[walktalker]

After using E51 for nearly 2 months, I found the battery is not really long lasting.

Not to say 1,050 mAh BP-6MT is "low capacity", but with the function in E51, the battery consumtion is really huge, compare to previous model, especially WiFi and HSDPA.

I need to recharge my E51 twice a day, imagine.

Actually, I'm looking forward to acquire a battery with at least 2,100 mAh or more (am I asking too much?), to fit in E51.

[psychomania · Accepted solution]

There is no official higher capacity battery that will fit in the E51.

There are 3rd party higher capacity batteries available but these are entirely at your own risk and many turn out to be useless after a few charges.

[walktalker]

Okay, it's not worth to try out something would void the warranty. Hopefully Nokia would come out with something like that.(finger crossed)

[psychomania]

We can but hope.....

[cjlim]

Charging twice a day is a little much.

Since a higher capacity battery is out of the question for the moment, you could try extending the life of your battery by taking the following precautions.

1. Only turn on bluetooth when required and turn it off straight after.
2. Only turn on wifi/wifi scanning as required.
3. Switch to GSM only if you don't need the 3G functionalities
4. Make sure the screen goes to power saver mode as quickly as is acceptable to you.

I suppose it is a case of making the most of what is available.

[walktalker]

That's good idea while on the move.

But sitting in the office, without using the phone, really boring. I need WiFi or HSDPA all the time, anyway.

Your suggestion is good and useful, while I were not in the office, it is ideal.

[psychomania]

HSDPA is the biggest power drain, especially if the signal isn't strong.

Here's something to try to help save power whilst using wifi:

You can reduce the signal strength by going to Menu > Tools > Settings > Wireless Lan > Options > Advanced Settings > Yes (to accept the warning) >

Whilst in this menu you need to change Automatic Configuration to "Disabled" then more options will appear.

The one you should look at is the TX Power Level which should be set to 100mW. Try setting this to a lower value.

This will stop you picking up distant access points but will save a lot of power. Give it a try and let us know how you get on.

Message Edited by psychomania on 18-Jun-2008 09:29 AM

[walktalker]

Will inform you guys, after I did my test for today.

See how much I can prolong my battery life, by setting it to 4mW, as the access point is just few meter from my desk.

[likeitlikethat]

yes definitely low power wi-fi if the AP is only 4 meters. If I was using 3.5g often then recharge twice a day is easily believable from my own experience plus the simple fact that is a lot of data processing. cjlim is proposing to extend the battery life by not using the features of the phone what kind of suggestion is that why buy the phone in the first place if you don't want to use the features. Battery life is based on the laws of physics and chemistry its not a magic act. If you use features that use 369 MHZ CPU and get data 1.8 to 3.6 megabit per second (though wi-fi can move more data than that) not to mention the backlight battery power will be comsumed thats just the way it is

[walktalker]

Likeitlikethat: you're right, I buy the phone for its feature.

About the WiFi, it is viable to switch to lower watt is the access point is close to the phone. With 4 mW, I can get signal 100% within 5 meters. Power wise, he he, prolong by another 40mins, compare to auto setting, 4 hours. Thanks.

But nothing help when come to HSDPA.

Message Edited by walktalker on 19-Jun-2008 08:49 AM

[cjlim]

I wasn't actually suggesting turning off all the features permanently but rather enable when required and disable as soon as not required. I use a mixture of everything this way and regularly get 3-4 days battery life on my N95.

[psychomania]

I suppose 40 mins extra life is better than nothing.

Just a thought if you stuck in front of a computer how about using a USB charger with the phone?

Nokia make one called the CA-100 but much cheaper alternatives are available.

[walktalker]

Cjjim:
Not saying you're wrong, and I think there are some misunderstood.

Your suggestion is good for energy saving, no doubt.

But in my case, I'm a real heavy user, the advise not quite viable here.

I use my phone to email, download, gaming, chatting, VOIP, music and routing. Program used include Gmail, garmin mobile XT, FRING, Opera Mini, y!go, visual radio, to name just a few. At least 2 of them running at the same time.

Well, I just need a larger capacity battery. :-)

Psycho: I have charger with me all the time.
I don't want to charge the battery while operating the phone, many say doing this will shorten the battery life span.

Message Edited by walktalker on 19-Jun-2008 09:21 AM

[psychomania]

Fair enough. I don't think it harms modern batteries if they are being used and charged at the same time. I have done this with a couple of past models and not noticed a reduction.

[walktalker]

Hm.. It a hard decision for me. Since I never practice that before, instead, I always fully charge and fully discharge.

If that really do no, or minimal, harm to the battery, a 1050 mAh battery is good enough.

[psychomania]

I agree that it does still help to almost fully discharge the battery every now and then. I do this around once a month.

Most of the time I charge my phone every 2 days, even if it's still showing as full on the battery meter.

[walktalker]

Which mean to fully discharge and fully charge without operate the phone, only need to be done from time to time, not everytime?

Are you saying that the total recharge operation would actually 'cleanse' the memory effect?

[psychomania]

It definitely does not need to be done everytime. Some people say you don't even need to do it at all now.

Personally when I get a new phone I do the charge/discharge cycle 3 or 4 times then use it as I said above. It's just force of habit that I still do it once a month as the battery didn't seem to have lost any of it's performance.

The battery in my N82 is still as good as it was in December in my opinion. The E51 has the same battery Li-Polymer battery as the N82.

[walktalker]

Which mean, I can just leave my E51 with its tail connecting to the plug whenever have access, and rely on its battery only on the move?

Well, maybe this worth giving a try, as a guru like you also practicing this. Thanks psychomania.

[psychomania]

It's definitely worth trying. If you ever do notice a reduction in battery life just do the 3 or 4 charge/discharge cycle again.

Let us know if you have any problems with it.