(upbeat music)
- [Mr. Mobile] If live in a place
that gets wintry weather, you know the magic of a snow day.
You toss on your comfy clothes,
'cause you don't care what you look like.
You scramble to buy necessities
before the stores close down,
and your Florida friends make fun of you on Snapchat.
- I'm sorry Mr. Mobile, but I can't hear you
with all the sunshine out here.
- [Mr. Mobile] It's all fun and games
until the power goes out and you need
to keep your gadgets online for work or play,
or just plain safety.
Here's handful of tips to keep you connected,
or at least entertained during a blizzard.
Let's start with the most obvious thing, battery packs.
These are so widespread now,
that you probably already have one,
and if you don't, then you can find one
at your corner store.
Those will tend to be the single use disposable type.
But if you want something that'll last lots
of charge cycles, I've got a whole video
on helping you choose the most practical power pack,
and also a video on a thoroughly impractical battery
for most folks.
But whichever one you choose,
keep in mind that lithium ion batteries
are temperamental little boxes of chemicals
and you need to treat them right
if you want them to be there for you during a crisis.
So if you store batteries for a long time
without using them, keep them at moderate temperature.
That means not in your sun baked
or frozen car if you can help it.
Batteries like to be stored around 60 degrees Fahrenheit
or 15 degrees Celsius.
And this is important too, don't store them fully charged.
It's healthier keep them at a little under half charge,
if you're not gonna use them for a while.
Of course that means that when a storm is coming,
you need to remember to charge them up ahead of time.
Plug in all your devices and all your battery packs.
If the power goes out,
your phone will likely still get service.
Cell sites, or towers, if like, are equipped
with either emergency batteries or Deisel generators
that'll keep them going generally
for at least a few hours following power loss.
And if you've run through all your power packs,
and the electricity's still not coming on,
see if your phone has a power saving mode.
An increasing number of devices lets you manually activate
a super low power sort of semi-sleep,
usually found in the settings menu.
It keeps the basic functions running,
and kills everything else.
If you live in a place where power failures are common,
you might wanna consider getting a phone
just for emergencies.
That Kyocera Dura XE I use over the summer
is a good example is a good example
of a phone that can survive extreme temperatures
and it's waterproof casing isn't gonna be bothered
by a bit of snow, either.
What you're looking for is not
just the so called MIL spec rating,
but also an IP rating that tells you it's sealed
against ingress.
The first digit deals with keeping dust out.
Six is the highest you can go
and the second is all about water.
A four, five, or six means it's protected
against varying degrees of spray
and a seven or eight mean you can submerge it
in a meter or more of water.
So for phones an IP68 rating
is essentially the best you can do.
Whether you go for a super rugged phone
or something basic and cheap, store it with care.
Remember it contains a battery, too,
and make sure it works with the wireless network
that has the best coverage in your area.
Don't just go by the marking
or what you perceive to be the best,
ask your friends what they use.
Or take some test drives of your own if you can,
because coverage is something
that varies significantly from place to place.
Also make sure some important numbers are stored
in your emergency phone's memory
just in case you can't access your data in a crisis.
And remember if a voice call won't go though,
oftentimes a text message will.
Another thing to keep in mind is
that we all take wireless internet for granted these days.
When the power goes out, your WI-FI router will, too.
So be prepared to fire up a cellular hotspot
either through a dedicated device
or by turning your phone into one.
Keep in mind, though, that throughput won't be the best,
because the longer the power's out,
the more folks will be competing for space
on your local cell site.
Try to be mindful of that
and avoid using data intensive apps or services.
My colleague Jerry over at Android Central,
also recomnds having an old school copper landline
in your house if you're in a place
that often gets hit by severe weather.
If you go that route,
remember to write down a few phone numbers on paper
in case your device battery dies
and you can't get to your phone book,
because admit it, you don't know anyone's phone number
any more either.
And speaking of storing stuff locally,
you're gonna wanna do some downloading ahead of time
when you hear that a storm's coming.
Save copies of any documents you're working on
if you wanna make your storm time productive.
And a pro tip from Blaze over at Crackberry,
if you've deleted useful apps from your phone
to save space, it's time to bring them back.
Weather apps with radar and satellite feeds
are good ones to have, as are local news apps
to keep in the loop about what's happening
in your city.
And don't forget about your entertainment either.
Netflix, Youtube, Google Play, iTunes,
Xbox Store, they all give you at least paid options
to store content on your devices
to wile away the candlelit hours.
Finally, and this is more of a mental health suggestion
than a survival tip,
don't be afraid to unplug for a bit.
Many of us spend every waking minute tethered
to the collective, so a snow day could be the perfect excuse
to log off, close down, and enjoy a candlelit catch up
with your favorite book.
What's your suggestion for the best way
to prep for a power cut?
Share it below and subscribe on Youtube
so you don't miss more Mobile Tech video,
stormy or otherwise.
'Til next time, thanks for watching
and stay mobile, my friends.