SDCC Preparation Tip: Keeping Your Phone Charged for Con!

With the San Diego Comic-Con just a week away there is so much to prepare for when getting ready for this ginormous convention.  It is easy to miss some items that we take for granite everyday... like charging your phone/mobile device.  If you have been to Comic-Con then you know it is packed with so much to do and see that you can literally spend days just color sequencing your daily schedules and it can still change when you hit the convention floor.  With so much to worry about you definitely do not want to be troubled by a dead cell phone/mobile device slowing you down and potentially ruining your convention experience.  There is so much occurring you can ill afford to waste time by plugging your phone/mobile device into a wall socket or power station outside the convention center and wait for a decent amount of charge to get back on track.  The solution lies in external power sources for your phone/mobile device.

Since I had an upcoming convention planned I decided to test some devices I got to keep my iPhone 4 charged for SDCC.  With moderate use (calling, texting, internet and tweeting) my iPhone has a power lifespan between 3 - 5 hours which is definitely not acceptable for the San Diego Comic-Con!  Since I plan to use my phone extensively at SDCC I needed to find a solution for my power problem.  After doing research and setting a budget for my power need I decided to go with the Eton Mobius Solar Case ($60 - $90) and two Richard Solo 1800 external batteries ($30 - $50) for my power set-up.  

Eton Mobius Solar Case

Richard Solo 1800 Battery Pack

I decided to do a couple of test runs of my power set-up at Google I/O to see the most I could get out of each device.  Since Google I/O is a three day conference that starts at 7am and ends at 7pm I could run a couple of scenarios to see how long I could go before actually needing to plug-in to the wall.


First Day Test - back-up battery

My iPhone with moderate use: twitter, email and taking photos went from 100% to 30% in 4 hours 7:30am - 11:30am at this point I plugged the Richard Solo 1800 external battery to my iPhone and with moderate use again it charged back to 80% in 2 hours and 20 minutes.  So the 1800 gave me 50% charge back without interrupting what I was doing. 

Second Day Test- solar case then back-up battery

My iPhone with moderate use: twitter, email and taking photos went from 100% to 30% in 4 hours 7:40am - 11:40am at this point I switched the power on the Eton Mobius solar case.  With moderate use again my iPhone charged back up to 70% in just over 2 hours.  So the Mobius gave me 40% charge back without interruption. In 2 hours my iPhone dropped to 30% again I then plugged in the 1800 and my iPhone recharged to 80% in over 2 hours with moderate use.

Third Day Test - two back-up batteries

My iPhone with moderate use: twitter, email and taking photos went from 100% to 30% in 4 hours 8:00am - 12:00pm at this point I plugged in one of the 1800's and with moderate use it charged back to 80% in 2 hours.  My iPhone dropped to 30% in just over 2 hours and 45 minutes at this point I plugged in the other 1800 and my iPhone recharged to 80% in just over 2 hours.

After these test I could see that Day Three gave me the most power throughout the day as I was able to go 14+ hours before reaching 10% of battery life left.  So in conclusion the Richard Solo 1800 external battery consistently recharged back 50% each day while I was still using my iPhone and the Eton Mobius recharged back 40%.  Not great but good enough for me.  So for Comic-Con I will be running the Mobius and two 1800's which should easily keep me charged and connected throughout the day!


There are so many devices out there besides the one's that I used at Google I/O for my test that can provide power to your phone/mobile device.  Here are a couple I researched on that I would have loved to have tested but it just wasn't in my budget.  The PowerBag back pack looks like a great option as it is a power source plus it is functional at the same time for all the SDCC swag you will be picking up.  It is supposed to be able to charge the average smartphone up to 4 times which would easily cover you the entire day!  

MyPowerBag.com - review

The other option I was looking at besides the Eton Mobius was the Mophie Juice Pack Plus ($50 - $100).  The solar capabilities of the Mobius swayed me but I read exceptional reviews about the Mophie Juice Pack Plus stating that it can charge the iPhone back to 80% - 90% in a couple of hours from 20%.  Mophie also has external battery packs but they seemed to be a bit too big and expensive for my purposes.

Mophie Juice Pack Plus - review

With so many different devices out there it should be easy to find a combination to provide your phone/mobile device with the power it needs to last the entire day. There is no perfect solution as people have different mobile habits but the main goal is too keep your phone/mobile device charged!  I was happy with the performance of the Eton Mobius and Richard Solo 1800 at Google I/O and will be running that combination at Comic-Con.  I would love to hear what combinations you all use or plan to use to keep your phone or mobile device charged please comment to let us know! 


I apologize to my Android, Windows and Blackberry followers I did not have the opportunity to test those devices but from what I understand they run through power faster then an iPhone does.  So if any of my followers has information on these devices they would like to share or questions please comment on this article.