How Reporting, Sensor Logging, GPS & Connectivity Affect Sensos Label Battery Life

Sensos Label battery life is determined by configuration and operating conditions - not by a fixed number of days. This article explains how reporting frequency, sensor logging (temperature and humidity), GPS usage, and connectivity quality contribute to battery consumption, and shows how to calculate expected battery life using a real configuration example.

Baseline Battery Specification

The Sensos Label is designed for up to ~1,500 reports under fair conditions.

Fair conditions assume:

• Moderate reporting frequency
• No environmental sensor logging
• Minimal GPS usage
• Good cellular connectivity

Any additional activity increases battery consumption and reduces total lifespan.

Sensor Logging: Temperature & Humidity 

The Sensos Label can log temperature and humidity at configured intervals.
Battery consumption clarification:

• One sensor log (temperature or humidity) ≈ 20% of the battery used by one non-GPS report
• Logging both temperature and humidity together does NOT double consumption
  • A combined temperature + humidity log has the same battery impact as logging just one of them

Frequent sensor logging can therefore significantly increase overall battery consumption, even if report frequency remains unchanged.

Environmental Temperature Effects

Environmental Temperature Effects (baseline: room temperature ≈ 23°C)

The battery-life estimates and example calculations in this article are based on room temperature conditions (≈ 23°C). Deviations from room temperature will change expected battery life.

Why this matters

Temperature affects both the battery chemistry and the label’s electronics. As a result:

• The “~1,500 reports” baseline assumes room temperature (~23°C); expect the baseline to change when labels spend time outside that range.

• Temperature effects are independent of reporting frequency: even if reporting stays constant, extreme temperatures will reduce total report count.

GPS Usage and Battery Impact

GPS is one of the most battery-intensive operations on the label.
Rule of thumb:

• One GPS-based report ≈ 5 non-GPS reports
  (≈ 500% of the battery usage of a standard report)

Configurations with frequent GPS fixes will dramatically shorten battery life and should be planned carefully.

Example: How We Calculate ~25 “Equivalent Reports” per Day

Below is a real-world configuration example showing how daily battery consumption is calculated.

Configuration:

• Movement reports: every 30 minutes
• Static reports: every 6 hours
• Temperature & humidity logging: every 30 minutes
  • 6 hours of movement per day
  • 18 hours static

Step-by-Step Calculation 

1. Movement reports
   6 hours of movement ÷ 0.5 hours = 12 movement reports
2. Static reports
   18 hours ÷ 6 hours = 3 static reports
3. Sensor logs (temperature + humidity)

• 24 hours ÷ 0.5 hours = 48 sensor logs
• Each log ≈ 0.2 report
• 48 × 0.2 = 9.6 ≈ 10 report equivalents

Total Daily Battery Consumption

• Movement reports: 12
• Static reports: 3
• Sensor logging: 10

Total: ~25 equivalent reports per day

This example assumes room temperature conditions (~23°C). Time spent at much lower or higher temperatures will reduce the expected battery life - test or add margin if your shipments experience temperature extremes.

Expected Battery Life (Example)

Using the baseline of ~1,500 reports:

1,500 ÷ 25 ≈ 60 days

This behavior is expected and does not indicate dead-on-arrival (DOA) hardware or battery failure.

Connectivity Quality Impact

Battery life is also influenced by connectivity quality.
In low-reception environments (e.g., basements, underground facilities, tunnels, shielded warehouses, refrigerated warehouses, freezers, shipping containers, etc.), the label may:

• Require multiple transmission attempts
• Stay connected longer to complete data uploads

This increases battery consumption beyond what is caused by reporting and logging alone.

Key Takeaway

• Battery life depends on how the label is configured and used
• Sensor logging (temperature and/or humidity) consumes battery even without reports
• GPS usage has a dramatic impact on battery life
• Poor connectivity increases power usage
• Always calculate expected battery life based on real shipment behavior and configuration

Your Sensos team can help validate configurations and estimate battery life before deployment.