Strategies for keeping Smart Phone charged

[lilsprstr]

I have an iPhone 5. While I love all it can do, it seems as through I can only go about 3-4 hours before the battery is completely drained. I've looked at a couple of accessories that can be used to charge my battery on the go. Does anyone have any experience with this? What is my best bet?
http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-aduro-powerup-2000mah-portable-backup-battery
http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-mota-apple-certified-battery-case-for-iphone-55s-1?p=15&utm_source=pc_goods&utm_medium=email&sid=8b798eee-37d6-4f69-a892-a108a68855df&division=raleigh-durham&user=d7c3aafaf927ede526bff5e05669e7342e4f9846ee4dba0724cfd805a2b90a53&date=20140801&s=body&c=button&d=Goods-PN&utm_campaign=8b798eee-37d6-4f69-a892-a108a68855df

 

[wdwjeffc37]

One of the power packs can take care of your charging needs. There are charging stations in the MK too. One in new Fantasyland and one in the gift shop at the end of Space Mountain. I'm sure there are others but those come to mind. On my iPhone I use a Mophie case with a built in battery. It just about doubles the battery life. YMMV.

 

[aldeanarmyangel]

I dont know much about the Mota, but I do have a Mophie that I plan on using while I'm there in a week and change.

http://www.groupon.com/browse/ralei...hie&address=Raleigh+/+Durham,+NC&locale=en_US

 

[LSUfan4444]

I fear for this country when this statement becomes a marketing tool:

Great for travel or staying on the couch as long as possible



The portable backup battery you linked doesn't have very good reviews. Most of them take a couple hours for the battery pack to recharge, then take a couple more to give a phone a substantial recharge, but good ones can be found cheaper then the cases with built in battery packs.

Reducing alot of the web and app usage can really help sustain the life and if two of you have a smart phone, that should be enough.

 

[chartle]

If you are only getting 3 or 4 hours I would first look into whats taking up all your battery. I'm sure there are faqs for Iphones ( have an andriod) but the normal things are turn off GPS and or Wi Fi when you are not using them. Close programs like Facebook Twitter, etc. Control your usage. Have your phone check your email less frequently.

The main reason I'm saying this is that if you are right your phone is going to always have to be plugged into one of these devices and you are only going to get maybe 2 full charges at most that may not get you through the day.

As for charging stations, Don't be a wall hugger.

 

[roselark]

This is why I love my Samsung...I can change the battery so I take spares with me.

There are lots of types of expanded battery packs out there that go on the phone like a case and they seem to mostly work well. I have a friend who has an iPhone with this one and he likes it.

http://www.amazon.com/Maxboost-Exte...406919212&sr=8-1&keywords=iphone+battery+case

 

[Aaeolien]

I agree with a previous poster. I would think that your phone should last more than 3 or 4 hours. I would look into what is using so much battery and look around the web for tips and things you can do to extend battery life. I don't have an iPhone but my android phone battery lasts almost 2 whole a days before having to charge it and that's with normal use. I don't use it to stream video or play games on but typical other uses like email, FB, text, talking, picture taking.

 

[chartle]

I fear for this country when this statement becomes a marketing tool:

Great for travel or staying on the couch as long as possible

I just sit near an outlet. OH NO does that make me a wall hugger.

 

[Smurfgirl]

I have an iPhone 5 and my battery will last almost all day with moderate to heavy use. I'm not sure what yours only lasts 3-4 hours.
I bought the jackery bar portable charger from amazon for my last trip. It will recharge your phone in less than an hour. It is a great little product.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

My husband and son each have a mophie for their Iphone 5's. It is like a case with a built in battery.

You may want to turn off some the features on yours because 4 hours is way too short of an amount of time for it to run out of battery unless you are constantly playing games.

 

[MataHari22]

I have a Mophie Juicepack for my iPhone and a Jackery Bar for my iPad when I am traveling. Both have worked very well for me.

 

[HarkiQuinn]

We used one of those our trip and it was fabulous! Charged it in the hotel room the night before and it was able to give my Windows Phone a full charge and hubby's iPhone 5 a full charge.

Our phones didn't die once!

 

[Disney Dynamite]

I've had good luck with my Anker charger. I mostly use it when we travel, but it's also nice to have if a storm knocks out our power. It's very compact and easy to carry.

