Yes. Heat is the enemy of all rechargeable batteries.

Although I don't know that the gel case alone could cause the battery to retain enough heat to reduce its discharge time that much.

 

Have a gel case and my phone rests in a Galaxy S holster and my batter holds out for almost 2 days.

 

This interests me because I have a gel case and have noticed it to cause a bit of insulation, but I've never used my phone out of the case for more than a few hours. I have noticed it maintains about 25-27 degrees with the case whilst in my pocket, and about 22 or 23 out of my pocket.

I easily get a day (16 or so hours off the charger) out of mine with over a hundred texts, a few hours of wifi and about 2 hours of screen on time. This usually leaves me with about 60% at the end of the day. (Mind you I get awful service in classes). With heavier use (and better service) on weekends I still end the day without about 50%.

This weekend I might try using mine sans case to see if my battery life is any different. I'll report back on my findings.

 

Do you not think that it is far more likely that the gel case is significantly reducing the internal antenna's sensitivity so that the phone is having to work harder to grab and hold onto the signal.

This will make the processor work harder and use more power.

 

I have full bars and use H without issue.

 

I'm afraid you are missing my point....... the issue is how hard the phone is having to work to give you those 5 bars

 

Obviously not a lot if you read post #3!