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Geek Talk: What to do when your smartphone runs out of juice?

Thursday 24 January 2013
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Once you own a smartphone, you can never ever go back to a dumbed down version where a phone was basically........well, a phone. These days, phones are practically a multi-tasking gadget. It's a phone, camera, notepad, gaming/shopping/web-surfing device, book, doodling pad, map, travel guide etc etc. Got a cranky kid who's driving you insane? Hand over your phone. If you're a tiger mom (or aspire to be one), download maths apps and mentally flog your child until she or he is a genius.

For someone who didn't come equipped with a good sense of direction (it's one up from my parents have NO sense of direction whatsoever), that little arrow on my google map that indicates which direction I'm facing on a street is absolutely crucial for staying sane when I'm hopelessly lost.

With the advances in technology these days, you'd think that they'd design a battery that will last at the very least 24 hours. If you do all the above activities, your battery will drain faster than what it takes a vampire to empty your body of blood (okay, that's a rather gory example but you get my drift). My Samsung Galaxy Note phone is larger than the ordinary ones out in the market (size matters even if I'm a girl). I'm lucky if my battery lasts beyond 4 hours just doing basic emailing, googling, texting and instagramming. After a few frustrating moments, I decided I've had enough so I went hunting for an external battery pack.

I had a look at the reviews and this Anker battery pack came up tops. It's small and fits into the palm of your hand. It's actually heavier than I'd expected but given that it provides 2 to 4 full charges and has dual outlets meaning you can charge up to 2 gadgets at one time, I can see the reason why. It comes with 3 different connectors which should work on majority of the phones including iPhones and the Samsung Galaxy range. It took me a while to figure out how to charge the battery pack. If in doubt, read the instruction booklet. Doh! Just plug it to your laptop with the correct connector. It's as simple as that. There are tons of techie, gadgety, geeky details here, that is if you enjoy some bedtime reading.

p.s. this is NOT a sponsored post. It was purchased out of sheer desperation after several anxiety attacks due to my phone running out of juice.

 What do you use to charge your phone if you're out and about?

13 comments:

  1. I'm the same as u M! I have my note(work phone) and my iphone and im lucky if my iphone battery lasts more than 3 hours with me replying emails,whatsapp and instagram! I almost always have a battery pack on me(i've got 4 and I keep them in my handbags) as I'd once forgotten to bring one with me and that was a miserable afternoon! I love the ones like yours and I would normally bring that with me on a day trip to London but I have a smaller one(5200mah, see, i speak geekery!!) :) Great post btw hun! it pays to be geeky !

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  2. I leave mine to run out - I have been known to be uncontactable for days which annoys the hell out of my friends but I like it that way, Then again, I don't use the phone for anything other than texts and taking calls. But I do get how they can be useful if applied in the same way to my happy snaps camera where I could do with a spare battery. It's so annoying when it flashes red just as you get started taking pictures.

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  3. I am in agreement with you 100.99999% on the fact that once you are used to a luxury and convenience of smart phones, there is NO turning back..ever!! It is ridiculous. But darn, they do drain batteries like crazy.

    I always bring my charger to work and my husband bought one each for our vehicles as well. We learnt it a hard way a few years ago when we had to evacuate the hurricane and our cell phones were running low on battery on a 24+ hour trip in the worst traffic ever and did ii mention we were low on gas too. We were horrified!! Tell me about having no sense of direction, my dad and my husband want to kick my butt. My husband is my navigator/GPS/personal guide.

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  4. Something like this is great cause it's portable. It would be even better if phone batteries lasted longer though.

    Rowena @ rolala loves
    Enter my Shabby Apple Necklace Giveaway!

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  5. Portable juice that is great! I am thinking about a solar charger, you are right, so annoying when you are in town wandering and suddenly it just let's you down!
    Cool blog, come by if you have time, would love that!
    Simona
    www.lakenmoon.blogspot.com

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  6. Very useful post, thank you. I need a new battery for my MacBook and would probably just use this instead!

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  7. If I think my phone might run out of battery, I generally carry my charger with me.. I have this sort of freaky attachment to my phone, it's such a worry how embedded they become in your life!

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  8. Hopefully I'm one of the Happy Few in France who don't own a smart phone !!!
    I have a Gardian Angel above my head, never ran out of fuel in the middle of nowhere to need to call for help !

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  9. I'm terrible at forgetting to charge mine - fortunately I'm normally in the car when out and about here in Atlanta so always have my car charger with me! x

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  10. Ahhh so my not-so-intelligent phone does have it's advantages! :) I also like that mine can fit in the small pocket in my exercise tights. BUT I know that one day i'll have to convert to a smart phone (kicking and screaming all the way). Then I shall hopefully have something more helpful to contribute to this conversation, hee hee :)

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  11. Thanks for the tip. I'll pass this on! I'm pretty good at sticking mine on the charge for normal day to day but terrible when traveling. It's so odd these days to not be connected. I kind of miss the old days when people couldn't get in touch with everyone 24/7 (showing my age).

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  12. I always charge mine over night even if the battery hasn't run out, that way I know I will be fine if I go out for the day x

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  13. I always carry my chargers with me (in a baggu pouch) because I'm at the office all the time. But I've been considering a battery pack for when I'm out with a smaller purse. I'm a slave to multiple smartphones- it's so bad.

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