In this day and age, more and more students are purchasing smart phones. Some say they couldn’t live without them; however, they could live without the horribly short battery life they contain.

According to Apple, the new iPhone 4S has up to eight hours (on 3G) of life for talking on the phone, while browsing on the Internet will give you a mere six hours. Unlike many other cell phones, the iPhone does not have an interchangeable battery. New Android models have been following Apple’s trend of no longer having interchangable batteries, leaving us one option short of a full battery.

What can you do to remedy this situation? Well, there are a few options. Making sure your phone is fully charged before you leave your home is the easiest answer, but it’s not always that simple. And sometimes even by charging your phone before you leave, long days leave your battery long gone.

Certain companies are now coming out with phone cases that have a battery included. Among these companies is Mophie, which sells a “juice pack plus” for the iPhone. It promises to give “over double the battery life” of your phone by using the 2,000 mAh battery included in the case. The only problem? It costs a whopping $100, and not many of us students can afford a phone case like that.

Alternatively, to those of us who can’t carry an AC adapter around with us, or do not have access to wall outlets, a car charger is a cheap alternative. Knock-off brands can be found on sites like Amazon for a mere $3 or so. It is important to mention, however, that you’ll want to do some research on the car charger you’re buying to make sure it safely charges your phone.

Regardless of the methods you choose to keep your phone charged at all times, just remember that we DID live without them once…wait what am I saying? Keep that phone charged!