Nokia N70 comes with BL-5C Li-Ion 970 mAh battery. It promises about 3.5 hours of talk time and nearly 11 days of stand-by time. However it is usual to hear complaints of the Nokia N70 battery not being good. Often the situation can be improved a lot if we were to identify the prime cause of power drain.
First step is to accept that the N70 is no mean machine. It houses a multi-tasking operating system, and packs several devices into one small unit. Do not compare it's needs with a normal cellphone. You are safest if you make it a habit to charge it daily when your day's work is done or while you are sleeping. This is what you would do if it were a Laptop or a PDA, and these are what are closer cousins of an N70 than the ordinary cellphone that probably has a low resolution camera and can play some polyphonic tones.
Okay, now here are the prime culprits for draining battery.
1) Talking too much!
When you are talking to your girl/boy friend, you probably end up thinking that you used up much less time than you actually did - Theory of Relativity by Einstein. If you are a sales person or spends lot of time talking to friends, get a backup battery. If a little increase in the talk time would satisfy you, try the tips that follow or get a BL-6C (1070 mAh) battery. It is a bigger battery but Nokia seems to have left just enough space under the battery hood for the BL-6C. However, be aware that it is a really tight fit and if you don't insert the battery and close the lid very carefully, you might end up spoiling the cover. It may not be a bad idea to monitor your call time at the end of calls. In case you don't get to see the call duration, go to Menu -> Tools -> Settings -> Call and enable the "Summary after call" option.
2) Operating the phone in low signal areas
It takes energy to keep searching out for your provider's network. The same can happen when traveling where the reception keeps varying. Look for a better provider if feasible.
3) Keeping 3G and Bluetooth ON even when not required
You can disable 3G by Menu -> Tools -> Settings -> Network and setting the Network mode to GSM instead of Dual mode. To disable Bluetooth go to Menu -> Connect. -> Bluetooth.
4) Heavy applications used frequently or kept running in the background
Heavy applications are those which use a lot of CPU power. These can include virus scanners, players (movie, music, graphics), 3D games, GPS utilities and office applications. Usage of the video camera and external speakers also drains power. A graphical-oriented theme could also have some minor contributions to depleting batery power. Since N70 allows multitasking, often you may leave multiple applications running by using the Menu key. Keeping the Menu key pressed would bring up the active tasks list. You can close unnecessary applications by moving the selection to the unwanted one and hitting the Clear (right-bottom C) key. Usage of video calls and bluetooth can result in exhausting the battery power quickly.
5) Old battery
Some suggest a full charge before first use and occassional full-draining before recharging. However, there doesn't seem to be any proof that these work.
6) Keeping the brightness level high
See if you can afford to reduce the brightness of the LCD screen and the time it remains ON, by navigating to Menu -> Tools -> Settings -> Phone -> Display.
Need more advice and tips?
Please get in touch with S. Y. Lim at Omni Tech Limited, Auckland, New Zealand
First step is to accept that the N70 is no mean machine. It houses a multi-tasking operating system, and packs several devices into one small unit. Do not compare it's needs with a normal cellphone. You are safest if you make it a habit to charge it daily when your day's work is done or while you are sleeping. This is what you would do if it were a Laptop or a PDA, and these are what are closer cousins of an N70 than the ordinary cellphone that probably has a low resolution camera and can play some polyphonic tones.
Okay, now here are the prime culprits for draining battery.
1) Talking too much!
When you are talking to your girl/boy friend, you probably end up thinking that you used up much less time than you actually did - Theory of Relativity by Einstein. If you are a sales person or spends lot of time talking to friends, get a backup battery. If a little increase in the talk time would satisfy you, try the tips that follow or get a BL-6C (1070 mAh) battery. It is a bigger battery but Nokia seems to have left just enough space under the battery hood for the BL-6C. However, be aware that it is a really tight fit and if you don't insert the battery and close the lid very carefully, you might end up spoiling the cover. It may not be a bad idea to monitor your call time at the end of calls. In case you don't get to see the call duration, go to Menu -> Tools -> Settings -> Call and enable the "Summary after call" option.
2) Operating the phone in low signal areas
It takes energy to keep searching out for your provider's network. The same can happen when traveling where the reception keeps varying. Look for a better provider if feasible.
3) Keeping 3G and Bluetooth ON even when not required
You can disable 3G by Menu -> Tools -> Settings -> Network and setting the Network mode to GSM instead of Dual mode. To disable Bluetooth go to Menu -> Connect. -> Bluetooth.
4) Heavy applications used frequently or kept running in the background
Heavy applications are those which use a lot of CPU power. These can include virus scanners, players (movie, music, graphics), 3D games, GPS utilities and office applications. Usage of the video camera and external speakers also drains power. A graphical-oriented theme could also have some minor contributions to depleting batery power. Since N70 allows multitasking, often you may leave multiple applications running by using the Menu key. Keeping the Menu key pressed would bring up the active tasks list. You can close unnecessary applications by moving the selection to the unwanted one and hitting the Clear (right-bottom C) key. Usage of video calls and bluetooth can result in exhausting the battery power quickly.
5) Old battery
Some suggest a full charge before first use and occassional full-draining before recharging. However, there doesn't seem to be any proof that these work.
6) Keeping the brightness level high
See if you can afford to reduce the brightness of the LCD screen and the time it remains ON, by navigating to Menu -> Tools -> Settings -> Phone -> Display.
Need more advice and tips?
Please get in touch with S. Y. Lim at Omni Tech Limited, Auckland, New Zealand
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