I had never seen anything quite like it. As someone who lived in Central Florida for years, hurricanes are a familiar hardship, but the worst I'd ever experienced wasn't a fraction of the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Helene. And Florida is different from the mountains of Asheville, which I've called home for the past decade — and no one here was prepared for what Hurricane Helene would do to our mountain community.
I had just gotten home by the skin of my teeth from a trip to San Francisco for Meta Connect 2024 (where I tested the compelling Quest 3S) on one of the last flights to make it out of Atlanta. It's enough of a miracle that I made it home before the worst of the storm kicked in, but another entirely that the planes were flying at all. Normal thunderstorms have delayed me on countless trips, yet here we were, flying just north of a powerful Category 4 hurricane!
I'm still without power or running water as I write this, but a few important pieces of technology have made life just a little bit easier during this time of crisis. From the Motorola Razr Plus 2024, which had a better signal than any other phone in my extensive repertoire of review devices, to little comforts like the joy of a Boox e-reader at night or the soft glow of the Nest Protect in my hallway, these few gadgets gave me the sense of connection and normalcy that I sorely needed.
Keeping a line open
The chaos started around 4:45 AM on Friday, September 27, 2024, when our power first went off. We awoke with a start at the distinct sound of a tree falling, followed by a house-shaking thud. After figuring out it wasn't a tree from our property, we had a few minutes of peace until more trees started coming down, and we knew there was no going back to sleep.
Dawn brought a fresh wave of terror, knocking down more power poles, one of which leaned threateningly toward the chicken coop. It's still leaning as I write; I hope Duke Energy can get to it before things get worse.
What followed were just a few hours of connection to the modern world before we lost all the amenities we were used to: The power was already out, water from the faucet was slowing, and the phone connection kept going in and out. But while I struggled to get messages through to loved ones, friends, and co-workers over the next few hours, my wife's Motorola Razr Plus 2024 held strong.
The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 was the only phone among dozens to get a consistent signal
Neighbors came over asking us if we had cell signal, and while I tried many phones in my possession, all of them were like my neighbors' iPhones and Galaxies—none of which could get a message in or out. My wife was not only able to send a message to the family of an elderly neighbor to let them know he was safe but could also make a few phone calls, one of which was to my dad, who lives deeper in the mountains and actually had to climb one just to get any sort of reception.
By mid-day, all cell reception was gone—even for her phone—but had it not been for that Motorola Razr, precious few of our friends and family would know we were safe for days. After the third day, when we started to get phone reception back, the only phone in the house that got anywhere near a reliable connection was the Razr. I know from years of review experience that Motorola phones often have the best signal strength of any other manufacturer, but it wasn't until this dire situation that I would find myself truly appreciating this phone's strengths.
Keeping the fun going
We've been extremely sparing with electronics use since there's no power at all, but it's still nice to play a game of Minecraft with my son for a short break during the day. Plus we've got a handful of flashlights and reading lights that illuminate our evenings while we walk around to amend our candle usage.
We've also got a handful of e-readers at home, from the Kindle Oasis to several different Onyx Boox readers that have been invaluable at night. The Onyx Boox Page is my personal favorite, because it's a rather "Goldilocks" size and weight. It's not as small as the Palma but not as big and heavy as some of the company's tablets.
Having a safe, eye-friendly backlight means we can read and keep entertained after the sun goes down without draining a flashlight battery or other potentially crucial light source.
Another device that has come in handy at night is the Nest Protect smoke alarm in my hallway. While it's primarily a smoke and CO2 alarm, its best passive function is as a nightlight in the hallway thanks to its backup battery. Considering there are no other lights right now, it's great to have this, even if I have no idea how long its battery will last.
Finally, there's the wonderful Honor MagicPad 2 I'm currently typing on. I love my job and consider writing a hobby that I get paid for, so it's been soothing to still be able to write things and not have to worry about battery. This tablet is remarkably battery efficient: It's lasted for days without a charge despite regular usage. I've got the keyboard cover case and the Magic Pen, which makes it great for productivity and entertainment alike.
Charge it up
Obviously, all of these require battery power, and two devices helped me keep everything charged.
I've got two Anker Prime batteries, each of which contains a massive 27,500mAh of reserve power. Not only is that capacity immense—roughly five phone batteries worth—but these chargers automatically select the most optimal charging speed for any device I connect. That even includes phones like the OnePlus 12, which uses a mostly proprietary charging method. The Anker Prime still charges it from zero to full in just over 30 minutes. It's the best Anker power bank I have.
The second is the handy Viture One dock for the Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck. It's a 10,000mAh bank, so while it's not quite as hefty as the Anker Prime, it's specifically designed with gaming devices in mind and has kept things a little more fun during all the downtime.
We also have a bird feeder with a smart home camera nested inside that charges with a solar panel mounted on our deck. While this charger has been great at keeping the camera powered infinitely, it doesn’t provide enough power to charge a phone or other more powerful device adequately.
On the bright side, my solar-powered Ring lights around the house work independently, so we can still walk around the yard at night and have some semblance of security before we eventually get power back.
Survival power
After this catastrophic incident, I've been thinking a lot about what other sorts of devices would help me get through something like it again. I'll spend time on Amazon looking up ideas once this is all over—and I'll order emergency and camping supplies on Prime Day on October 8 and 9—but I'd love to hear from our readers! Do you have a favorite gadget that gets you through camping trips or even a worst-case scenario like this hurricane?
Anything that can make something like this better is a gadget I'm willing to spend money on. Whether that's a water purifier, a camping stove, a portable fire pit, or something else you think would make life easier during hard times, I want to hear about it! Drop a comment below and let me know, and maybe together, we can help someone else out if they're stuck in a disaster, like I have been.
It's going to be an extremely long road to recovery here, but any semblance of normalcy at this time is something worth vying for.
