If you are going to carry around a portable USB power bank, it might as well have a retro look and draw some curious looks when you pull it out of your bag.
What is the Hotline 16000 Power Bank?
You may recognize RepliCade and New Wave Toys as we have covered several of their products in the past here in GeekDad like the Tempest X and Street Fighter II RepliCade arcade games and most recently the Charge Machine. Now we can add the Hotline 16000 Power Bank to that list. The Hotline is modeled after one of the very first portable cassette players to take off in the US, the Sony TPS-L2. But instead of slapping in your favorite Air Supply cassette tape and taking listen you can charge your favorite modern device. The Hotline 16000 Power Bank is a portable battery you can use to charge USB-A, micro-USB, USB-C with a cable or even wirelessly for your Qi-enabled devices.
Features & Specifications:
- Charge up to three devices at the same time
- USB 3.0(QC) Port
- USB-C Port
- 10W Wireless Charging for fast charging for Qi-enabled devices
- LED Flashlight
- Push buttons and sliders that slide
- Capacity: 16000 mAh
- Rated Energy: 59.2Wh
- Micro USB input: 5V-2A,9V-2A
- USB output (QC3.0): 5V-3A,9V-2A,12V-1.5A(Max)
- Type-C input & output: 5V-3A,9V-2A,12V-1.5A(Max)
- Wireless output: 10W Max (10W/7.5W/5W)
How I Have Been Using the Hotline 16000 Power Bank
My primary use of the Hotline 16000 Power Bank is to just toss it into my bag when going out of the house so I have a backup battery for my iPhone or iPad. This comes in especially handy when out with my family because they seem to have an innate ability to always leave the house with all of their devices nearly drained of all power. The other use my family has found for it is to hook it up to our Nintendo Switch Pro Controller when it has completely run out of power so we can get a quick hit of Animal Crossing: New Horizons without having to wait for the controller to charge (after all Timmy and Tommy Nook will flat kick you out when it is time to close the store).
As the name implies, the Hotline 16000 Power Bank has 16000 mAh of capacity, which means it packs quite the punch. You would have to have an outing with a very large family full of completely drained devices to go through all that power. And speaking of charging devices for a large family, you are able to charge up to 3 devices with it at the same time (assuming one is USB-A, one is USB-C and one is using the wireless pad). But with great power comes great…weight. As you can imagine a 16000 mAh battery is going to have some heft associated with it. However, the weight has the added benefit of making the device feel more authentic and sturdy in your hand. It really feels like you are picking up an 80’s era Walkman.
Verdict
The folks at RepliCade and New Wave Toys have done it again. They have managed to blend realistic retro geekery with modern functionality and the result is a very useful high-capacity portable battery in a “Walkman-like” body. They left no detail out as the buttons and sliders move and feel just like the clunky devices from that amazing decade.
Pro:
- Realistic reproduction of the original Sony TPS-L2
- Large battery capacity
- The ability to charge multiple (up to 3) devices at once
- Has a built-in flashlight!
Cons:
- Heavy
- Bulky for a portable battery unit
The RepliTronics Hotline 16000 Power Bank is available now for $39.99 from both New Wave Toys and Amazon.
Bonus Tip: Why is this power bank device called the “Hotline?” It is homage to the original hotline feature. The original Sony TPS-L2 had two headphone jacks so two people could listen to music as long as you had two pairs of headphones. The TPS-L2 had a button called the “hotline” button that when pressed would activate a small microphone that would allow one person to talk to the other person over the music being listened to by both users.
Disclaimer: I was provided a Hotline 16000 review unit for the purpose of this review, but RepliTronics had no input into the review content.
Please note: This post contains affiliate links.
