[swayzak]

Hi

I've noticed that both Google Maps & Ovi Maps draw a LOT of battery power (on my 5800XM).

Last week in London I had Google Maps on for about 40 mins & dropped 2 bars of charge !

I'm guessing this is mostly related to the phone's GPS  ?

[aspergerguy]

@swayzak

When I use navigation on device connected to CK-300 so charging all the time, battery still lower at end of journey than at start!

[kurtkaufman]

We were travelling by car from London to Wales with Ovi Maps active the whole time, and despite the fact that I had the phone charging the whole time, the phone suddenly shut itself off due to depleted battery after about 7 hours.

Best practice: Turn off Maps while travelling on the same road for long distances (or in a similar situation where you don't need directions for an extended period). If you're using assisted-GPS, it shouldn't take long for the Maps to re-orient itself upon restarting; if not using A-GPS, allow a little extra time for orientation.

[swayzak]

Thanks both - that's reassuring (I guess !)

@kurtkaufman - 7hrs from London to Wales ? Was it in one of these ...

[kurtkaufman]

@swayzak

As we were visitors to the UK, our car was a rental, a small BMW, I think.  Actually, we travelled first to Bath, and then took some small scenic roads, stopped off along the way, etc. But it was ill-advised of me to keep the Maps running once we returned to the motorway.  Once we arrived in Wales (near Bangor), it was nearly dark, and navigation became difficult (and not just due to the L O N G words on the boards!).  Of course, that was the precise point where the phone ran out of juice, and we had to resort to inaccurate maps in the dim light. Unfortunately, by then it might have taken a couple of hours of trickle-charging to build up a sufficient charge to run the Maps program.

Wales was beautiful, though; no regrets!

BTW, is the picture you uploaded a Yugo, or perhaps a Fiat?  I don't recall any British cars with that appearance!

[aspergerguy]

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kurtkaufman wrote:

BTW, is the picture you uploaded a Yugo, or perhaps a Fiat?  I don't recall any British cars with that appearance!

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It's a FIAT 126 which shared most of the underpinnings of it's FIAT 500 predecessor with a 2 cylinder engine so for the time in early 1970's was very economical.

[chanchan05]

This phenomenon (phone using lots of juice for GPS navigation) is normal for all phones of whatever make. GPS navigation really makes use of a lot of battery because not only does it power up the GPS receiver, it also is connected to the internet (in case of google maps or A-GPS in Ovi Maps).

[farby]

As experienced by me, it also depends on the Navigation software. I have OVI Maps and Sygic Maps running on my Nokia 5800xm. Sygic is more power hungry as compared to OVI...but what is more surprising is it consumes more battery in the Route Demo mode (that may run just for about 4-5 minutes) than actual use (..of about 2 hrs.)...   

[bearshare]

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farby wrote:

As experienced by me, it also depends on the Navigation software. I have OVI Maps and Sygic Maps running on my Nokia 5800xm. Sygic is more power hungry as compared to OVI...but what is more surprising is it consumes more battery in the Route Demo mode (that may run just for about 4-5 minutes) than actual use (..of about 2 hrs.)...   

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I agree with that. Some time ago, I installed a trial version of NDrive on my phone and it also uses a lot of battery. Also, when compared with Ovi Maps, my phone became a lot hotter during NDrive navigation. Definitely, Ovi Maps uses much less energy than any of the current navigation systems.

[babylongreece]

That is why ovi map so slow

[PeteGl]

Is continuous use of GPS/Navigation likely to do lasting damage to the battery? After all, it is a phone at the end of the day!

Pete

[aspergerguy]

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PeteGl wrote:

Is continuous use of GPS/Navigation likely to do lasting damage to the battery? After all, it is a phone at the end of the day!

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You might like to look at this post!

/t5/Other-Nokia-Phones/nokia-2710-GPS-failure/m-p/1099825/message-uid/1099825/highlight/true#U109982...

[PeteGl]

Interesting Aspergerguy, but doesn't really answer my question.

Pete

[aspergerguy]

@PeteGl

Why should it damage battery apart from shortening it's life in that you will get through it's allotted number of recharging cycles more rapidly?

[PeteGl]

I have a new job which requires more travelling than I used to, thus, I now use my phone for navigation more than I used to. If this use of my phone is going to reduce my battery life I may be better off buying a dedicated SatNav, they're cheap enough these days. I was hoping for some quality advice in my dilemna.

Pete

[kurtkaufman]

It sounds like you've answered your own question.  Of course, you can buy a spare battery for less than the cost of a separate GPS unit. Personally, if I needed to use GPS services for many hours most days, I would certainly get a dedicated unit, thereby freeing up my phone for its other uses, and allowing me less concern over phone battery status.

[bearshare]

Remember that stand alone GPS units consume energy at almost the same rate as a cell phone used for GPS navigation does... 

What I'm trying to say is that if you're concerned about battery lifetime, keep in mind that stand alone GPs units batteries also have a lifetime which is surely shortened by repeated charging cycles. With time, you'll have to buy  replacement or spare battery for the stand alone unit.

That said, and considering that a spare battery for the phone is surely cheaper than a stand alone GPS unit, I would use the phone for GPS navigation.

Regards.

[PeteGl]

Thanks very much for your replies Kurt and Bearshare, and a good point Bearshare.

Pete