Planning my first solo POTA activation and trying to keep power consumption down. I've heard about Ham2K POLO being free and good for POTA/SOTA logging, but also seen mentions of HAMRS. Anyone using these apps and can comment on battery usage? Started with paper logging but that gets tedious when you're making lots of contacts. Looking for something that won't kill my phone battery during a long activation.

POLO by Ham2k is completely free and works great - I prefer HAMRS but that costs money. Both are pretty light on battery but POLO seems to use slightly less power in my experience. Just keep your phone in airplane mode with GPS only when you need it.

I've used HAMRS on probably 50+ activations and it's been solid. Works on my iPad too which is nice for bigger screen logging, though POLO is phone-only. The purchase is worth it IMO for the features.

You can always use pen and paper like I did when starting POTA and SOTA. Bring a small backup battery pack regardless of which app you choose - learned that the hard way on a 6-hour activation!