Smartphone Upgrade

Despite the fact that I have a cell phone charger that converts power from a standard outlet to a micro-USB plug at home and one at work and one that converts power from the cigarette lighter in my car (two of these came with my previous phone), the bright screen of my phone manages to drain its battery during the time it takes to sit down and sip a cup of coffee.

I thought about getting a solar powered charger or an external battery charging device.  I like the fact that these devices would charge the battery on both my current phone and other devices with a micro-USB port.  The downside is that these items are bulky and since I don't carry a murse there is a good likelihood that I would not have them with me when my battery dies.  


Recently, I purchased a second battery for my LG Revolution smartphone for about $6 including shipping from Amazon.com (although that prices doesn't take into account the $90+ annual charge for being a member of Amazon Prime).  With a second battery I hope to be able to change out batteries on the go and keep my phone ready to do my bidding.  The battery is small enough to fit in the little pocket on the front right side of a pair of jeans.  One problem with having a second battery I quickly discovered is that you can't tell by looking at it if it is charged or not and there is no point in bringing a dead battery with you anywhere.  I came up with the following solution to this problem and now have a system in place on both batteries that instantly lets me know if the spare is charged just by glancing at it.  I present the smartest thing I have done in recent memory:

It's dead, Jim. 

Fit and Ready for Action

With the addition to four colored stickers (two on each of my two batteries), I now know if my batteries are charged at a glance.  Green side up or facing away from my body in my pocket means that it's charged.  Red up or away means it is dead. 

If I did this all over again, I might go with a black sticker or piece of black tape for dead and white to indicate charged to fit with the black and white theme of this blog and lifestyle color choices but what's done is done.

Pro-Tip: Electronics only work when they have power making it useful to know if a battery is fully charged or not.