+TheMasses Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 I absolutely love geocaching on my phone (my touch) - I use the official app and I find it very easy to use. My contract is up in a couple of months (t-mobile) and I'm ready for a new phone. I want to stay with an android - I like iphones but I don't know if I want to leave t-mobile... any thoughts on phones with the longest battery life and least glare? Because *for me* those are the two main drawbacks when caching with my phone Quote Link to comment
ChefRd2000 Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 This might be tough to find an answer... I'm guessing "geocaching" isn't a line item on battery run down tests. And... I'm also looking for my next phone now, and outdoor visibility isn't something people care about either it would seem! I will never understand that! Don't people go outside anymore? All they care about is pixels per inch? Quote Link to comment
+TheMasses Posted April 26, 2012 Author Share Posted April 26, 2012 I know - I tried to figure this out with a search but all that came up about glare was screen protectors! ... sigh.... as for battery life I think any big app would use juice so it's not geocaching specific on the tests but it would be "heavy use" at any rate... thanks for your reply! Quote Link to comment
ChefRd2000 Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 I know - I tried to figure this out with a search but all that came up about glare was screen protectors! ... sigh.... as for battery life I think any big app would use juice so it's not geocaching specific on the tests but it would be "heavy use" at any rate... thanks for your reply! On my android... Clicking on the GPS is the biggest batt drain. That, fringe reception and screen at full power in the sun . Gulp...gulp...gulp!!!! It's fine for off the cuff 3 or 4 caches. But a real cachin outing requires a real gps to ride along with my phone or it just won't make it. Quote Link to comment
+TheMasses Posted April 26, 2012 Author Share Posted April 26, 2012 On my android... Clicking on the GPS is the biggest batt drain. That, fringe reception and screen at full power in the sun . Gulp...gulp...gulp!!!! It's fine for off the cuff 3 or 4 caches. But a real cachin outing requires a real gps to ride along with my phone or it just won't make it. yeah - this to me would be the main reason for a real GPS but I can't justify the added cost right now Quote Link to comment
+user13371 Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 (edited) Regarding glare - On my iPhone (current 4 and my previous 3G), I never found screen brightness to be a problem. Not to say it was as good as any of my non-touchscreen GPSRs (various Gamrins and DeLormes), just that in my hand I'm able to angle it and/or shade it to make it at least readable. Regarding battery life - In my opinion, this should be a non-issue for anyone who isn't going on really long field trips. And I mean this both for cellphone cachers and those using a dedicated GPSR. You simply plan accordingly. With any device that you can open up to change the batteries, carry enough batteries for your planned outing - including maybe one more set, surplus to requirements. With sealed & rechargeable devices, carry an external battery pack with enough batteries for your planned outing - same logic as above. And for the urban cacher who might pass a power outlet sometime during the day, a standard iPhone charger (which can be used for any USB powered gadget) weighs less and takes up barely as much space in your pocket as a pair of AA batteries. Hey, if they're gonna charge you $4 for a latte, you might as well top off the phone while you're drinking it. Edited April 27, 2012 by user13371 Quote Link to comment
+timk54 Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 I know - I tried to figure this out with a search but all that came up about glare was screen protectors! ... sigh.... as for battery life I think any big app would use juice so it's not geocaching specific on the tests but it would be "heavy use" at any rate... thanks for your reply! On my android... Clicking on the GPS is the biggest batt drain. That, fringe reception and screen at full power in the sun . Gulp...gulp...gulp!!!! It's fine for off the cuff 3 or 4 caches. But a real cachin outing requires a real gps to ride along with my phone or it just won't make it. I am using the Samsung Stratosphere. I cached for 3 hours in Red Rock Canyon near Vegas before the battery ran out. My wife has a Motorola Droid X The extended life battery works about the same amount of time as my Samsung. We carry car chargers and keep them plugged in when in the car. Bright sunlight is a problem but I shade the unit with my hat or wherever I can get shade. Quote Link to comment
+Momma Nonna Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Because of short battery life while caching, I went to e Bay & purchased two extended life batteries which came with the new backs needed to accommodate the larger battery. Works great for me...I just take' en along with me. Quote Link to comment
