E51 Battery Life

Switching your network mode to GSM instead of dual mode will always make a difference (as its not searching for a 3G signal which I believe is a big drain). But obviously you might not want to do this 😊

Also having bluetooth not on obviously makes a difference.

Having your 'packet data' setting on 'When needed' and not on 'When available'.

Having your display brightness turned down.

Having the backlight go off after 10 seconds instead of 30 which mine seemed to be defaulted to.

Having the basic date/time screen saver kick in after 20 seconds or so rather than whatever its on.

The other big question would be how exactly are you charging your battery?

How long does your battery last after a full charge?

As well as the excellent tips already given by the previous members I would also suggest that you ensure that your wifi is not on constant search. :icon14:

Nyxmorph wrote:Switching your network mode to GSM instead of dual mode will always make a difference (as its not searching for a 3G signal which I believe is a big drain). But obviously you might not want to do this 😊

Also having bluetooth not on obviously makes a difference.

Having your 'packet data' setting on 'When needed' and not on 'When available'.

Having your display brightness turned down.

Having the backlight go off after 10 seconds instead of 30 which mine seemed to be defaulted to.

Having the basic date/time screen saver kick in after 20 seconds or so rather than whatever its on.

Hold the Home key for a couple of seconds until the list of running tasks comes up; each one not only consumes memory, but also processor cycles. Having four of 5 programs running at once can drain a battery. Exit each one you don't need running (Standby and some resident processes like F-Secure AV can't be closed this way).

Aside from that, drain the battery all the way (until you can't turn it back on) then charge the phone while it's turned off all the way up to maximum. They say that Ni-MH batteries don't suffer from a "memory effect", but it's always good to do this every so often anyway. Keeps the battery in good condition.

The only other way you can extend battery life is by shifting some of the functions the device performs onto other items; using an iPod or other PMP for music, for example. Not ideal, but just another way of getting better life out of the battery!

If you want to check the battery consumption in real-time, use Nokia Energy Profiler. Advices given above are good ones.

Anyway, I can tell you that E51 battery life is way better than N95 (I have both of them, E51 for my private use, N95 for my work).

Cherubael wrote:
Aside from that, drain the battery all the way (until you can't turn it back on) then charge the phone while it's turned off all the way up to maximum. They say that Ni-MH batteries don't suffer from a "memory effect", but it's always good to do this every so often anyway. Keeps the battery in good condition.

Where does advise like this come from?
You should never drain the battery!
It isn't Ni-MH it's Lithium Ion (polymer).
These batteries should not be cycled or conditioned in any way whatsoever.
Charge them as often and for as long as you can. In the car, at the office and at home. And it makes no difference whether the phone is off or on. Except you can't use it if you charge it when it's off so keep it on and charging 24/7.
This way you will have max charge at all times and will get max usage if you do get caught short on charging facility.

Firstoff these comments are all very good.

But I have one extension. I am wondering, while you can turn off dual mode, where the phone searches for both GSM and 3G modes, and this definately seems to save power, does anyone know if switching it to only 3G, rather than only GSM, is going to also use more power? The problem is of course that when you go to use the web, you have to go into those settings and adjust it to get normal speeds....

Anyone know?
Anyone wanna write a magic prog to just switch on 3G when browsing?

greenlikeapples wrote:Firstoff these comments are all very good.

But I have one extension. I am wondering, while you can turn off dual mode, where the phone searches for both GSM and 3G modes, and this definately seems to save power, does anyone know if switching it to only 3G, rather than only GSM, is going to also use more power? The problem is of course that when you go to use the web, you have to go into those settings and adjust it to get normal speeds....

Anyone know?
Anyone wanna write a magic prog to just switch on 3G when browsing?

If you only use GSM or 3G the phone will go through less controlling cycles and use less energy.
Many people advocate this, but, I have never do so as it's too fiddly and the difference in my experience has been negligible.
But, I charge as often as possible anyway and have never had my phone die. (YET!)

I have to disagree with this. i have turned off one or two other functions, but it really does seem that searching for only one network definately stops the battery running out, quite considerably. and its not even that fiddly!!

greenlikeapples wrote:I have to disagree with this. i have turned off one or two other functions, but it really does seem that searching for only one network definately stops the battery running out, quite considerably. and its not even that fiddly!!

For extending battery life and others tips, try this link:
http://nokiafanboy.com/2008/05/13/nokia-e51-tips/

Afternoon all

In regards to battery life i get about 2 days worth, thats with

1-2 hours WLAN (with it turned off unless i need it)
3-4 hours or GPRS or 3G web browsing (the phone is set to dual band searching)
2 Hours of calls (all using bluetooth headphones)
150 odd texts sent and received.
45 mins of Music with Stereo bluetooth headphones enabled.
And the phone turned on over night, which seems to use 2 bars of battery no matter what.

just my 2 pence

Dan

pa49 wrote:Where does advise like this come from?
You should never drain the battery!
It isn't Ni-MH it's Lithium Ion (polymer).
These batteries should not be cycled or conditioned in any way whatsoever.
Charge them as often and for as long as you can. In the car, at the office and at home. And it makes no difference whether the phone is off or on. Except you can't use it if you charge it when it's off so keep it on and charging 24/7.
This way you will have max charge at all times and will get max usage if you do get caught short on charging facility.

I wouldn't be charging at every opportunity... once a day maybe but preferably every 2nd. These batteries, whilst not suffering from memory effects, still have a finite number of charge cycles.

But you can turn off GSM so you only search for 3G ie HSDPA...

From the many phones I had, the E51 is by far the one with the best battery life. Even with Bluetooth enables, it will last some days. The only thing I switch off when I dont need it is the WLAN.

Shure, the E51 battery does not suffer from memory effect. But it is always a good idea with modern batteries to charge them up to the maximum and then use it until it goes off. AFAIK, this is for initilazing the battery electronics and has only be done once. But after that, you can charge your battery as often as you like.
I am not sure if this applies to the E51 battery, but this is the case with most notebook batteries. And it is not too much work to try this once.

I used to get 3+ days out of my stock E51 battery, with BT, WLAN etc. on but not scanning.

Then I went swimming with it. Hairdried it (warped the screen) then left it for dead in the airing cupboard for two weeks, after which time it started up but with the notification light on permanently and battery dead after 30 mins. Left it for another six months in the airing cupboard (forgot about it - bought an E66) then found it and fired it up. No more notification light at all, and the battery lasts all day now. Some Nokia phones are amazing!

Al

PS I crushed the E66 while leaning over the back of a boat. My E75 isn't allowed near the water any more - my Nokias don't like the sea!