Yes, I know there are larger batteries out there, but they aren’t meant to be used for juicing up your phones or mobile devices. And of the dedicated portable batteries available for recharging phones et al, all of those only let you plug in USB cables. But what if you had something that, in a pinch, you could also use to plug in your laptop (or almost any other device with a standard AC plug)? Would that be useful?
The ChargeAll does that, in spades. Consider that the iPhone 6’s battery has a capacity of 1,810 mAh (milli-Ampere-hours). The largest ChargeAll has a capacity of 18,000 mAh (or, to be an engineer about it, 18 Ampere-hours). That means you could re-charge your iPhone 6 nearly TEN TIMES from the ChargeAll–or a family’s-worth of devices, while on a trip. Oh, and because it has an AC plug, you can also plug your laptop into it, and get a two to four more hours out of it when there’s no outlet handy. Obviously what you plug into it, and how much it draws, determines the actual extra time available.
Compared to other portable batteries, it’s large, but not so large that keeping it in your messenger bag with the rest of your tech is a problem It’s not unlike carrying an extra moleskine. And the piece of mind, if you’re on the road for work or on a family trip where it seems everyone else is looking to you, as the geek parent, to keep their devices running, is invaluable.
.[ChargeTech supplied a review sample for this piece.]
Hmm, it’s a bit of a stretch labeling this post a “review” given there are no statements about how it actually performs…
Hmm… perhaps you’re right, I didn’t state explicitly how it works. It charges things. It charges my iPhone 6 without blinking. I’ve run my MacBook Pro (2011) at full screen brightness off it for 3 hours, and not emptied it. The actual use is pretty simple (charge it up, turn it on, plug things into it) and it works as advertised. It’s hard to go much deeper for this level of review. I’ll follow up if it shows any signs of slowing down after a few months.
Or… you can get this (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OVBP8GK/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) for $40. It won’t charge your MacBook, but it’ll charge your phone three or four times and it will charge a Nexus 7 twice… and it fits in my back pocket.
Oh, absolutely. Somewhat of a different use case, but perfectly good in its own right.
The smaller of the 2 versions only has 1 USB port. And the small one is big and heavy for it’s size. Cumbersome to carry around, more for the sheer weight of it. Not a great travel companion. On a full charge, it doesn’t fully charge my MBP as they claim it does.
There are much better options. Mophie, Incase, iSound just to name a few. All of which are less expensive, smaller, lighter and in a few cases, more powerful and do what they say.
Originally bought 2 when they were on Indiegogo. Only received one. WORST customer service ever. I’ve never dealt with a company who skirted responsibility like this one. Poor follow up. Very disappointing.