Phone batteries lasting or not throughout the day

[lawdogNOLA]

If I didn't use it much, my Galaxy 7 lasted all day, even without turning off my wifi. But brought an Anker 10050 mAH charger with Quick Charge 3.0, and was always able to quickly get refilled again. Fuel Rods can be nice if you haven't bought a dedicated battery pack, but only if you're at places where you can exchange them for fresh ones, which is a very limited selection. They recharge slowly, compared to the current generation of chargers, and, with what appears to presently be a 2600 mAH on Fuel Rods, there are many phones which won't even get a full charge from one Fuel Rod.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I have an Android. LG. Sometimes it lasts the entire day; sometimes it doesn't. It honestly depends on how much time I spend reading books on it while waiting in line. I have a portable charger so if it's below 50% by dinner time, I charge it while we eat. I found one on Amazon for $20 several years ago, and it's still going strong with heavy use.

I agree with what others have said; since I started paying for data, I stopped using WiFi. Disney WiFi is just not reliable enough, and it drains the battery. I have a Fitbit, so I leave the Bluetooth on. I really choose not to worry about it too much with a charging pack, though. I'd rather just enjoy my day than obsess over the battery life of my phone, which I will do without the power bank.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Again I am basing this on real life experiences last week. Not hypothetical articles. I am not Luddite either and work in technology. When the wi-fi is weak and the phone keeps losing connection as it did all week at Disney, wi-fi is a lousy option.

The rest of the time I leave my wi-fi on. I turn it off when I go to a few places that have known crappy wi-fi though. Also 9 times out of 10 my cell provider was significantly faster connection which meant I had the screen on less time finding what I needed to do.

I typically never turn my WiFi on...why bother when the signal strength from the tower delivers faster speeds?

 

[drp4video]

I have an iphone 5s and I bought a small portable battery from Staples for $10. I charged my phone while it was in my pack or while we were eating meals. Worked great.

 

[wdisney9000]

We got one of those when they first came out and ran into a number of problems with them. When we exchanged them it was like a 50/50 shot as to weather we would get a working one. After getting 3 back to back duds in a single day, I just gave up and purchased my own.

We had a similar issue a few months ago and we had several fuel rods in a row that were not charging very well. I tried using a different usb cable to attach to the the rod and it fixed the problem. Not sure if that would help in your situation but if you still have your fuel rod it may be worth a shot.

 

[Master Yoda]

We had a similar issue a few months ago and we had several fuel rods in a row that were not charging very well. I tried using a different usb cable to attach to the the rod and it fixed the problem. Not sure if that would help in your situation but if you still have your fuel rod it may be worth a shot.

Tried the same thing with no luck. The last one we got looked like someone ran it through a clothes dryer along with a bag of rocks.

I finally gave up on them a couple of years ago once I invested in a high capacity Anker shortly after Pokemon Go launched.

I gave my Fuel Rod to daughter #2 who was in the parks much more frequently than I was at the time. No idea if she is still using it.

 

[MinnieWaffles]

I can't use 4G in the parks if I don't want to come home to a phone bill more then the cost of our vacation, so I have to use the wifi. Luckily, my phone also held up really well. I made sure it was charged every night and didn't use more then 30% of my battery on average which surprised me.

 

[correcaminos]

I typically never turn my WiFi on...why bother when the signal strength from the tower delivers faster speeds?

Truth! I turned it off the first few days randomly when the wifi was just soooo slooooooow. After a few days of battery drain (had about 30% at the end of the day though) I just left it off and wound up with about 60% by end of day, with the exception of the day that dining was down and we had to call as well as spent a ton of time trying to get it to pull up on the browser and app both. That one I had 50% or so

I can't use 4G in the parks if I don't want to come home to a phone bill more then the cost of our vacation, so I have to use the wifi. Luckily, my phone also held up really well. I made sure it was charged every night and didn't use more then 30% of my battery on average which surprised me.

