phone battery life camping

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J

jawdict

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Hi Everyone!


I'm planning on camping next month and thinking of buying a MPJ 6000 mah extended battery for my LG G4 on Amazon. I was hoping to get more information about the weight of extended battery, because I don’t want to take a bunch of camping equipment. Is it a big help? Sorry that I’m not tech savvy.
 
Just turn the phone off unless you need it, the battery will last a long time. Since many people also use their phone as their main camera this isn't always a good option.
Car camping? No problem just plug it in.
Backpacking, have a read The Best Portable Solar Panel Review
 
The stock battery is 3,000 mAh, so I would expect the 6,000 mAh to be 2x that or maybe less. If you are not going to have any access to electricity during your trip, then you may want to look into a small solar charger.
 
the manufacturer should be able to tell you the weight if it's not indicated in the descriptions.
As to how much it will help, just figure out what is the capacity of your current battery -likely stamped on it or can be found in the phone descriptions- and compare. If yours now is 2000mAh, say, then the 6000 will probably give you something like the equivalent of 2 or 3 serious recharges, very roughly speaking, assuming the voltages are the same. And so on.
 
extended batteries are always good, though i personally prefer the external battery pack (10AH). that way you can charge more then just a phone and way more storage.

to get the most out of your phone when on, turn airplane mode on when mobile not in immediate use, turn bluetooth/wifi/nfc etc off, close all apps, power saving on and screen brightness to a minimum. even leaving the phone on 24/7 i can get a good few days this way :)
 
Definitely use the airplane mode if there is no cell signal. The phone will constantly search for a signal and kill the battery in short order.

You can buy one of the many "Jump Start" battery packs to use as a charger also. They are cheap, come with cables and adapters to charge most devices, and can jump your vehicle if needed.
 
titanpat57 said:
I really like this...solar charging and flashlight

https://www.amazon.com/External-Portable-12000mAh-Carabiner-Emergency Cell/dp/B017R8VREU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1465393030&sr=8-3&keywords=solar+phone+charger
Click to expand...

Do you own this one personally? It looks like it has nice capacity but I've not been real impressed with what I've read about the actual solar charging capability of any of these small panels. If you have experience with this model I'd love to hear it.
 
JayDoc said:
Do you own this one personally? It looks like it has nice capacity but I've not been real impressed with what I've read about the actual solar charging capability of any of these small panels. If you have experience with this model I'd love to hear it.
Click to expand...

I do not own one, but just ordered it this morning. I will report back on it after I use it a few times.

I'm one of those guys that always has my phone charging. I also own a couple of smaller battery packs, mainly for train rides to NYC or meetings. I've had my eye on this simply because both of my older 4000mh died after 5 years of hard use. I kinda of look at the solar as a "bonus" feature..if it works, great. I think the price point for it, compared to what I paid for both my Gum chargers years ago, to be a real bargain.
 
i've used a battery pack for backcountry camping and it doesn't get used as much if i'm on airplane mode (say a 4 day canoe trip). but it's nice to have as back up (plus i like to play some music off the phone the odd time or use a small blue tooth speaker). bring a USB cable for your phone/accessories and you should be all set. Or i guess you can use one battery pack for everyone depending on use/as a back up.
 
that amazon thing up there is pretty typical of the marketing ploys/misunderstandings about the effectiveness of solar charging. It has a 10Ah rating at 5V so 50Wh capacity roughly. The solar cell is reportedly (probably wildly optimistic) 1.5W. So it would take -if we believe these numbers- about 35 hrs at *maximum sunshine* to charge it. If you would assume roughly that a normal sunny day of 12 hrs is, say, about half max insolation on average, or 1/4 over 24hrs, it would take 6 calendar days of bright sunshine to charge it. Throw in a few clouds or some shade and you can guess what happens then...
 
After doing a little research: The Best Portable Solar Panel Review
I decided to go try out the Anker 15w solar panels with an Anker 13000mah battery pack.
I'll be trying them out on a 3 day backcountry trip soon and will report back.
The combo is a bit more expensive than what we've discussed above but seems worth the money if the review is to be believed.
We'll see. Cost ~$65 from amazon.
I'll be using my smart phone as GPS, camera, compass, map and we'll see how the combo does in keeping everything going.
And yes I'll have an actual compass and map as well - 'one is none'.

It might also be worth noting in regards to OP's question that the panel weighs 12.5oz and the battery weighs in at 8oz.
 
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Camp where there's no cell phone service, turn it off and leave it off until it's needed. At least that's what I tell work when I'm gone! :)

Just for 'comparison' I use a Mophie 120% battery back up/case protector with my iPhone and I can easily double the battery life. I haven't pushed it to the full 120% back up capacity, but I can be below 20% on the phone, click on the battery back up to recharge the phone, get back to 100% on the phone and there's life left in the back up. How much you want to push it what you are looking at would be up to you.

Your other option as suggested above is to get a cig lighter charger to use while you are driving. Simplest solution.
 
JayDoc said:
After doing a little research: The Best Portable Solar Panel Review
I decided to go try out the Anker 15w solar panels with an Anker 13000mah battery pack.
I'll be trying them out on a 3 day backcountry trip soon and will report back.
The combo is a bit more expensive than what we've discussed above but seems worth the money if the review is to be believed.
We'll see. Cost ~$65 from amazon.
I'll be using my smart phone as GPS, camera, compass, map and we'll see how the combo does in keeping everything going.
And yes I'll have an actual compass and map as well - 'one is none'.

It might also be worth noting in regards to OP's question that the panel weighs 12.5oz and the battery weighs in at 8oz.
Click to expand...

A quick update: I set up the anker solar panel this weekend for a little trial. I ran my samsung Note 3 (3200mah battery) down to 20% power and hooked it up to the panel and set it outside in the mid morning sun. I came back ~3 hours later. The phone was on the whole time. The phone batt had increased to 32% charge but the screen read that the phone stopped charging because it was too hot - I have no way of knowing when it stopped charging. I know it's June but is was ~8:30am and not particularly warm. I guess I didn't consider this complication but it seems self defeating to put something in direct sun light for extended periods if the thing I'm trying to charge stops accepting a charge if it gets too warm?!
The battery pack I bought for this outing states to avoid 'extreme temperatures' but doesn't state what those temps would be or if it would stop charging automatically at those temps as well.
Just sharing a little frustration.
 
shade?
 
Any phone left in the sun will end up shutting down due to overheating, this is to protect the electronics and the battery. The phone should covered to protect from overheating.
 
The phone was in the pocket attached to the panel as it was designed.
 
If the pocket was in the sun then the phone was too hot which is why it shut down.

Personally I would use an Anker battery pack I really like the Astro E7 26800 mAH battery pack. You can charge a phone multiple times with it. And when it's not being used you throw it on the solar panel to top off. Yes it's more equipment but it works much much better. I don't travel anymore without a large external battery to charge my phone incase I don't have power avaiable.

Right now it's 50 bucks on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-Capacity-Anker-Ultra-High-Technology/dp/B00M3073L4/?tag=ihco-20
 
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