Recharging phones with external batteries

[Yesiamaduck]

Because I don't really have £25 - £40 to spend on an external battery I bought one of the AA battery things (which costed like £3 from eBay) as I was hopeful I could just buy a huge amount of AA batteries from poundland, will this not work? If I'm charging my phone overnight (with it turned off)

Edited June 8, 2014 by Yesiamaduck

[stuartbert two hats]

I've had the Technet Powerbank 15000mHa for the last 3 months. When it's fully charged it recharges my iphone 4s from empty to full at least 5 times. Under 30 quid on Amazon...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TeckNet%C2%AE-15000mAh-Lightning-Sensation-Blackberry/dp/B00FAU7ZB2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402255999&sr=8-1&keywords=tecknet

fc

[fewcloudy]

Bought.

[Englishdragon]

Because I don't really have £25 - £40 to spend on an external battery I bought one of the AA battery things (which costed like £3 from eBay) as I was hopeful I could just buy a huge amount of AA batteries from poundland, will this not work? If I'm charging my phone overnight (with it turned off)

[Hello... I'm Johnny Cash]

Slightly different approach, but after deciding that I absolutely must be contactable while on site and not trusting 3's network quite enough to guarantee that I bought a Nokia 105 on Orange PAYG for £20.99 from Carphone Warehouse.

Came with £20 credit pre loaded which is enough to buy unlimited texts for a month and about 225 minutes.

This was a week last Sunday and amazingly the battery indicator hasn't dropped a single bar.

Plus they go for about a tenner 2nd hand on eBay which brings the net cost of using it at the festival down by half.

I'm still taking my smartphone and battery bank for the camera, Glasto app and GPS tent / car finder but it's a bit if a weight off the mind knowing that I don't have to worry about running it down.

[stuartbert two hats]

I've had the Technet Powerbank 15000mHa for the last 3 months. When it's fully charged it recharges my iphone 4s from empty to full at least 5 times. Under 30 quid on Amazon...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TeckNet%C2%AE-15000mAh-Lightning-Sensation-Blackberry/dp/B00FAU7ZB2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402255999&sr=8-1&keywords=tecknet

fc

[baxterboy]

£30 for the 13,000mAh Anker is expensive. The EC TechNet one is only £20 and is lighter (slightly, but it all counts!):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00D76LQRU

[GeoHall]

Around christmas time I bought a little charger thing for my iPhone from primark for about £2, forgot I had it but plugged it in today and managed a full charge! It's very small too so was pleasently surprised

Also saw a belkin 4000 mah power pack for £45 in tesco today, really don't understand how they decide the price of these as you can get 15000 mah chargers elsewhere for much cheaper

[TaBoosh]

£30 for the 13,000mAh Anker is expensive. The EC TechNet one is only £20 and is lighter (slightly, but it all counts!):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00D76LQRU

Edited June 11, 2014 by TaBoosh

[tsmerdon]

Just be aware that one 12000mah or so battery in one product can be very deifferent to 12000mah from another manufacturer (apart from the very common practice of lying about true capacity ) . With Li-Po you do really get what you pay for, All these chargers are obviously manufactured in China (as iPhone etc) but the best for keeping charge, less power loss on transfer, less heat etc , use imported batteries (Samsung etc) that is why there is such a variation in price, same mah.

Everything is built to a price.

Ideally get something good enough to use outside festivals or for family etc to borrow, portable power does mean you can keep your phone being smart, rather than dumbed down to save power.

[snoopyhill]

I have just bought a couple of 10000 power banks @ £12.99 for my daughters, decent reviews - mind you all the reviews appear to be from people who were sent them specifically to review! Anyway at £12.99 each I'm happy.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/10000mAh-Dual-Port-Charger-1-0APortable-External/dp/B00J1V6ESQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401791553&sr=8-1&keywords=Breett+10000mAh+Power+Bank+Dual-Port+USB+Charger

These will be used to power Lumia 820's battery capacity 1620 mAh so I expect they will get around 5 charges from it, allowing for leakage etc.

