14 Dec How to Charge Your Phone Without a Charger?
Your mobile phone battery is flat and you can’t recharge it by connecting it to its wall charger? I understand! With the intense use of mobile phones nowadays, the battery charge is often not covered a whole day. It means that when you are not at home or in the office, you risk being “on foot” and to see your smartphone turn off without being able to remedy the situation.
Even if in some places, such as in airports or some places, you can use the sockets made available by the latter, in most cases, when you are away from home, you need to find more practical solutions, to be used in complete autonomy. In this regard, I will show you how to charge your phone without a charger through some devices that allow you to restore your smartphone’s charge when you are not at home or in the office and there are no sockets available.
How to charge your phone without a charger?
Are you eager to find out what I mean and to read the tips I have prepared for you in this tutorial? If that’s the case, let’s not waste any more time: sit down comfortably and take a few minutes to carefully read the tips you will find in the next paragraphs. Are you ready? Then let’s get started right away! Have a good reading!
Power Bank
The first piece of advice I can give you to charge your mobile phone without a charger is to use a Power Bank. These devices allow you to recharge mobile phones, tablets and any other portable device on the go. Inside, batteries hold the charge and then transmit it to the devices connected to them through the USB ports they are equipped with.
In addition to this, I suggest you also check other technical characteristics, guiding you on a more accurate choice of the Power Bank. First, check its charging capacity, which is expressed in milliampere-hours ( mAh ). You can read this value very well on the packaging or the product description, in the case of an online purchase.
At this point, check your smartphone’s battery capacity by consulting the instruction manual or its datasheet on the manufacturer’s website. The capacity of the Power Bank must certainly be equal to or greater than that of the smartphone battery to be sure to be able to carry out at least one full charge.
If the capacity is greater, see the Power Banks with a 20000 mAh, you will be able to dispense more charges from the device before having to recharge it.
Another fundamental parameter is the current intensity, measured in amperes ( A ), which affects the devices’ charging times. Typically, a USB 2.0 port has a non-amperage of 500mA, while a USB 3.0 port of 900mA. In the case of fast charging (Qualcomm’s QuickCharge technology, just to give you an example, they can even reach 4.6 A. To take advantage of these intensities it is necessary that the receiving device also supports these amperages.
Finally, check the Power Bank’s output ports, which must be compatible with the smartphone you own. You can find the common USB A ports (in 2.0 or 3.x format) or the Type-C ones, compatible with the latest generation smartphones.
Cover with battery
Similar to Power Banks are the battery covers. These products are nothing more than covers suitable for specific smartphone models with a battery inside that allows them to be recharged. The covers in question, integrating a battery, tend to increase the phone’s weight and size when applied.
Usually, these products’ technical characteristics are negligible, as they are calibrated for specific smartphone models. The only parameter you can evaluate is the battery capacity (expressed in mAh ), which indicates the number of recharge cycles that can be carried out on the smartphone.
Some covers also have design features that can better absorb shocks in the event of a fall. In this regard, I advise you to read the product’s technical specifications well, checking the materials with which it was built and, above all, to evaluate the reviews of other buyers in case of online purchase.
Wireless charger
Another solution that could be for you is to use a wireless charger instead of the classic charger. However, this kind of solution does not apply to all smartphones, as wireless charging must be supported. Some smartphones, such as Samsung S9 or iPhone X, support this technology and it is possible to use this kind of device to charge the battery.
The operation of wireless charging is based on the principle of electromagnetic induction and electrical resonance. In simple terms, an electromagnetic field is generated through a resonant circuit generated by coils present on the two surfaces (that of the battery charger and the rear of the smartphone) very close to each other, which allows the transfer of energy from one side to the other. To perform this operation, the charger first sends a signal to the smartphone to identify compatibility and then receives information on the energy output to be supplied.
Typically, wireless chargers are equipped with a USB cable to connect to a power source. In the case of a person on the move, it can be a laptop, a Power Bank or any other source that can deliver power through a USB port.
There are also all-in-one solutions, thanks to which it is possible to take advantage of wireless charging technology directly on a portable battery. This is the case of some Power Banks types, which are equipped with wireless charging that support the Qi standard.
Car charger
If you travel by car often and use some smartphone features, such as the satellite navigator, you need to keep it charging to prevent the battery from draining quickly. In this regard, you can adopt some solutions that involve using a cigarette lighter with USB ports for 12V.
There are so many on the market and your choice must fall on the evaluation of two fundamental parameters: tension and intensity. I have already explained to you in the paragraph on Power Banks how to check these two values. Remember, therefore, that the car charger’s power must be adequate to that required for the smartphone.
In this case, as regards the intensity of current (expressed in Ampere ), this is also managed by the smartphone and by the charger itself. It is natural that if the mobile phone supports, for example, the Quick Charge 2.0 at 3A, the car charger must also have the same technology to deliver the required amperage. If this requirement is not met, the charging times are extended.
Solar cell charger
Another interesting solution, which can be for you, is to use solar cell batteries. In fact, some chargers fall into the category of Power Banks and have small solar panels that allow you to keep the charge of their batteries almost unlimited if exposed to direct sunlight.
Their operation is based on exploiting the electricity generated by the photovoltaic effect. The photovoltaic cell comprises a semiconductor, such as silicon, whose electrons are “excited” in contact with direct sunlight: this process generates electricity, which is then stored in the batteries.
It can be a very practical object in case of excursions, as it is possible to place the panels of which it is made up on the backpack, allowing the recharge of its battery. Unfortunately, however, photovoltaic cells’ electrical characteristics greatly depend on the light’s quantity and intensity to which they are exposed. For this reason, the battery in their possession, for the same time, may have a different percentage of charge.
OTG cable
Among the methods mentioned above, you may not have thought of a simple enough solution: connect your smartphone to another device’s USB port. Usually, it is enough to connect a mobile phone to a computer via USB cable to start the battery charge.
If you don’t have a computer, you can use an OTG cable to connect two portable devices, such as a smartphone to another smartphone or a smartphone to a tablet. By doing so, the mobile will draw from the other device’s battery to recharge.
This OTG cable consists of a “male” end to connect it to a device and the other “female” to receive the USB cable to which the other device is connected.
To do this, connect the OTG cable to the portable device you want to take battery power from. Then, just connect the smartphone to the OTG cable via the USB one you have. In this way, the mobile can begin to charge, gradually draining the other device’s battery.
Dynamo charger
A final solution to charge your mobile phone without a charger is to use a hand crank charger. This type of device is equipped with a dynamo that generates an electric current when the handle connected to it is continuously rotated.
Although it is a possible solution in an emergency, to have just the time to make a call, I do not recommend its use: generating power of electricity with these devices can be tiring, due to the prolonged force you have to apply with the arms. Also, due to the materials, it is built with, it may have poor longevity, which would result in a waste of time and money. Then don’t tell me I didn’t warn you!