Yep, I have an iPhone which I immediately wrapped up in a Mophie battery case. No where near as robust as my Nokia which landed on asphalt more times than I can count on my fingers. It was still working fine the day I "upgraded" to a Moto folder.

That said, if you think you may ever need to do any celestial navigation, Apps are available for the iPhone which can not only help you find the stars, but also crunch the numbers. If you don't have a sextant, the iPhone's internal gyro and display can imitate one -- that's another App. get a real sextant

Has anyone tried the aa chargers for cell phone? I've seen 1 aa and 2 aa battery styles

TeacherRO...I tried my Goal Zero Guide 10 (4 AA) pack and works well with my old Motorola Razr (USB to miniUSB)...have not tried the 1 and 2 cell versions...

I have an Energizer-branded 2xAA charger for iPhones in each of our BOBs. They work well. I haven't used them enough to see how much of a charge you would get but I'd expect you'd get somewhere around 2/3rds of a full charge out of a pair of Energizer Ultimate Lithium primaries. I wouldn't recommend a single AA version for a smartphone.

Other than as a customer, I have no affiliation with Apple or Energizer.

I'm in the market for a new phone after about 6 years of having the same phone, a Treo 700, original battery. It has worked fine on the tops of ski resorts, such as Heavenly, Snowbird, and Steamboat. It has been a good run. I doubt the phones today will have that longevity and ruggedness. I'm going to miss this phone.

Anyway, I'm basing my decision on the carrier first. I'm probably going with Verizon. If the intent is to have an abnormally rugged phone, there are only one or two options for each carrier. I personally don't need a phone that I can drop kick into a river. My options are open. I'm fine with buying the comprehensive insurance and treating the phone with normal care.

Not surprisingly, a phone I would have selected in January 2012 would not have been my choice today in May 2012. The technology is moving so fast. Currently, I want a phone on Verizon, operating with Android 4.0, virtual keyboard, access to 4G network, not huge. Now, there is the Samsung Nexus. It almost fits this criteria, except it's too big. Also, I don't like the 2-year contract in order to get a good deal. I'm probably going to get a used phone from Craig's List so I can avoid the contract.

Samsung Nexus is running the newer Android 4.0. Will my life be OK without this operating system?

I have a 2AA USB Charger that has multiple connects for Cell Phones. I bought it at Interstate Battery, and it works great for charging up my cell phone - and it fits in my pocket if I know I am going to be out all day and using my phone alot away from AC Power.

However, I just purchased one of these:

Opteka BP-SC4000 Ultra Thin Solar Powered High Capacity (4000mAh) Backup Battery and Charger for Cell Phones and Ipads.

This little gem has an internal battery that will charge my Cell phone up about three times over, and will charge my Ipad to 50% (about five hours heavy use).

It's about $25 on Amazon.

It also has a built in Solar Panel to charge the internal battery, but it really requires direct sunlight to charge in any kind of meaningful time. It's lightweight and I keep in in backpack.

4.0.3 is available as update for galaxy s2 (I'm running it now), so that's not a problem. Although mind you galaxy s2 in u.s. isn't the same as international version, hardware is different. Not a problem if you just use it as a regular phone, but if you are messing with the OS it's important to note which phone is the software intended for.

If you want to sign a contract however, s3 is only a month or two out, 1.4 ghz quad core and 720HD screen.

I haven't seen this particular unit myself, but other super-inexpensive ones that I have seen and purchased didn't last very long. While the appeal of solar is great, I've chosen to carry a rechargeable battery that I need to top up every month or two with AA-powered chargers as the final backup.

With all due respect for all the great opinions in this thread, but in a survival situation, battery life is an issue and from what I can see, the smart"er"phones are battery hogs.

I'm using an iPhone-4S and the first thing I bought was a Mophie Juice Pack Plus Case and Rechargeable Battery. It functions as both case and as an external battery that is always plugged into the iPhone. I keep a charging cable in the truck so I can top it up when I'm driving. Fortunately, it seems to be fine to leave these plugged in all the time.