external power bank instead of replacing battery?

Question

external power bank instead of replacing battery?

The battery on my exactly three-year-old iPhone 5C has failed. Despite saying that I have as much as 85% battery life left sometimes, it just shuts down. Sometimes I can revive it if I wait a few minutes and often just plugging it in a few minutes gives me hours of life, but I'm not always somewhere that I can do that. So it is unreliable and unusable. I was quoted almost £75 to replace the battery. Considering that this phone is garbage and has given me nothing but grief since the day I got it, I'm eager to replace it with something better when I get home in a few months from almost a year of travel and loathe to spend that kind of money that I could put towards a newer phone.

So what I thought to do instead was to get an external power bank that I will be able to use with my next phone, with the idea being that when my stupid phone conks out when "fully charged" I could plug it into the external power pack to revive it, like I would by plugging the phone into a wall socket. Is that something that could work or do those things need a good battery?

If this idea could work, can anyone recommend a power pack that is pretty much guaranteed to work with a 5C? Another quirk of this delightful device is that it is even worse than my other Apple products at accepting non-Apple peripherals (eg. I've tried 10 different car chargers and it wouldn't work with any of them).

Thank you,

Rae

iPhone 5c

Posted on Feb 8, 2017 11:31 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 8, 2017 12:31 PM in response to Traveling Rae

If not using a case, there are tons of options for an external power bank battery charger. On Amazon alone there must be a hundred different models that range from small compact 1200mAh ones to massive 16000mAh. You should look online at some of them and see how big (& heavy) a one do you want to carry around.

I do have a little 1200mAh one (will give my iPhone 7 about a 70-75% charge - its about one inch in diameter and maybe 4-5 inches long) in my briefcase in the event I get stuck somewhere with no outlets. It cost me less that $20 for a pair of them at OfficeDepot.

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Answer 2

SergZak

Level 6

10,672 points

Feb 8, 2017 12:56 PM in response to Traveling Rae

Traveling Rae wrote:Another quirk of this delightful device is that it is even worse than my other Apple products at accepting non-Apple peripherals (eg. I've tried 10 different car chargers and it wouldn't work with any of them).

You mention external peripherals being an issue but have you tried different cables other than possibly the *one* that you've been using?

How about inspecting the Lightning port on the device with a strong light to see if there is any lint/dust/crud inside the port? It can be cleaned out with a toothpick or clean toothbrush.

See Iphone 5 lightning port charging problem - SOLUTION!

Also Google "clean lightning port apple" for plenty of additional info.

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Answer 3

Feb 8, 2017 11:41 AM in response to Traveling Rae

I don't use a battery case like that. But it would likely be okay for a short period of a couple of months. The one warning I would say is that a truly end-of-lifed Lithium battery can be prone to issues like swelling and other potentially hazardous issues. So I would not use a older, clearly decayed and worn out Lithium battery for too long, especially effectively plugged in 100% of the time, as it will be with the use of an external battery.

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Answer 4

Feb 8, 2017 11:47 AM in response to Michael Black

That was a very helpful answer, thank you! I was thinking more of the power packs that are a charging source rather than a battery. A friend recommended a thing called a Jackery that he says charges his phone twice before needing to be recharged itself.

I didn't realise that the phone could get dangerous, so I'm glad you brought that to my attention. According to testing done on it, it's got about 35% life left. I don't use my phone daily as I'm usually "home" working, but I really miss it when I'm out exploring and need directions, restaurant locations, access to my email to reach clients, etc. so maybe two days a week at most. So it sounds like my idea should work as long as it really is a stop gap measure.

Thanks again,

Rae

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Answer 5

Feb 8, 2017 12:34 PM in response to Michael Black

I'm just really worried about compatibility with my temperamental 5C so I think my best bet will be to go into a physical store and ask if there are any I can test first. I know I want something that will give me at least one full charge.

Thanks again!

Rae

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Answer 6

Feb 8, 2017 1:06 PM in response to SergZak

I've used I don't know how many cables (and 12V chargers) that work fine with my iPad Mini, so I know the problem is the phone.

This phone has had a ton of issues that go beyond the power problems. I really think I got a lemon. I'm sick at the thought of moving to Android, but my 5C has totally soured me on the iPhone and I'm seriously considering making the switch to get a better device. I've been agonising over the decision for months. I wish I'd never had an iPhone because now I'm used to Siri and having all my devices work seamlessly together when I got along fine with a non-iPhone for years. But I got tempted by the fact that it was truly free with a two-year contract. *sighs*

Thanks for your input!

Rae

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