As other posters have mentioned, you might want to look into what is using up your battery so quickly. I have a two-year-old iPhone 4s and can still get way more than 3-4 hours on one charge.

 

[JanaDee]

I have an iPhone 5. While I love all it can do, it seems as through I can only go about 3-4 hours before the battery is completely drained. I've looked at a couple of accessories that can be used to charge my battery on the go. Does anyone have any experience with this? What is my best bet?
http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-aduro-powerup-2000mah-portable-backup-battery
http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-mot...campaign=8b798eee-37d6-4f69-a892-a108a68855df

As mentioned, your battery should be lasting much longer than that. Turn off wi-fi, bluetooth and location services. Close apps out when you are finished.

 

[MommyTaraLee]

We got Mophies for our phones before our last trip and they worked well...

In addition, halfway through our trip I figured out this tip - Instead of checking our schedule on our phones all day, I would take a picture of our schedule and made it the lock screen picture on my phone. Saved a bit of the battery life...

 

[lilsprstr]

Thank you for the input. I'm not sure why my battery drains so quickly. I use it for texting and occasionally checking facebook or e-mail. I rarely play games on it. Do I need to go to an Apple store to have it looked at or can I go to my provider?

I just know that when we were at Busch Gardens for the day, I was rarely using it and the battery was completely dead by 4 pm and that was with 100 charge at 10 am.

My husband still uses a Blackberry, so that will be of no use to us at DW. I just know I will be very frustrated if I keep having to stop & charge my phone. Hopefully I can get it figured out before our trip.

 

[chartle]

Thank you for the input. I'm not sure why my battery drains so quickly. I use it for texting and occasionally checking facebook or e-mail. I rarely play games on it. Do I need to go to an Apple store to have it looked at or can I go to my provider?

I just know that when we were at Busch Gardens for the day, I was rarely using it and the battery was completely dead by 4 pm and that was with 100 charge at 10 am.

My husband still uses a Blackberry, so that will be of no use to us at DW. I just know I will be very frustrated if I keep having to stop & charge my phone. Hopefully I can get it figured out before our trip.

Try these sites.

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...w to extend battery life on iphone 5&safe=off

But the low hanging fruit is usually things like GPS and bluetooth. Mostly GPS, I use maybe 25% more power if full Location Service is on.

 

[JenniBugInPink]

This is why I love my Samsung...I can change the battery so I take spares with me.

There are lots of types of expanded battery packs out there that go on the phone like a case and they seem to mostly work well. I have a friend who has an iPhone with this one and he likes it.

http://www.amazon.com/Maxboost-Exte...406919212&sr=8-1&keywords=iphone+battery+case

For less than the cost of the device above you can charge your phone several times with this:
Jackery Giant 12000mAh External Battery Pack Power Bank with Dual USB Port
It is mentioned in the post below.

I have an iPhone 5 and my battery will last almost all day with moderate to heavy use. I'm not sure what yours only lasts 3-4 hours.
I bought the jackery bar portable charger from amazon for my last trip. It will recharge your phone in less than an hour. It is a great little product.

I recommend you check to see that you are closing apps when you are finished with them, and that you have turned off location (GPS) services for all apps that use them that you don't need. That is probably why you have no battery life. The biggest hog I've encountered is Foursquare/Swarm, and similar apps that track where you are (get it - GPS?). If they're running, they will drain your battery in no time at all. There are some offenders you might not think of, though, so if you go into settings, privacy, and turn 'location services' off, this will solve your battery problem, HOWEVER, APPS THAT NEED GPS WILL NOT WORK. Better to turn the service off for apps that you don't need, and keep it for apps that you truly need it to work for (like Disney's??).

HTH!

 

[jcvalenti]

The easiest changes you can make to save battery life on an iPhone 5 (running ios 7.xx):

1. Turn off wireless and bluetooth antennas when in the park
2. Keep screen brightness turned down as much as as possible
3. Change your email account settings to pull email, rather than have it pushed, only when you request it.
4. Keep background apps closed so that unintended "location" pings aren't draining you

I take a lot of pics with my iPhone, so between pics and MDE, even with these changes, I usually need a little recharge during the day. I use a Lepow Moonstone 6000mAh charger that has 2 outlets so the wife and I can both recharge while sitting down for 20 minutes during the day. One of the ports is rapid charging, which is great.

 

[Shoshana]

Here's the article I used to help me select an external battery...

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-usb-battery-pack-travel/