It seem Nokia’s intended range refresh is not all smooth-sailing and just like Apple’s iPhone 4S, celebration of the Finnish co.’s new Windows Phone offering has been dampened by claims of battery failure.
The Nokia Lumia 800, formerly codenamed the Sea Ray, was launched on November 16th on contract in the UK bringing along a 3.7-inch Super AMOLED screen, 1.4GHz processor with 512MB of RAM and 16GB storage – and because it’s a Microsoft Windows Phone packing latest ‘Mango’ update the smartphone can connect to Skydrive for 25GBs of ‘floating’ storage.
The Lumia 800 supports this generous spec with a 1520mAh Li-ion battery, which Nokia boasts delivers up to 535 hrs standby with 8 hrs talk time. However, that’s not what its new owners are reporting today as they flock to official and unofficial Nokia forums online to share their complaints that the battery does not hold a charge for more than a day without needing to be recharged.
The heavy battery drain seems to affect the Lumia 800 even when not in use as explained by an official Nokia forum user: “I had it charged last night and when I got up in the morning it was down to 35 per cent from just sitting there. It might have been updating email but that shouldn’t kill the battery like that? I don’t use it that much during the day but it seems to go down really fast. I’m currently at 47 per cent and it estimates 1 hour left.”
Another user shares his woes: “Fully charge over night, by the time I get to work in the morning its down almost 20 per cent, and I don’t use it at all for phone calls or music during that time. By the time I get home in the evening, half the time it’s already out of battery.”
Is that the sound of iPhone 4S owners chuckling we hear?
Nokia were quick to respond to the fault: “We understand that some people have expressed concerns about battery life on the Nokia Lumia 800. Early investigations show that the majority of people are enjoying the full Nokia Lumia experience without any problems.” – suggesting that a fix is on its way in an update which will be available via Microsoft’s Zune within the next few weeks.
The Gadget Helpline will be following this story to inform our readers when this fix becomes available. In the meantime, please let us know if you’ve been suffering these battery issues with your new Nokia Lumia 800 by leaving a comment below via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.