+jlinbu Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I use the Motorola Triumph for caching and one thing that helps me is to throw the phone in airplane mode in the woods/bad service areas. You could even do it in good service areas and just offline the caches first. I've found that I can get an extra hour of caching on my battery that way. I also carry 2 or 3 spare batteries and a car USB charger. I've never ran out of juice too early this way. I also use a bluetooth GPS which helps with both reception and battery life. Quote Link to comment
+thebruce0 Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Regarding glare - On my iPhone (current 4 and my previous 3G), I never found screen brightness to be a problem. Same. The auto-brightness adjustment is useful, and the screen isn't really a glare style screen. It really more about brightness visibility than glare, and I've never had a problem with that (if it's too dark, manually brightening it has always been enough) Regarding battery life - In my opinion, this should be a non-issue for anyone who isn't going on really long field trips. And I mean this both for cellphone cachers and those using a dedicated GPSR. You simply plan accordingly. With any device that you can open up to change the batteries, carry enough batteries for your planned outing - including maybe one more set, surplus to requirements. With sealed & rechargeable devices, carry an external battery pack with enough batteries for your planned outing - same logic as above. Yes! I used to have a proprietary battery pack for the iPhone, but I hated requiring an outlet when on very long extended trips in order to regain any extra power. And the cable for it started having problems so it wouldn't recharge, effectively making the battery (which was still good) useless. I picked up this little guy which takes 4 AA's and provides a full phone charge. I always have 8 rechargeable AA's with me (whether for flashlight or phone or other device), so the ability to use AA's for phone recharging is IMO the most optimal choice for the road. In addressing the OP... I'm used to charging my 4S every day and a half or so (that includes lots of data use and some active geocaching with GPS on), or charging it up to full and having backup batteries when going on an extended caching trip. What's your acceptable period for recharging a phone? What length of unassisted battery life are you aiming for? Quote Link to comment
+TheMasses Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 Because of short battery life while caching, I went to e Bay & purchased two extended life batteries which came with the new backs needed to accommodate the larger battery. Works great for me...I just take' en along with me. great idea - I did buy a backup battery a while back but I should look into an extended life one.... I use the Motorola Triumph for caching and one thing that helps me is to throw the phone in airplane mode in the woods/bad service areas. You could even do it in good service areas and just offline the caches first. I've found that I can get an extra hour of caching on my battery that way. I also carry 2 or 3 spare batteries and a car USB charger. I've never ran out of juice too early this way. I also use a bluetooth GPS which helps with both reception and battery life. also a good idea - thanks! What's your acceptable period for recharging a phone? What length of unassisted battery life are you aiming for? well I can get about 3 caches on average before my phone goes in the yellow... that's a normal amount of caching for me on a regular work day but on a weekend or on vacation we like to do a bit more. most of our caching include about 2 miles or so of trail walking Quote Link to comment
+thebruce0 Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 well I can get about 3 caches on average before my phone goes in the yellow... that's a normal amount of caching for me on a regular work day but on a weekend or on vacation we like to do a bit more. most of our caching include about 2 miles or so of trail walking You go yellow (I assume ~1/3 power?) after a full charge after only 2 miles of trail? That's... what phone model are you using? (Android's just the OS) Quote Link to comment
+TheMasses Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 well I can get about 3 caches on average before my phone goes in the yellow... that's a normal amount of caching for me on a regular work day but on a weekend or on vacation we like to do a bit more. most of our caching include about 2 miles or so of trail walking You go yellow (I assume ~1/3 power?) after a full charge after only 2 miles of trail? That's... I know... ugh. That's why I am shopping around for a new phone. It's about a year and a half old but battery life has always sucked.... what phone model are you using? (Android's just the OS) a my touch (t-mobile's name - I think it is actually an HTC glacier) Quote Link to comment
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