I totally get that! I use my phone for a lot of things (including pictures that I make sure they upload to google immediately as a back up). We have a relatively cheap unlimited plan thanks to an employee screwing things up, customer retention found a stupidly cheap plan for me to have that was the same cost as a 3GB combine LOL. I wound up using 5GB this month and my husband used 1GB. Even my dad who is on the plan used double his normal amount. Prior to the unlimited plan, I did try to use the wi-fi only to save on money. I never had my phone die during the day, but I do notice a difference when it's off there.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I can't use 4G in the parks if I don't want to come home to a phone bill more then the cost of our vacation, so I have to use the wifi. Luckily, my phone also held up really well. I made sure it was charged every night and didn't use more then 30% of my battery on average which surprised me.

...unlimited plans...they change lives

 

[Master Yoda]

...unlimited plans...they change lives

I would guess that coming from across the pond throws a monkey wrench into that plan.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I would guess that coming from across the pond throws a monkey wrench into that plan.

...carrier pigeon and a stiff tailwind then.

I personally think one of the major shortcomings of mde is that they didn’t put in access terminals for the system by the dozens...

You wouldn’t need to even sign In...walk 50 feet, touch your band and modify everything.

That would also drive sales...no need to be tied in to your real life on your phone all day because you need an app.

 

[Master Yoda]

...carrier pigeon and a stiff tailwind then.

I personally think one of the major shortcomings of mde is that they didn’t put in access terminals for the system by the dozens...

You wouldn’t need to even sign In...walk 50 feet, touch your band and modify everything.

That would also drive sales...no need to be tied in to your real life on your phone all day because you need an app.

I was a little miffed by that as well especially when they started to run into connectivity issues.

 

[drp4video]

I have an iphone 5s and I bought a small portable battery from Staples for $10. I charged my phone while it was in my ***** pack or while we were eating meals. Worked great.

you can't say the word as part of pack...the thing you wear around your waist to carry items? it was bleeped out so to speak. Rhymes with Danny lol

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I was a little miffed by that as well especially when they started to run into connectivity issues.

Disney is AWFUL at IT...always has been.
I have to say that what we have has to have exceeded expectations...considering their history.

 

[drp4video]

...unlimited plans...they change lives

I changed to unlimited a while ago and my cost for the family plan actually went down. Eliminates a lot of worry and stress especially while traveling

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

you can't say the word ***** as part of pack...the thing you wear around your waist to carry items? it was bleeped out so to speak. Rhymes with Danny lol

It’s not a issue of profanity...the word “____pack”...was actually outlawed as an unacceptable fashion faux pas by act of the United States Congress in 1990

 

[Master Yoda]

Disney is AWFUL at IT...always has been.
I have to say that what we have has to have exceeded expectations...considering their history.

I have never known a large non-IT company that would be considered good at IT.

 

[PurpleDragon]

Based on my personal experience, I think the battery issue is 100% caused by the Disney App. I have always used Android phones and if I use the Disney app while I'm in the park and for some reason forget to close it out completely (so its no longer running in the background), my battery would be down to almost 50% within a few hours (normally my battery will last all day in the parks). The Disney App is a HUGE resource hog and will drain the battery on any device you run it on, its constantly polling in the background trying to get system and status updates.

 

[Raineman]

If you are visiting WDW from outside of the US and you are in a group, one person's phone can be designated as the phone that receives calls/texts, and everyone else's phone can be used strictly for pictures/games/Internet. When we go to WDW (we are Canadian), my DW gets the US plan on her phone, and I keep my phone on airplane mode the whole time we are there, turning on WiFI when I need it. My phone is usually never below 55-60% when we get back to the resort at the end of the day. I realize that some people use their phone alot more than I do in the parks, but having cellular/data turned off and WiFi only on when needed can save alot of battery life.

 

[SteveAZee]

A quick check online suggests that AT&T and Verizon have the best signals on WDW property... not so much Sprint and T-Mobile.