MWC 2012, or Mobile World Congress to most of us, is where the players in the Mobile Industry descend on Barcelona to show off their new feature-laden handsets, with the simple aim of getting one-up on the competition (and sales. Lots of sales.) 

This year we have 41 mega-pixel cameras, built-in projectors and quadcore processors, not to mention eye-wateringly bright uber HD screens. We, the consumer, like these things.We make noises like “oooh” and “aaah”, and tell our friends that we’ll get “that” phone next.  And we do get “that” phone next, and from there trouble starts. Battery life. 

Without good battery performance, our new piece of pride and joy is merely an expensive paperweight. Battery-life is the biggest handset related complaint we get in the mobile industry. Many smartphones are incapable of lasting a working day with even moderate use of voice and data, which often plummets when using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. 

Of course there are things we can do such as switch off Twitter notifications, or reduce the frequency we receive our emails, but doesn’t that defeat the purpose of having a phone that can do everything? Furthermore, with the advent of UC Clients for the business user, we will be expecting even more performance from an already overworked battery. 

The problem we have is that we live in an age where we can remember the good old days of the Nokia 3410, which had a battery life that would last for several days, even weeks between charges. However, there may be the answer with another Nokia in the form of Lumia 800 Windows Phone 7.5 which is rumoured to have exceptional battery performance as well as an impressive array of smartphone features. Only time tell if it lives up to its expectations.

Oh, and for those that do remember the Nokia 3410, it was 10 years old last week.

So, on that note do you have any helpful tips for prolonging battery life? Or have you found a particular make / model that performs better than rest.  We would love to hear your thoughts, or are you the proud new owner of a Nokia Lumia what are your first impressions so far?

Please join the discussion below.

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