Nokia N96 Cell Phone Review - Battery Life
|
Marianne Schultz Published on March 16, 2009 Comment on this |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| The N96 has 950mAh battery, which frankly feels a little low for a 3G multimedia-oriented device. This lower-capacity battery was most evident in the call time battery life result, though the N96 manages to keep up and even exceed other comparable devices in music playback and web browsing battery life. For more information about our battery tests see this article. | |
 |
|
Call Time (3.5)
To test call time battery life, we charge the phone fully and time how long the battery lasts on a simulated phone call using our testing equipment and a recorded conversation. The N96's claimed talk time battery life is up to 3 hours and 50 minutes, and it lasted well below this in our tests at 2 hours and 55 minutes to earn last place among all our comparison phones. Compared to the Motorola ZINE that lasted 6 hours and 30 minutes and even the iPhone 3G that lasted 5 hours and 50 minutes, the N96 may leave many users wanting in this area.
Music Playback (11.48)
To test battery life during music playback, we charge the phone fully, load test music on to it, set it to play at the highest volume in repeat mode, and time how long the battery lasts. Unlike talk time battery life, the N96 performed excellently here, lasting 15 hours and 57 minutes, beyond the claimed music playback battery life time of 14 hours. Music lovers who listen all day, every day will be well pleased with the N96 in this regard. Among our comparison phones, only the LG Dare managed to exceed it by 37 minutes.
Web Browsing (7.64)
To test battery life during web browsing, we charge the phone fully, set the display to its highest brightness level, navigate to test web site that refreshes automatically every 10 seconds, and time how long the battery lasts. The N96 lasted 6 hours and 22 minutes, a very good time that earns it the top place among all of our comparison phones where only the LG Dare came close to it.
Idle Time unscored
In order to complete our reviews in a timely manner, we don't test a phone's claimed idle time since this can take multiple days or even weeks. The N96's claimed standby time is 230 hours, which translates to about 9 1/2 days. Idle time is largely influenced by cellular signal strength - the further away a phone is from a tower, the harder it works to maintain a connection, which drains the battery more quickly, and GSM phones generally expend more energy to do this than CDMA phones. Most users will see great variations in stand-by battery life since changing locations constantly affects what towers the phone can connect to and the energy required to do so. Additionally, 3G radios and networks are power-hungry, which can have an even more pronounced effect on a 3G device's battery life.
| Previous Next | |||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