Edited June 14, 2014 by snoopyhill

[adequate8]

Had numerous Ankers (now on 13000) and charges my 5s about 5 times from dead. Plus their customer support is top notch (sent my a brand new one out when one was a bit sketchy) no questions asked.

[tsmerdon]

Had numerous Ankers (now on 13000) and charges my 5s about 5 times from dead. Plus their customer support is top notch (sent my a brand new one out when one was a bit sketchy) no questions asked.

[billum]

I've had the Technet Powerbank 15000mHa for the last 3 months. When it's fully charged it recharges my iphone 4s from empty to full at least 5 times. Under 30 quid on Amazon...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TeckNet%C2%AE-15000mAh-Lightning-Sensation-Blackberry/dp/B00FAU7ZB2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402255999&sr=8-1&keywords=tecknet

fc

[Tr234]

About to buy one but not sure whether I should buy the 13000mah one or the 15000mah one. I have a nokia lumia 925 which is 2000mah. Has anyone used one of these before with a phone that has a battery around the same size as mine? Just want to make sure that it gets at least 5 charges throughout the whole festival! http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FBCVZXI/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=electronics

Thanks

[Englishdragon]

About to buy one but not sure whether I should buy the 13000mah one or the 15000mah one. I have a nokia lumia 925 which is 2000mah. Has anyone used one of these before with a phone that has a battery around the same size as mine? Just want to make sure that it gets at least 5 charges throughout the whole festival! http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FBCVZXI/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=electronics

Thanks

[Staff_Sav]

I recently got the Anker 13000, been testing it all last week. I reckon I got about 7.5 charges for my iPhone 4, and I often charged the phone up overnight using the 1A socket, and Im pretty sure it turned itself off once fully charged, as I would have to press the on button as in for the phone to recognize any power going into it

[fewcloudy]

About to buy one but not sure whether I should buy the 13000mah one or the 15000mah one. I have a nokia lumia 925 which is 2000mah. Has anyone used one of these before with a phone that has a battery around the same size as mine? Just want to make sure that it gets at least 5 charges throughout the whole festival! http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FBCVZXI/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=electronics

Thanks

[Badlands]

My eBay 50000mAh pack was, unsurprisingly, a lot less powerful than thought. Subsequently going to be taking 2 handsets, 1 spare battery and 2 poor quality external batterys. What a faff on.

As an aside, my android updated today and now has an Extreme Power Saver. May come in handy.

[Englishdragon]

So my Glastonbury charging situation is set. I have

My S4 and my bluetooth speaker

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00F5Q4F0U/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This 22000mah backup battery

2 Spare S4 batteries in my bag just in case

[Chris;]

My eBay 50000mAh pack was, unsurprisingly, a lot less powerful than thought. Subsequently going to be taking 2 handsets, 1 spare battery and 2 poor quality external batterys. What a faff on.

As an aside, my android updated today and now has an Extreme Power Saver. May come in handy.

[billum]

I went for the Anker E4 13000mAh pack, my friend recommended me one that was the next model down, so I thought I'd put some money and get a slightly bigger one to give more life. Do I need to do a charge/discharge cycle a few times to get it working better, or is it ready to rock after the first charge?

[Chris;]

No, you shouldn't need to do that, since the batteries are Lilthium Ion, not Ni-Cads (which did benefit from cycling regularly as they didn't like staying charged for long). So it should be good to go straight away, and probably arrived with around 80% charge as shipped.

The manufacturer does recommend to discharge and recharge it at least once every 3-4 months. Other than that, and the odd bowl of milk if it's looking hungry, it shouldn't be any trouble.

[jimbo85]

Dont forgot to optimise the settings on your phones before heading to the festival. Just google your phone and you will find loads of tips on how to save battery.

[camperman]

This EasyAcc one is what I've used the last couple of years and get through the whole festival with it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008YRG5JQ

12000mAh for £25.