Is it normal that having internet on phone drains battery?

[Katisha]

I have a new Nokia phone which can access the internet. But I find that a couple of minutes on the browser has quite an effect on the battery reserves.
Is this normal or should I send it back?

Not normal I'd say, I havea nokia 5800 and can go online for a bit throughout the day, maybe 10 mins on 4 or 5 times during peppa pig, plus texting, making calls and playing video for DD@s, and taking photos.
I only have to charge it every 2 days.

Hmmm maybe I am asking too much of it - my old phone only needed charging about once a week. But it had no gadgets.

I don';t think you are, I meant 10 minutes at a time, so nearly an hour a day, and the battery lasts 48 hours at least.
What are your settings like? I have teh backlight quite low and it on powersave to lock after 30 seconds no use or something, that might make a difference.

I'll have a look at the settings- thanks.
I might also see how long it really does take to empty the battery if using the internet.

Are you in an area where signal is iffy? Mine used to go flat a lot because it was constantly searching for enough of a signal in case I wanted to connect.

Well the signal is iffy in the house and at certain points at work - would that be draining the battery even if the phone is just on standby? (Without the screen on or anything...)

Is it constantly searching for an internet connection? I have an option to turn this off on my phone and if it is on than it drains the battery.

No idea - I'll have a look!

But it's the actual internet use, when it's connected, that seems to be heavy on the battery.

Internet use will drain the battery in the same way that making a call will. In both cases the gadget is basically acting as both a radio receiver and transmitter and that takes power.

If it takes more or less power to connect to a WIFI network point than it does to make ac all is something that I couldn't answer.

Things like having a low WIFI signal will also chew up the power quicker than being somewhere where the signal is good.

Depending on how your phone works and what's on it it could be connecting to the internet even while you're not actively using it.

For example you might have an email application that's periodically checking for new email.

Knowing how long it takes to drain the power when you are browsing will give some measure as to if it's "normal" or not.

I have a Blackberry and if I go on the internet much, or just use it much, it needs charging most nights.