We've all been there, it's only midday, we're fiddling with our phones and next thing you know you see a flashing signal from your gadget as if saying "Hello, I'm going to die soon so you better find my cord and plug me in, now!"
Oh well, both you and I know that it's terribly annoying to lose out on your phone battery right when you need them. Ugh, Honey Boo Boo pictures downloading! Nooo!!! (Okay, I kid, I don't watch that.)
Half the time though I'm just there surfing on my iPhone 5 and by the time it reaches 3PM, it has flatlined and gone to Smartphone heaven. Then the day turns into a walk down the office halls asking "do you have a phone charger I can borrow?"
Along the way, there are a couple of tricks here and there to prevent your phone batteries from doing a Houdini on you. I'm sharing a few here. Of course, there's gazillions more but these are the ones that work for me.
- Turn the screen brightness down. Some people can't stand overly bright screens while others crank up the brightness to turn their phones into instant glowsticks *cue EDM here*
- For iPhones, you might want to mosey on over to the settings and turn off the 3G option. If you only use wifi (and I bet most people do) then you really don't need it at all. So yes, nuke that baby out of there. Oh, this includes turning off LTE as well if you don't have it in your area. Getting rid of Wifi if you don't need to use it will also be a plus.
- Kill all those unnecessary apps. Yes, I know, I know "but I need ALL of them!," says distraught voice. You do and I feel you but you don't need them ALL THE TIME. Not using Bluetooth? Nuke for a while.Siri not really your thing? You can turn her off. She might give you a snarky comment for doing so but hey, better battery life!
- For Android users (hah! You thought I forgot about you, didn't you?!) I didn't. Almost all of the basics apply here but another step you can do for your android phones is to dump the widgets. Android is all about the widgets, yes, but if everytime you go to check a message and say have that Facebook widget run through to do a "check" then you've got a batt killer right there.
- Another thing (although a lot of people have mixed opinions about this) is to not wait until your phone battery is completely dead before charging contrary to the long held belief that you should completely wait for your battery to die before plugging in for a recharge.
(Warning: geeky stuff up ahead) Since most phones use a Lithium-ion battery, waiting for a phone to fully dry before recharging can cause a serious strain on the battery. (More technical deets on lithium batteries.) It's best to charge your phone frequently or right when it hits 40% instead of waiting for all that juice to run out.
However, it's also advisable to fully drain the battery after about 30 cycles (maybe once a month) before charging it. This will help battery calibration.
Whew, now, if after doing all that you still want some handy dandy back up for instances when you're caught in a bind and no socket in sight then let me offer an alternative.
Please welcome the Portable Power Station! It's light and portable so it won't feel a thing if you pop it inside your suit pocket or small purse. Maybe even leave it inside your car, just in case.
It'll come with a full set of adapters so every portable device is covered. And yes, it's completely safe to use on your precious gadget. Don't worry.
Best part though, it's only $40! Great deal if you ask me (of course, I'm selling it so I back it up 100%. Hah!) Seriously though it is very helpful. I use mine all the time because I'm on Facebook all day.
Even though it sounds weird, most of us do stress when our gadgets die out without notice. Having this is a great stress reliever, at least you won't be pulling your hair in all directions because you missed out on a release or something. Agree?
If yes, grab one right now!
For those who are lazy, here's a quick recap in case you just scrolled down and thought "meh, all the good stuff is down below, I'm sure..."
Tips:
- Turn brightness down.
- Turn off Wifi, 3G, LTE, Bluetooth, Apps and Widgets when not in use.
- Recharge batteries at 40% frequently but once a month let it fully drain before charging.
- Followed all that but still want an alternative? Get the Portable Power Station, baby!
Deets:
- Compatible with almost all gadgets and portable devices. It'll come with several adaptors.
- Lightweight (you won't even know it's there.)
- Doesn't ruin the look of your phone or gadget.
- Works fast and easy. Charge it, bring it, place on phone or gadget when you need it. (*Smile and give a thumbs up, a la Mentos ad*)
- Affordable! Forty bucks for a lifesaver is pretty good money spent!
