Something I've been thinking about the past few days: Most of our smart phones these days can last through an average workday on a full charge. Depending on how often you use it, If you know you're going to be away from power all day (say, traveling, at a conference, or something else where you're out and about), how do you prepare your mobile devices for this sort of thing?
For my iPhone, I find myself using some of these external battery packs (e.g., the Mophie Juice Packs). I'll often make sure to throw a charging brick and USB cable in my bag as well so I can potentially power up on the go, given the opportunity. Also, I'll switch from 3G into Edge mode, turn off wifi and Bluetooth too.
What do you do and how do you prepare? Extra batteries? Solar powered packs? Some sort of magical kinetic charging device?
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How do you plan for and cope with being away from a power source for your smart phone?
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dave's pick
Hate to sound like an Apple fanboy here, but I use my iPhone 4 quite heavily during a day and I have yet to experience lapses in battery performance that would require an external battery or another portable charging solution. That wasn't the case with my iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, but the battery life on my iPhone 4 has been fantastic in the ~year I've owned it.
Note: My primary phone is not jailbroken, which has negatively influenced battery performance in my experience.
Note: My primary phone is not jailbroken, which has negatively influenced battery performance in my experience.
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dave's pick
I bring a USB cable with me most places because I figure if it comes down to it, I can usually find a stranger who might let me plug my phone in for a few minutes at a coffee shop. I want to look into solar powered chargers as well.
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dave's pick
I always have Bluetooth off, since I don't really use it at all. When I ride the subway, I'll usually flip my iPhone 4 into Airplane Mode to keep it from constantly searching for signal. Other than that, I'll usually have 3G, WiFi, and GPS turned on. I can typically make it through the entire day without having to recharge (though my iPhone is usually down to about 15-20% by the end of the day). For heavy usage days, I turn to my Mophie Juice Pack Air for a quick recharge.
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dave's pick
i have a htc incredible, and use cyanogen mod7 and a custom kernel, carry extra batteries, and keep a usb power adapter witha builtin battery in my bag. i wish the battery life was better but having the backup is fine and the batteries aren't big so not a huge thing to bring around.
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dave's pick
On a normal day, I always have WiFi, gps, and Bluetooth turn off when away from my apartment. If I'm going to be out all day long, I take my power cord with me, lower my screen brightness to the lowest setting, and try to use non-essential apps a little as possible (e.g. not check twitter every 15 minutes). If it comes to the point where I know my phone will die before I get home, I'll usually turn it off so I'm not completely screwed when I REALLY need to call someone.
I'm not going to all day events that often, so I don't feel the need to buy some sort of external power pack for my phone.
I'm not going to all day events that often, so I don't feel the need to buy some sort of external power pack for my phone.
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I own a Motorola Droid X; I constantly switch screen brightness to its lowest possible preset; & I never use Bluetooth. I also carry around a rechargeable battery pack. Just in case.
I also own a rooted NookColor (CM7), thing about this one is, it ain't a phone, but still, the OS (being Android Gingerbread, an OS for phones), runs certain processes (such as PHONE IDLE, and CELL STANDBY) that are major battery drainers. So, when I'm on the go (somewhere where I am not going to be using WiFi), I just turn on Airplane Mode On; so that turns the OSs' phone services off.
Both my DX and my NC use the same microUSB plug, so i make sure I also have a cable and a charger on my bag at all times. And if I'm "traveling light" (with no laptop bag), I'll just throw in my external battery pack.
I also own a rooted NookColor (CM7), thing about this one is, it ain't a phone, but still, the OS (being Android Gingerbread, an OS for phones), runs certain processes (such as PHONE IDLE, and CELL STANDBY) that are major battery drainers. So, when I'm on the go (somewhere where I am not going to be using WiFi), I just turn on Airplane Mode On; so that turns the OSs' phone services off.
Both my DX and my NC use the same microUSB plug, so i make sure I also have a cable and a charger on my bag at all times. And if I'm "traveling light" (with no laptop bag), I'll just throw in my external battery pack.
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1) I carry at least 2 smart phones with me at all times.. Crazy? I think not. Apart from the juice issue, I also enjoy access to 2 networks. I'm in IT, so you never know when you'd really need a connection. 2) I also carryon of this battery packs that use AA batteries. I think they're better than those rechargeable ones cause you can buy those AA batteries practically anywhere..
I do wish we see more innovation in battery capacity.. :(
I do wish we see more innovation in battery capacity.. :(
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Normal day the bluetooth is off, that thing drains it like a dehydrated person. The Wi-Fi is on, Brightness at 80%, Location on and 8 apps open (Phone, SMS, FaceBook, Tweetbot, Mail, Safari, iPod, Settings) And this is jailbroken and no battery issues and it gets me through the day and in most cases it gets me through 2 days in it's early 40s and late 30s% before it needs charging.
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Luckily the iPhone 4 has great battery life but I do tweak it to make sure my battery lasts all day. This comes in handy for taking a trip up to NYC for myself which consists of at least 3 hours on the train, where I use the iPhone heavily, and x amount of time spent in the city.
For those days I fully charge my phone the night before and often times turn off 3G & Wifi while I'm on the trip when I don't need it. I turn the brightness way down too. This usually helps out a lot. I have been able to get through a day in the city no problem using this method. I should also note here that I have everything on fetch and a minimal amount of push notifications turned on.
For the car, I bought a cool charger that has a car charger and wall adapter in one accessory. I throw that in the car and if I happen to be on the road and need power, I use that. It comes in handy too when going on overnight trips or vacations when I forget to bring my regular power adapter.
www.amazon.com/Griffin-Technology-PowerDuo-Charger...
For those days I fully charge my phone the night before and often times turn off 3G & Wifi while I'm on the trip when I don't need it. I turn the brightness way down too. This usually helps out a lot. I have been able to get through a day in the city no problem using this method. I should also note here that I have everything on fetch and a minimal amount of push notifications turned on.
For the car, I bought a cool charger that has a car charger and wall adapter in one accessory. I throw that in the car and if I happen to be on the road and need power, I use that. It comes in handy too when going on overnight trips or vacations when I forget to bring my regular power adapter.
www.amazon.com/Griffin-Technology-PowerDuo-Charger...
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I generally keep Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned all of the time. But when I find myself facing the prospect of not being able to plug in for a long while, I'll usually dim the screen a bit, dial down my email checking, and close unused applications. I don't know how much each of those things help, but I figure they can't hurt.
In extreme cases I have even switched off 3G for Edge, but I was admittedly not impressed with the resulting speed decrease.
All that being said, I've been pretty happy with the battery life of my 3GS. I never have to recharge during the first day, but I generally can't make it through a second day without plugging in.
In extreme cases I have even switched off 3G for Edge, but I was admittedly not impressed with the resulting speed decrease.
All that being said, I've been pretty happy with the battery life of my 3GS. I never have to recharge during the first day, but I generally can't make it through a second day without plugging in.
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