Nokia N97 Battery Log

Posted on July 1st, 2009. Written by Rico.

So how does the battery of the Nokia N97 hold up? We drained the phone, charged it fully, and went about using its features, logging times and remaining battery bars. What follows is a record of what happened.

Before We Begin…

A few details first: the Nokia N97 uses the BP-4L battery. That also powers the Nokia E63 and E71, and is famous for its high 1500mAh capacity. The phone draws power through its micro USB port, so charging from a wall socket or computer USB port is possible. Yes this design choice requires the use of the bundled adapter to charge the phone with older Nokia chargers, but since all GSM manufacturers are moving towards micro USB as a standard, this might not be a problem in the future.

At the very least, the power-hungry N97 should at least have a decent battery life, breaking the questionable trend set by the N95 and N96‘s 950mAh battery (the N95 8GB had a 1200mAh battery).

Sunday, June 28, 2009

12:00 PM – I accidentally drop the phone! Arrrrgggggh! Luckily, it landed on a sock.

12:03 PM – I plug in the phone, leaving for some lunch and casual surfing. The phone’s display lights up, filling up with white, and the 7-bar battery life indicator on the upper right begins pulsing upwards.

2:07 PM – Still charging.

3:13 PM – Assuming the battery is full, I check the N97, finding the battery indicator stuck at two bars for whatever reason. I power on the phone and see all seven bars.

3:19 PM – Realizing that I forgot to put in the SIM, I do so, powering off the phone and turning it back on within 20 seconds. After answering “No” to “Continue using phone in offline mode”, the N97 starts up normally. Seeing that Bluetooth is on, I turn it off.

3:30 PM – I take some photos of the living room, trying to squeeze out some decent composition from my tremendously limited photography skills. Seven bars.

4:30 PM – Answered a couple of texts. Seven bars.

4:51 PM – More texts. Seven bars.

7:55 PM – Sent over 10 texts over the last three hours. Seven bars.

11:07 PM – 15 more texts sent up until this point. Seven bars.

Monday, June 29, 2009

12:02 AM – Spent exactly 17 minutes on the phone, distributed over three separate calls. Seven bars.

12:30 AM – I sleep, setting the phone for a 6:00 AM alarm. Seven bars.

6:21 AM – The alarm finally manages to wake me up. Seven bars.

6:43 AM – Surf a bit and check my mail through WiFi, all via the phone’s built-in browser, which supports flash by the way. Seven bars.

6:49 AM – Turn on Bluetooth to get three songs from my old phone. Seven bars.

7:00 AM – Bluetooth off, and songs saved. Seven bars.

7:06 AM – Now on the road. Activated the phone’s FM transmitter. Seven bars.

7:45 AM – After parking, I turn off the FM transmitter, keep the music playing, and switch to earphones. Jogging time! Seven bars.

8:33 AM – Playlist ends. Seven bars.

9:44 AM – Answered some texts, and transferred a file to my laptop via Bluetooth. Seven bars.

11:42 AM – Other than send a few texts, no feature of the phone was used. But we’re finally at six bars!

11:48 AM – Just noticed that network coverage at my work desk is weak. Could that be causing the battery to drain, as the phone works harder to maintain cellular connectivity? Six bars.

1:18 PM – Quick calls to locate friends at a nearby food court. Six bars.

1:37 PM – Took a photo of a lovely couple. No flash. Six bars.

2:41 PM – A friend uses the phone to receive a 40-second call. We are now officially at five bars, ladies and gentlemen!

7:13 PM – I send a text to some number to activate my Twitter Mobile. Five bars.

7:43 PM – I spend less than a minute on the phone, and notice that only four bars are left.

9:27 PM – Spent the last 20 minutes watching videos on YouTube, via 3.5G (HSDPA). Four bars.

9:43 PM – Activated the FM Transmitter, and cued up some songs for the drive home. Four bars.

10:24 PM – I cut the transmitter and music. Three bars left.

10:45 PM – Spent around two minutes watching a YouTube video. Three bars.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

1:42 AM – Surfing a bit on WiFi before I sleep. Checking Twitter and looking for a Twitter client for the N97. Three bars.

2:10 AM – Time to sleep unfortunately. Alarm set for 7:30. We end the day with two bars.

7:14 AM – Good morning one bar!

7:58 AM – Five minutes of surfing through WiFi. One bar.

8:19 AM – Battery low warnings start. One bar.

10:38 AM – Simply too busy to use the phone for anything significant, though I imagine it’s now singing Alive or something. One bar.

11:24 AM – That’s it! Cueing up songs. I’ll see just how long the phone can play music on one bar.

11:43 AM – A moment of silence please. The N97 has finally died. Attempts to turn on the drained phone produce nothing, neither does plugging the phone into my laptop with the USB cable.

Obviously, I’m not a power user. I plan to check how phone will last when surfing via mobile broadband or WiFi, and while continuously playing music and video. Testing the battery life while tethering the phone to my laptop through Bluetooth is also a must.

For now though, one thing is clear: based on my (admittedly undemanding) usage, the Nokia N97 almost lasted for two days. A definite improvement over the N96!