What is the battery percentage on your phone that makes you feel antsy and gets you to start looking for a charger?

I’m anxious and have a low tolerance for frustration, so I start feeling nervous when the battery gets to 69%.

18 responses to “What’s Your Percentage?”

  1. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    Haha, for me it’s when the phone itself informs me that I should start looking for the charger. I think 15%.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar

      Gosh, by 15% I’d be in freakout mode.

      You have a healthy nervous system on you.

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  2. Pen Avatar

    My laptop battery is shot — it’s four years old and in need of replacement — so I usually plug it in when it gets under 20%. My phone regularly dies on me, but I try to get to a charger when it gets around 5%.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar

      5??? What’s wrong with you, people? How did you get such healthy nervous systems? I’m a wreck.

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  3. TomW Avatar
    TomW

    I get a little nervous when my phone is in 70-ish. Anything under 50% and I strictly limit what I do so that I don’t run out of power.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar

      You’ve got to be a college professor. :-)))

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  4. UDR Avatar

    20% because my phone has a bad habit of dropping from 20% to dead in minutes

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    1. Clarissa Avatar

      Right? Mine did that to me once at an airport. I was so freaked, people seemed to think there were terrorists close by.

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  5. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    I use my cell phone so infrequently that the battery hasn’t dropped below 75% in THREE YEARS!

    (My landline works just fine, and with it I don’t get charged each time I make or receive a call.)

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  6. xykademiqz Avatar

    I have backup cables everywhere (by my bed, in the office hooked to my monitor through USB, in the car). I keep the phone constantly plugged in when I’m in the office or driving long distance. I also start to freak out when the battery is at 70%. The thought of my phone running out of juice terrifies me.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar

      Finally!!! Somebody who is like me!!! I’m exactly this way. I’m always charging the phone.

      You must be an overachieving research scholar. 🙂

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  7. cliff arroyo Avatar

    I’m not very emotionally invested in my phone and more than once I’ve picked it up to find I can’t turn it on (I guess it’s time to recharge!)

    The biggest usage is on the streetcar to and from work and/or while waiting to see someone (like the doctor’s office). Even then I just use it to keep up with news blogs and news sites.

    For me the test is how low does it have to be for me to take the cable with me when I go to work, and….. that’s about 20%. But I have headed out for the day with it in the teens “16 percent? meh, I don’t want to mess with the charger at school, it’ll get through the day”

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  8. David Bellamy Avatar
    David Bellamy

    My phone does not tell me a percentage of remaining power…just zero, one, two, three, or four bars of battery power. I suppose there correspond to 25, 50, etc percent. At zero bars, I can still send a text or two, but failure is imminent. I generally recharge at one bar, but it depends on where I am. If I am at home, I let it drop to zero. If I am going to be out all day, and using my phone a lot, I I will recharge at two bars. I use my phone for phone calls, texts, and an occasional photograph. I do not use it for internet access, since according to Verizon, that would cost $1.95 per megabyte.

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    1. Stringer Bell Avatar
      Stringer Bell

      “that would cost $1.95 per megabyte”

      That is exploitatively expensive. $2 per MB is $2000 per GB. Regular data plans are something like $30-$50 per GB, if not cheaper.

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      1. UDR Avatar

        The rates that are charged by cell phone and data providers (in the US) have very little to do with the actual costs associated with maintaining the accounts or equipment.

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        1. Stringer Bell Avatar
          Stringer Bell

          I get that. It’s still $2000 per GB.

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          1. Clarissa Avatar

            That’s completely insane.

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  9. Evelina Anville Avatar
    Evelina Anville

    I happily use my cell phone until it gets to the single digits. And, partly because I take the bus to work (so I need a distraction) and partly because my cell phone’s battery drains quite quickly (I need a new one), I lose power just about daily. I basically use my cell phone until it goes dark and then charge it when I can.

    I don’t know how healthy it is. My cheerful willingness to drain my cell phone sort of mirror my attitude towards money. I always have money (like I always have a phone) but saving? Not my forte. Haha.

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