Maximising Battery Life on the Nokia 5800

you said BT and WLAN arent available in Offline Mode.
That isnt true. Iv used both while in offline mode on numerous occasions. i think it just reminds you that ur in offline mode, but it still lets you use them.

aatifsumar wrote:you said BT and WLAN arent available in Offline Mode.
That isnt true. Iv used both while in offline mode on numerous occasions. i think it just reminds you that ur in offline mode, but it still lets you use them.

I've heard the 'Turning your phone off and on uses power' idea before but I'm still sceptical. If someone switches their phone off overnight (because they don't want to answer it when they are sleeping), then you are suggesting that the energy expended booting up once is greater than the phone being on for 9 hours (updating the screensaver, communicating with the local GSM cell etc.)?

Okay, just to set the record straight:

Going into Offline mode switches off all active and inactive phone network, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi/WLAN connections. Switching to Offline shuts off all radio transmissions from the phone.

S60 phones will not use Wi-Fi/WLAN in Offline mode unless you specifically give them permission.

If you are in Offline mode and try to connect to the internet, it will ask you if you want to use Wi-Fi/WLAN and remind you that you're in Offline mode.

But in General mode (at least on the 5800) if you use the internet it won't ask about connecting, it will just connect automatically to whichever Wi-Fi/WLAN connection you've previously chosen, or use the phone network if Wi-Fi/WLAN isn't available.

I'll alter the article to make this clearer.

I've heard the 'Turning your phone off and on uses power' idea before but I'm still sceptical.

If you don't believe it, try it yourself! 😊

See how long it takes for your phone battery to wear down while it's left switched on all the time.

Then see how long it takes for your phone battery to wear down if you switch it on and off several times a day.

Make sure you use the phone the same amount in both tests, otherwise it won't be a fair comparison.

If someone switches their phone off overnight (because they don't want to answer it when they are sleeping),

...then they're being a bit silly, because they could have just put it in silent mode. 😉

then you are suggesting that the energy expended booting up once is greater than the phone being on for 9 hours?

Well, the 9 hour figure depends on the phone model, but in general yes. Switching a phone off and then on again is a bad idea if you're trying to save battery life.

By "phone being on", I mean phone being on without being in use, so its screen will be dim and no applications will be running, but it will be ready to receive calls etc. Phones don't use much power when they're just waiting around for something to happen, because they don't have to do much. There are no moving parts etc, all it's really doing is waiting for a button to be pressed or a signal to be received.

Power drain isn't really from communicating with the phone tower, it's more to do with the phone itself booting up. Even if a phone has no SIM card, it still takes a while to get started because it's having to get its computer ready for action. Again, if you're doubtful try it yourself by taking the SIM card out and switching the phone on.

Incidentally, if anyone is worried about the radio transmissions from a phone they can put it in offline mode instead of switching it off, in fact that saves even more battery life.

how about using the offline mode + closing all apps + screen locked when we want to switch it off? that is almost as good as doing nothing, and loads of battery is saved too. i do that everyday, and today, for the first time my phone has now lasted a complete 72 hour (3days) time period upon one charge!! Still got two bars left in the battery! 😃

5800 ROCKS!!!!!!

Leaving the phone off compared to turning it off? That's a joke. If I'm down at 1 bar and know I need the phone later it goes off, otherwise it shuts itself off and it's finished. If the thing is down at 1 bar, switching it off for a while and then on later brings it back at 2 indicated bars.

After all this, I was getting 48-60 hours from an N95 charge. The 5800 has done 72+. I'm not worried about battery life.

That comment about changing it to 2G seems pretty daft to me. Why invest in a 3G phone if your going to keep switching it too 2G only, defeats half the point of the device. If you want to have big battery life through only using 2G then just buy a 2 G device. Saying to not use 3G on a 3G device device to me is a bit like saying buy a car but only use it in first or second gear.

Also as a heavy data user I would never consider this anyway.

I am also rather doubtful about the business of not turning it off saves power.

at Superchimp

and if you live in the US where UK 3G doesnt work, does it make sense to keep the 3G radio on so that it is continually searching for 3G it will never find and draining precious battery life.
besides why would i buy a 2G device which is probably inferior to the 5800 when i can afford to buy a 5800 and just turn off the 3G radio.
you may use data intensively on your 5800 using 3G, that's fine for you, but don't call someone "pretty daft"just because they use their's on 2G only. besides 2G is pretty fast for regular web browsing. i get at least 200kbps and i browse sites with photos and videos and it still works fine.

-Chikena!

Just out of curiosity - what's with all those 5800 tutorials?

Isn't it all obvious for people being able to find AllAboutSymbian.com?
That's been covered so many times before...

Unregistered wrote:at Superchimp

and if you live in the US where UK 3G doesnt work, does it make sense to keep the 3G radio on so that it is continually searching for 3G it will never find and draining precious battery life.
besides why would i buy a 2G device which is probably inferior to the 5800 when i can afford to buy a 5800 and just turn off the 3G radio.
you may use data intensively on your 5800 using 3G, that's fine for you, but don't call someone "pretty daft"just because they use their's on 2G only. besides 2G is pretty fast for regular web browsing. i get at least 200kbps and i browse sites with photos and videos and it still works fine.

