Apple’s iBeacon is set to revolutionize how we interact with physical spaces via our phones. They allow physical spaces to interact with its visitors, allowing them to personalize the experience. But as the number of iBeacons grow, the concern regarding their battery drain also grows.
To answer the question of battery drain on different phones as we live in an environment filled with beacons, we conducted a detailed experimental study. In this report we analyze the impact of duty cycles, scanning intervals, and beacon advertising intervals on power consumption of a phone nearby.
Highlights of this report are:
- Older Android handsets are not optimized for beacon use; but newer handsets are very efficient in sensing beacons and the battery impact of iBeacon scans is minimal.
- Battery life depends a lot on the number of beacons detected in the vicinity. When a phone is scanning for beacons, but no beacons are around, the battery use is much lower.
- The number of scans is just as important as the time spent scanning. In some cases, it is better for the phone to keep scanning than turning the Bluetooth scan OFF and ON again.
- Beacons that advertise themselves more frequently make the phone consume more battery, but facilitate more accurate distance calculation.
Continue reading the complete report on ibeacon battery consumption.
