Empower my iPhone 5c!
April 22, 2015 10:21 PM Subscribe
My iPhone 5c has a defective battery that dies quickly. Help me find an external battery/case that will keep it alive longer.
A few months after I purchased my iPhone 5c the battery started to lose charge. After the warranty expired this problem got worse. Now it loses 25% of its charge within an hour. I am forced to carry two external batteries with me.
I'd like to find an equivalent of the Mophie JuicePack (a combination external battery/case) for my iPhone 5c. Unfortunately, most of these battery/cases are for iPhone 5 or 5s not 5c.
I recently purchased a Boostcase (the only battery/case I've found) for my iPhone 5c; it wasn't great but was satisfactory for three weeks. Then it died. I plan to return it to the Apple store. I am reluctant to purchase another in case it's unsatisfactory or a dud, even though I can find a number of different ones on Amazon.ca.
Can anyone recommend an external battery/case for iPhone 5c that they have experience with? Durability and reliability are my top priorities. I'm in Toronto, so bonus points for something I can find in a local store. Must be returnable within a reasonable period (2 weeks, longer if defective).
Happy to buy from an online retailer IF they have excellent customer service and don't fuss about reasonable returns.
Thanks so much!
A few months after I purchased my iPhone 5c the battery started to lose charge. After the warranty expired this problem got worse. Now it loses 25% of its charge within an hour. I am forced to carry two external batteries with me.
I'd like to find an equivalent of the Mophie JuicePack (a combination external battery/case) for my iPhone 5c. Unfortunately, most of these battery/cases are for iPhone 5 or 5s not 5c.
I recently purchased a Boostcase (the only battery/case I've found) for my iPhone 5c; it wasn't great but was satisfactory for three weeks. Then it died. I plan to return it to the Apple store. I am reluctant to purchase another in case it's unsatisfactory or a dud, even though I can find a number of different ones on Amazon.ca.
Can anyone recommend an external battery/case for iPhone 5c that they have experience with? Durability and reliability are my top priorities. I'm in Toronto, so bonus points for something I can find in a local store. Must be returnable within a reasonable period (2 weeks, longer if defective).
Happy to buy from an online retailer IF they have excellent customer service and don't fuss about reasonable returns.
Thanks so much!
I also had a battery issue that matched the serial number issues on the Apple site. I got a replacement for free.
posted by Youremyworld at 10:56 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Youremyworld at 10:56 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Those extended battery warranties mentioned above only covered the original 5, not the 5c. the 5c uses a newer generation of battery like the 5s with slightly enhanced capacity.
My advice would be to go to one of those mall kiosks that will replace your battery for $25-40 and just replace the actually battery in the phone.(apple charges $80, and meh, fuck that)
Those phones have excellent battery life when the battery is working correctly. They're essentially the guts of the iphone 5 with a bigger battery, and that phone already had decent battery life. I wouldn't bother with a case, just repair the battery in the actual phone. It'll cost about the same(or a bit less) and last a lot longer, since most of those cases use cheapo batteries, as you experienced.
I repair iphones as a side gig, and have worked on basically every model. Batteries get swapped all the time. Sometimes they die faster than they should(i expect them to last ~2ish years unless you're a heavy user who drains it very low often). It's a cheap repair though.
If you're not a greenhorn at mucking around in laptops/phones, you can do it yourself VERY easily as far as that stuff goes. But, a lot of places are offering discounts on 4s/5/5c service right now at least in my area, so it might cost about the same to just let an experienced 3rd party tech swap it for you. It's a VERY fast job, they can probably even do it in front of you in less than 5 minutes.
posted by emptythought at 11:12 PM on April 22, 2015 [5 favorites]
My advice would be to go to one of those mall kiosks that will replace your battery for $25-40 and just replace the actually battery in the phone.(apple charges $80, and meh, fuck that)
Those phones have excellent battery life when the battery is working correctly. They're essentially the guts of the iphone 5 with a bigger battery, and that phone already had decent battery life. I wouldn't bother with a case, just repair the battery in the actual phone. It'll cost about the same(or a bit less) and last a lot longer, since most of those cases use cheapo batteries, as you experienced.
I repair iphones as a side gig, and have worked on basically every model. Batteries get swapped all the time. Sometimes they die faster than they should(i expect them to last ~2ish years unless you're a heavy user who drains it very low often). It's a cheap repair though.
If you're not a greenhorn at mucking around in laptops/phones, you can do it yourself VERY easily as far as that stuff goes. But, a lot of places are offering discounts on 4s/5/5c service right now at least in my area, so it might cost about the same to just let an experienced 3rd party tech swap it for you. It's a VERY fast job, they can probably even do it in front of you in less than 5 minutes.
posted by emptythought at 11:12 PM on April 22, 2015 [5 favorites]
Best answer: Even if you're not able to get free service, out-of-warranty battery service from Apple in Canada is C$99, which is cheaper than those Mophie external cases. Get thee to the Genius Bar.
posted by holgate at 11:13 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by holgate at 11:13 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: (I'd agree with emptythought that you need to replace the internal battery, not futz around with power-case things. I think that going through Apple gives you a bit more recourse than going to a mall kiosk if you see the same power problems after they do their replacement service.)
posted by holgate at 11:16 PM on April 22, 2015
posted by holgate at 11:16 PM on April 22, 2015
Best answer: Also, if you have your phone fixed my anyone but Apple it cancels out their future responsibility to fix your phone.
posted by pairofshades at 2:48 AM on April 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by pairofshades at 2:48 AM on April 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Get your battery replaced, don't buy an accessory. That isn't the use case for those accessories. That is the use case for battery replacement. Be are that the battery gets recycled. Happy Earth day!
posted by oceanjesse at 4:55 AM on April 23, 2015
posted by oceanjesse at 4:55 AM on April 23, 2015
I've replaced batteries on iPhone 3GS and 4, and it's surprisingly quick and useful. I use guides and replacement batteries from iFixit; here's their guide for the 5c. Their replacement battery for the 5c is $30, and I trust them to be worth it; I tried a much cheaper battery from an Amazon seller, and it lasted 48 hours then died.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:21 AM on April 23, 2015
posted by Pronoiac at 11:21 AM on April 23, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone! I called the Apple store and they said I could come in and they'd replace my battery onsite.
Full disclosure: they did say to make a reservation because the store is busy. Word to the wise for future readers of this question.
posted by Schadenfreudian at 4:03 PM on April 23, 2015
Full disclosure: they did say to make a reservation because the store is busy. Word to the wise for future readers of this question.
posted by Schadenfreudian at 4:03 PM on April 23, 2015
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posted by pairofshades at 10:54 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]