-Chikena!

Not that old stuff about 2G being pretty fast, it's snail slow compared to 3G let alone 3.5G. You can talk about it being fast when you get speeds much higher than that. Anyway the US is an atypical example of a phone network because they use a differing system combined with geographical constraints this has led to a slower 3G rollout. As far as I am aware most of Europe which is where my argument was applicable too has decent 3G coverage.

how about using the offline mode + closing all apps + screen locked when we want to switch it off? that is almost as good as doing nothing, and loads of battery is saved too.

But if you do all that AND leave it switched on, the battery will last even longer.

Honestly, why would you WANT to switch it off? It doesn't save battery life, and it doesn't bring any other advantages either. The only possible reason for switching off is if you need to reboot it due to a crash.

Just out of curiosity - what's with all those 5800 tutorials?

Isn't it all obvious for people being able to find AllAboutSymbian.com?
That's been covered so many times before...

I can see what you mean, one might think this is redundant info, but our viewing figures say otherwise. The "beginner's guide" published last friday was one of the most popular articles of the week, and received lots of outside links too. Today's battery life article has been similarly popular, it's our number one article today by quite a wide margin. Visitors clearly want these articles, so we'll carry on making them. 😊

I think there are a lot of people out there who want simple guides to the basics, especially on something as mainstream as the 5800. A lot of them wouldn't come to AAS directly but find these articles through Google and outside links.

Leaving the phone off compared to turning it off? That's a joke. If I'm down at 1 bar and know I need the phone later it goes off, otherwise it shuts itself off and it's finished. If the thing is down at 1 bar, switching it off for a while and then on later brings it back at 2 indicated bars.

You're making the mistake of thinking that bars = battery life. They don't.

The bars are only a very, very rough guide to the life of the battery, they're not at all reliable on any device, especially when they get near the bottom.

The actual battery life is much longer if you keep the phone on instead of switching it on and off lots of times. The actual battery life is measured in hours and minutes, not in bars.

If you don't believe me, try switching your phone off lots of times during the day, it will mean you have to recharge more often.

After all this, I was getting 48-60 hours from an N95 charge. The 5800 has done 72+. I'm not worried about battery life.

If you're not worried about battery life on the 5800, why are you reading an article about maximising battery life on the 5800?

That comment about changing it to 2G seems pretty daft to me. Why invest in a 3G phone if your going to keep switching it too 2G only

I'm not saying everyone should do this all the time.

If someone is in an extreme situation where they can't get access to a charger but need to keep their phone alive, switching to 2G-only is a very sensible suggestion.

You never know when you'll need your phone but can't get to a power source, if that happens then these tips will help you.

But even in non-emergency situations some people prefer to use their 3G phones with offline content such as video, music and games, in which case it doesn't matter if they use 2G.

besides 2G is pretty fast for regular web browsing. i get at least 200kbps and i browse sites with photos and videos and it still works fine.

Well then you will probably be happy with 2G.

But some people prefer 3G, especially the new 3.5G networks which allow speeds of several megabits.

Don't worry about what other people do, just do whatever you are personally happiest with.

and if you live in the US where UK 3G doesnt work,

Just to let people know, there is an "Americas" version of the 5800 on the way which will work with 3G frequencies in North and South America. I'm not sure when it will be released but it should be soon as it already received FCC approval last December (FCC is the US communications regulator).

But if you do all that AND leave it switched on, the battery will last even longer.

Honestly, why would you WANT to switch it off? It doesn't save battery life, and it doesn't bring any other advantages either. The only possible reason for switching off is if you need to reboot it due to a crash.

bro you misunderstood me! i meant to say that i am putting my 5800 in offline and locking the screen at nights! i too feel exactly the same!

And about the articles on this phone, KEEP IT UP! i can't say how happy i am with all the coverage its getting! i know its got a few flaws, but overall, 5800 is a clear winner of a smartphone!

I'd say next AAS article,

How to optimize camera photography on 5800 by Steve Litchfield

yeah i know cam nitty gritty is there, but hey, we would love some exclusive 5800 tips! 😉

😃

bro you misunderstood me! i meant to say that i am putting my 5800 in offline and locking the screen at nights! i too feel exactly the same!

Ah, sorry about that! My apologies.

Yes, we do intend to add more 5800 articles...

From my own experience, when I'm out and about and down to 1 or 2 bars, it's very unwise to turn the phone off in order to save battery. The very act of rebooting it is enough to kill the battery. Just let it be in standby, offline mode. Just my own personal experience😊

I bought 5800XM two days ago, and I drain the battery quickly...
I keep the display brightness at the maximum, and use it extensively...
But, I'm curious, I surfed the net via WI-FI for 1,5hrs and it gave me battery low warning, though it was full when I started...
Also, after one hour of WI-FI usage, the phone got very hot, is that normal?
I had N73 for 2years and it never got that warm, though, it didn't have WI-FI.... 😊