I’m mainly talking about the smartphones.

You know these things filled with apps that have taken the place of your point & shoot cameras.
Snapseed, Camera+, PS, Lightroom Mobile, ProCamera, Hipstamatic, the Classic CameraBag, and of course VSCO. YOU probably have your favorite go-to’s.
And then there is the Instagram behemoth to post to.
Love me some Vine, especially now that we can shoot on a real camera, edit and post.
A little Candy Crush while we wait, FaceTime while we are away, and Hamster On Piano. Plus the cloud.
And the phone part. Love the phone part.
So… why the heck does my device start going into the red zone at about 2:00 PM????
Sure, years ago, my Motorola StarTac had a piggy back batt and didn’t do nearly what these handheld computers do.That grey ;ump on the back,is the extra battery.

But when I want to shoot that concert photo,Instagram it AND call my friends for a meet up after the concert, that dreaded white spinning gear on a black background is inevitable. Power done. Phone shutting off. Shot about 230 photos and 4 vids at this event (no DSLR)
(Shot with an iPhone 5S, and Olloclip lens.)

Yes, looking forward to the next iPhone, Samsung, Nokia,LG masterpiece, all who claim long battery life.
Really?
Check out this pile of batteries I own, and many I carry around in my messenger bag:

Plus a cable, plug in charger, specialty charging card called Thinium. (love this thing!)

The big boy charges the phone about 2.5 times. Had it for about 3 years and yes, that’s a thunderbolt adapter on it. The tubular units like the Crayon one from Mimoco are good for maybe one full charge.There’s an Otter battery phone case, the Mophie is in the mix,even a Duracell unit that hold batteries.
Is that enough?
Not when I’m on a shoot.
So I carry a bunch.I’ll bet you do to.
Our sleek, sweet, cleanly designed smartphones just got tethered in the worst way.

What’s the solution?

The tablet. Specifically, the Mini tablet. 10 hour battery life. All of the apps, wi-fi, a larger screen to work with,and a better battery life. And if you like, no monthly fee, if you find your hotspots. Your call as to where you feel they are “secure”.
The CamRanger is a great tool when coupled with the iPad.
Or perhaps,the Apple Touch.40 hours of music or 7 hours of video playback on one charge.
The only issue is: It’s yet another device. When I see people hold up an iPad to take photo, it’s the oddest thing, but I get to see their sense of composition. It’s public as its taken.

Will the smartphone batteries get better? Hope so, but not sure how long that’ll take.

In the meantime, try these tips on saving battery life for Android, and iPhone.

And today,August 26th, Apple offered free battery replacement to certain serial # iPhones.

I know, I know. It’s a phone.
Not to me.