[cpikey316_]

I have read the manual that comes with my N97, what I need is some advice on charging! The manual doesnt really tell me much, the device has a Li-polymer battery!

Ive read that trickle charging is not good for these phones, are there any things I can do to ensure maximise battery life?

[battlezone]

I've had the N95 & N95 8Gb before I got the N97. The batteries are still going strong after more than a year. I didn't really apply any special regime for charging the battery.

Sometimes I would charge it before it went completely flat and other times I would drain the thing completely.

The Nokia will keep going for ages even when the battery indicator is showing only one bar.

I wouldn't worry too much.

[brangdon]

It's an interesting question, and probably not specific to this phone.

My understanding is that the battery doesn't like to be fully charged or fully discharged. In fact my laptop now has a setting that prevents its charge going over 80% or under 5%. That gives up 25% of the capacity, but is supposed to increase the battery lifetime. It's especially worthwhile for my laptop because (a) it mostly runs off the mains anyway, so I don't care about the 25%, and (b) it sometimes runs quite hot, and heat plus a full charge is really bad. Apparently.

I think it does make a difference. My previous-but-one phone I had for about 3 years, and at the end of it the battery was fine and still lasted about 10 days on a charge. I had been charging it when it got down to 40% and hadn't left it on the charger for too long. My previous phone made it easy to charge overnight so I did that, and after about 2 years I did feel the battery capacity was dropping. That was part of why I upgraded.

However, for me it's partly a matter of convenience. The N97 doesn't have anything like that battery management software, and its capacity indicator is rather poor. In my experience the battery lasts about 3 or 4 days, and for the first day and a half it shows 100%, then drops quickly enough that I think it wasn't really 100%. So it's impossible to judge when it is at 80%. Anyway, it's too convenient to just charge it overnight when it can be tethered to the mains yet still remain close to me in case I get a call. I try to keep the capacity above 3 bars. The phone will switch itself off if the power gets too low, which will protect the battery somewhat, but I doubt that's optimal for battery lifetime. In any case, I wouldn't want it to be flat in an emergency.

If you plan to replace your phone after 1 or 2 years it probably isn't that important anyway. It should last that long. If you are aiming for 3-5 years then I think it will help to be careful.