"MUST HAVE" Iphone 5s accessories

[Ranger111]

I really know nothing about smart phones.

Have been using TMobile prepaid for more than a decade, but family has finally rebelled.

So, for Christmas, all they are getting is a Verizon phone with 10GB shared among the three of them. The standard unlimited talk/text.

I will buy at a local store. But rather than throw myself to the mercy of the store people, any hints on what I need other than the phone and a charger....I don't want to talk about a wish list of things, but what would be considered pretty much "very essential/or somewhat nice" to have in ways of accessories?

Looks like the phone(s) will be Iphone 5s models...something about they have to have the "fitness" thing that is embedded in the 5s...

So, what is needed? One of those otter box things? Hints, suggestions, all welcome.

I have a corporate discount, which I really don't know much about other than it is 17 percent on the monthly plan charge and then 25 percent off accessories through Verizon.

Is it better to buy the accessories elsewhere, even with the 25 percent off?

 

[havaneselover]

Otterbox defender and plenty of chargers is all I would want.

 

[pigletto]

The phones will come with charger and headphones. Personally I wouldn't buy the warranty they are inevitably going to try to sell you. A good case (otterbox) and the automatic one year warranty that comes with it should suffice. My otter box has saved my phone from being dropped many times.

Check Amazon prices for the cases and match it against store prices with your discount.

 

[havaneselover]

The phones will come with charger and headphones. Personally I wouldn't buy the warranty they are inevitably going to try to sell you. A good case (otterbox) and the automatic one year warranty that comes with it should suffice. My otter box has saved my phone from being dropped many times. Check Amazon prices for the cases and match it against store prices with your discount.

I have one charger at home, one at the office, and one in the car. I also have a spare for traveling. It's tough to get by with one IMO.

 

[Zooshoveller]

Each phone will come with earbuds, charging cable and wall adapter.

I would buy:

Otterbox Defender
Car charger (I like the dual ones)
Longer cables (it comes with 3.5 ft)

 

[SMD]

A case is a must have. And a car charger. The Apple cables are cheaply made and not very long. You will eventually need to replace the cables, I'd get at least 4 feet, longer if you can find it.

 

[briand1023]

Check out Monoprice.com. Great quality and low prices on iPhone cars and other accessories

 

[PlutoPony]

Screen protector - absolutely positively the most important thing.
Put it on before the kids do anything with the phone.
Not expensive at all but can be tricky to put on the first one.

 

[havaneselover]

We had an issue lately with a charger. It was a non apple charger. I heard the iOS 8 upgrade was detecting non apple chargers??? One of my cowokers recommended zero lemon if not buying an apple charger.

Our cords seem to fray constantly. Good thing they're only $20-$30 to replace.

 

[mrsbicewdw]

Extra chargers and a "charger stick". I have found that my iPhone 5 loses charge ridiculously fast. And when it gets down to about 60% that is basically it - if I do anything other than phone calls from that point it just shuts off. I have talked to Apple and other people with iPhone 5, 5s, etc and all say it's just an issue with the model. My iPhone 4 battery lasted FOREVER.

But anyway - extra chargers! And be prepared that the Otterboxes make the phone very heavy/chunky. I can't stand them honestly. I have a Speck case that is double layered/shock proof (for drops). It works very well. If you want a lot of protection check out Lifeproof cases - they are better than Otterbox in My opinion as far as heavy protection.

 

[havaneselover]

Extra chargers and a "charger stick". I have found that my iPhone 5 loses charge ridiculously fast. And when it gets down to about 60% that is basically it - if I do anything other than phone calls from that point it just shuts off. I have talked to Apple and other people with iPhone 5, 5s, etc and all say it's just an issue with the model. My iPhone 4 battery lasted FOREVER.

But anyway - extra chargers! And be prepared that the Otterboxes make the phone very heavy/chunky. I can't stand them honestly. I have a Speck case that is double layered/shock proof (for drops). It works very well. If you want a lot of protection check out Lifeproof cases - they are better than Otterbox in My opinion as far as heavy protection.

I've been debating upgrading from a 4 but this makes me want to hold out till I can spring for a 6. My 4 battery is still pretty good.

Otterbox owns Lifeproof now. Reviews on the Otterbox Defender are very good for the IPhone 5s. For some reason they aren't as good for the 6 though.

