Is The SpareOne Phone The Best One In A Disaster?

With the recent tornado in Oklahoma, it brings to mind the need for being prepared. And one of the very specific needs is communication. Whether it be for emergency communications or connecting with family, you have to have a phone as part of your emergency plans. Without one, you are going to be isolated and will have to rely on others to communicate with the outside world. You could rely on your own cell phone, but that probably has a low battery from being used. The SpareOne emergency phone is becoming very popular after it was released this year.

The SpareOne emergency phone meets many needs you may have in a disaster. It runs on a single AA battery which so many of us have on hand and with a price of $100 is worth your consideration. What makes this different is the convenience it brings. With the AA battery, they are saying that it can sit for up to 15 years with the included battery and maintain the charge. That may be overstated, but even at 5 years, that makes this a good idea. They have included a water proof bag to hold it in. And given the current disasters with rain getting everything wet, this makes it ready as part of your disaster kit.

The SpareOne works out of the box to call 911. But that is where it stops. If you want to use it to make regular phone calls, you are going to have to add a GSM capable sim card. For those of us on Verizon, you will have to purchase one as your sim will not work. There have been some suggestions to purchase a GoPhone and use that sim card. That could work, but adds to the expense. You might be better off purchasing a phone where you just add minutes to it for a base price instead of the SpareOne. Then you only have to make sure that there are enough minutes on it when an emergency happens.

The other feature for the SpareOne is a feature that will respond to someone sending you a text message. It will reply to them automatically saying that cannot receive text messages. This is because there is no screen with the SpareOne to conserve battery life. In today's world of Social Media, the lack of an interface to text message is a huge draw back. I doubt there are few countries around the world where text messages is not a concern in an emergency. This single lacking may be the deciding factor for many as phones have long since moved beyond being used for voice and now have a larger usage for communicating via data with texting and interfaces to the web with apps.

Take a look at the SpareOne and decide for yourself as to whether it meets your needs. Or you might be better off getting something like the Eton FRX3 which can charge up your phone. If comes with a solar panel or a hand crank to keep its internal battery charged up.