My frustration with the N95 battery life issue was pretty evident the past day or two. In the interest of due diligence in raelly evaluation this device, I spent some time last night doing a little research. I was driven to dig deeper by Stuart's ever thoughtful and reasonable post.

First, here's a post describing some top Nokia N95 tips. I'd read it, but I went back and studied it in more detail. I also took into account both email and Twitter tips from others who've been using or testing the N95.

First, even though I had applied the latest firmware on Saturday when I received the N95, I went back and did it again. There's an option to essentially overwrite and replace. I did this. Once the firmware update was done, I set the device to GSM only. It's known that searching for a 3G network in dual mode will suck the battery life. I also turned off WiFi scanning. It should never be left on all the time. Lastly, I disabled the onboard GPS. It should only be used when needed, not left on all the time.

Second, for the moment, I trust no third party software. None. All are suspect. I believe both Truphone and Jaiku software consume CPU cycles and eat away at the battery in background. Truphone while WiFi connected and Jiku any time it's running.

There's more. The N95 easily shifts between applications, leaving things cycling the CPU in background, sucking the battery life. When using the camera, closing the lens cover and shifting apps isn't enough. Turns out the camera is still chugging away at the CPU. You have to exit the camera every time you're finished. The same applies to the Gallery, Web browser, Maps and games. I don't use the games at all, but it's important that the user shut down unused applications to protect precious battery life.

I don't have Shozu installed, but if you do, it constantly cycles the CPU consuming battery life. Fring does too.

Another action that apparently puts a load on the CPU is photo optimization. If you're using either Shozu or Lifeblog to do photo posting, optmizing and compressing in the phone will consume power. It appears to consume more power than the little time it takes to upload the uncompressed photo. I'm sticking to uncompressed photos for now, but neither photos of video are set to the maximum possible resolution. I've stepped each down one notch for file size.

Taking these all into account, I let the N95 rip last night and got 6 hours of operation. And the surprising part, after 6 hours, it still showed full power with all bars active. But, not one to risk, I charged it overnight. We'll see how today goes in more normal operation.


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