 

[mrsbicewdw]

I've been debating upgrading from a 4 but this makes me want to hold out till I can spring for a 6. My 4 battery is still pretty good. Otterbox owns Lifeproof now. Reviews on the Otterbox Defender are very good for the IPhone 5s. For some reason they aren't as good for the 6 though.

Ah, well I know I like the style of the lifeproof cases more. Not nearly as bulky/heavy! I hope their quality doesn't fall being owned by Otter now. Honestly I feel like Otter went down in quality in recent years. My husband worked for T-Mobile for years and was really familiar with all the cases and how they performed. He noticed a lot more people coming in with busted Otterboxes towards the end of his time there.

 

[havaneselover]

Ah, well I know I like the style of the lifeproof cases more. Not nearly as bulky/heavy! I hope their quality doesn't fall being owned by Otter now. Honestly I feel like Otter went down in quality in recent years. My husband worked for T-Mobile for years and was really familiar with all the cases and how they performed. He noticed a lot more people coming in with busted Otterboxes towards the end of his time there.

Otterbox has excellent customer service. My ds scraped up the screen protector on his brand new iPad case and I called otterbox and explained what happened and they told me to send a photo and sent an entire new case.

But I agree some of their cases are bulky.

 

[kymom99]

Otterbox and screen protector. I bought a tempered glass screen protector for my son's new 5s. The salesman told me that any impact on the screen will be absorbed by this better screen protector.

 

[SMD]

We had an issue lately with a charger. It was a non apple charger. I heard the iOS 8 upgrade was detecting non apple chargers??? One of my cowokers recommended zero lemon if not buying an apple charger.

Our cords seem to fray constantly. Good thing they're only $20-$30 to replace.

There are chips in Apple lightning cables now. They have to be certified or authorized or Apple can disable them. They sell Incase, Belkin and Native Union cables on the Apple website, so I assume those will all work without risk of being disabled. I had a 30 pin Incase for my iPod and thought it wasn't great quality for the price. I have a Belkin lightning cable and so does my mom. I've used mine daily on my iPad for a year and a half and have never had an issue. It's holding up great. The original cable was my spare and it's long since shredded.

 

[sluggozmom]

TJ Maxx and Marshalls have plenty of cases for the iphone 5s.
Cases for the iphone5 will work on the 5s, the 5c cases will not.

 

[wenrob]

Extra chargers and a "charger stick". I have found that my iPhone 5 loses charge ridiculously fast. And when it gets down to about 60% that is basically it - if I do anything other than phone calls from that point it just shuts off. I have talked to Apple and other people with iPhone 5, 5s, etc and all say it's just an issue with the model. My iPhone 4 battery lasted FOREVER.

But anyway - extra chargers! And be prepared that the Otterboxes make the phone very heavy/chunky. I can't stand them honestly. I have a Speck case that is double layered/shock proof (for drops). It works very well. If you want a lot of protection check out Lifeproof cases - they are better than Otterbox in My opinion as far as heavy protection.

They had a recall on iPhone 5 batteries, sounds like you might be one of the unlucky ones. You can go to the Apple website and see if your serial # is one that was recalled. If it is Apple will replace it for you. For the record I never had issues with my five and I'd say I'm a moderate user. However the battery life on the six is pretty amazing.

I agree about the cases, I much prefer Speck cases, they're not bulky and they bounce when dropped.

I also agree with extra chargers and I'd get earbuds as well. The Apple earbuds are terribly uncomfortable and my teen goes through earbuds like crazy. Sony makes some that are around $10 and she likes them a lot. I would also suggest iTunes gift cards. They're going to want to put stuff on their phones.

 

[mrsbicewdw]

They had a recall on iPhone 5 batteries, sounds like you might be one of the unlucky ones. You can go to the Apple website and see if your serial # is one that was recalled. If it is Apple will replace it for you. For the record I never had issues with my five and I'd say I'm a moderate user. However the battery life on the six is pretty amazing. I agree about the cases, I much prefer Speck cases, they're not bulky and they bounce when dropped. I also agree with extra chargers and I'd get earbuds as well. The Apple earbuds are terribly uncomfortable and my teen goes through earbuds like crazy. Sony makes some that are around $10 and she likes them a lot. I would also suggest iTunes gift cards. They're going to want to put stuff on their phones.

Oh thanks for that info! I stopped trying to figure it out after a while and when I talked to them I guess they hadn't had the recall yet. It sure is annoying to have it crap out on me all the time, especially since I take photos all day of my kids for far away family. I feel like I'm always charging it.