to see if it would hold a charge.

I am interested in your test however, just for kicks. I'm still thinking the Bose S1-Pro is the best thing since sliced bread.

Or toilet paper...

[sam.spoons]

My second S1 fell from fully charger to <90% in less than four days when running 7.0.1 firmware, I updated it to 7.1.7 and fully charged it on Sat 14th. It has been 'switched off' since then (I have been using my first S1* for practice) and was still registering 100% on the app a week later. I will check it again this evening and post on here.

The first S1 still showed 100% (i.e. >90%) after 18 days but on day 21 has fallen to <90%. Fixed? No not really but sufficiently improved to be usable so I guess that's acceptable.

* Strictly the second S1 I had as the first was exchanged for a 'new one', the 'new one' was 'repaired twice, the first attempt made it worse, the second seems to have worked to a point, see above)

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

Very cool, Methos.

I've never had any desire to leave mine unplugged for weeks at a time, so could never figure out how this became such a big deal. I checked it a few times and it would drain down some after a week or so, so I simply leave it plugged in when it's not being used in the field.

I did the update the other day, but haven't bothered to test it because it simply doesn't matter to me. Seems a bit petty of a problem. I mean, I never have NOT charged my phone for 2 weeks to see if it would hold a charge.

I am interested in your test however, just for kicks. I'm still thinking the Bose S1-Pro is the best thing since sliced bread.

Or toilet paper...

Pretty much the same here. I never worried about leaving it plugged in so it would be ready. The only reason I knew mine had the issue was initially I left the first S1 unplugged after a gig for a week or so and found it dead. Since then I always left it plugged in. Same when I acquired the second unit.

That said I can see cases where there would be people that need to leave it unplugged for long periods of time going off the grid, camping, road trip, whatever, where they don't have power and want a fully or at least nearly fully charged unit to play a gig or performance.

Or even just being away from home on vacation, a work trip or something else and leaving the unit behind they might not want to leave it plugged in because of a fear of overcharging and fire hazard. Then there's the old-school notion of batteries developing a memory. Those things are no longer an issue with most modern battery operated equipment but beliefs and habits can be hard to change.

Just took another measurement on day 2 and both are still 100%

[Vancebo]

Originally Posted by sam.spoons

and was still registering 100% on the app a week later. I will check it again this evening and post on here.

Duuuuuh.....What app?

[Vancebo]

Nevermind. Found it. Updating now. Hmmm? Things you learn.

[sam.spoons]

S1 Pro #2 was still showing 100% on the app last night, 18 days after charging. Looks like updating the fw has made a significant improvement in battery life while in 'standby' mode.

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by sam.spoons

S1 Pro #2 was still showing 100% on the app last night, 18 days after charging. Looks like updating the fw has made a significant improvement in battery life while in 'standby' mode.

Agreed. I've gone to checking every few days because nothing was changing except for when I've used it. So far unit A loses about 10% per hour of use and until B with no use short of turning it on to check is still at 100%. I could likely end this test now but I'll keep it going and probably space it out even farther. Since this was pretty much the major problem people had with the until it's great that it's fixed and can be done with a simple update at home.

[wweiss]

Methos 1979
I know this is off the topic but I believe you had a QSC K8.2 with your Bose S1 and went with dual S1's
Do you ever miss the K8.2 or are the duals equal in performance?

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by wweiss

Methos 1979
I know this is off the topic but I believe you had a QSC K8.2 with your Bose S1 and went with dual S1's
Do you ever miss the K8.2 or are the duals equal in performance?

We do not miss it at all. And we rarely every even need the dual S1 setup. I've only used it twice so far - once at an outdoor gig where we needed to throw music in both direction (front and back) and another outdoor gig when we used one as a monitor in front on the ground and the other on a stand out in front of the tent facing out. But for the vast majority of our gigs - inside and outside - a single S1 on a stand behind us is enough.

The QSC is a great powered speaker. But just way more than we'll likely ever need and so the lightweight and battery power of the S1 just made more sense. We always run on battery and it's also nice to have an exact duplicate of your primary for backup in the trunk. Much the same reason I own three Cole Clark guitars!

[Chickee]

I wanted to throw my $0.02 into this post.

I had mentioned in the Electric Guitar section, within a post I was doing about updating actual hardware (tubes and speakers) on a couple of amp, that I also updated the “firmware” of my Bose S1’s. Did they need it? Honestly, I don’t know. Why didn’t I know, you ask? Well, let me tell you.

It would never occur to me to expect a battery powered “anything” to stay fully charged for any extended length of time(like months!)Really?

Posts were bashing the Bose Corporation for releasing sub par equipment every day. To me this was the Audi debacle of the 1970’s all over again. Three elderly folks thought they put their cars in reverse, stepped on the gas and ended up going forward into people, storefronts, other cars. Everyone wanted Audi’s corporate head on a plate. The car went into “drive” by itself they were claiming.
Yeah, no, I don’t think so.

So, did a few S1’s leave the factory with maybe not 100% quality control? Sure, I don’t doubt that. Happens in every industry, I’m sure of it.

But, and here is the rub, how many of those units really were not up to spec? How many consumers just assumed, because they are good forumites, that their S1’s must be bad too? Judging by the posts, it was like everyone on the forum that had purchased S1’s got a bad one.

To close, today is day fifteen and my two S1’s are still fully charged. Let it be known, that is fourteen days longer than I would ever need them “ready to go” so to speak. Charging any battery the day before I needed it would be more than sufficient. The following post is priceless, I have to say.

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by Chickee

I wanted to throw my $0.02 into this post.

I had mentioned in the Electric Guitar section, within a post I was doing about updating actual hardware (tubes and speakers) on a couple of amp, that I also updated the “firmware” of my Bose S1’s. Did they need it? Honestly, I don’t know. Why didn’t I know, you ask? Well, let me tell you.

It would never occur to me to expect a battery powered “anything” to stay fully charged for any extended length of time(like months!)Really?

Posts were bashing the Bose Corporation for releasing sub par equipment every day. To me this was the Audi debacle of the 1970’s all over again. Three elderly folks thought they put their cars in reverse, stepped on the gas and ended up going forward into people, storefronts, other cars. Everyone wanted Audi’s corporate head on a plate. The car went into “drive” by itself they were claiming.
Yeah, no, I don’t think so.

So, did a few S1’s leave the factory with maybe not 100% quality control? Sure, I don’t doubt that. Happens in every industry, I’m sure of it.

But, and here is the rub, how many of those units really were not up to spec? How many consumers just assumed, because they are good forumites, that their S1’s must be bad too?

To close, today is day fifteen and my two S1’s are still fully charged. Let it be known, that’s fourteen days longer than I would ever need.

Every time I want to use mine the battery is completely dead. I use it only every couple months. And it takes some time plugged in before it starts to work again. What's with an electric cord attached, so I am always worried at first that something real is wrong with it.