Portable Power Banks

Mophie Juice Pack Plus for iPhone 5 Packs a Bigger Whallop

If you have an iPhone 5, then you already know that there are times when the battery can be just a little bit lacking. Mophie has long been one of our preferred ways to keep our iPhones going, and with this latest addition to their power arsenal — the mophie juice pack plus — things just got a little bit better for us iPhone users. How so? It packs enough juice to double the iPhone 5’s battery life with one charge, and there is no need to slip your phone in and out of its case to charge, because the mophie juice…


Mophie Juice Pack Air for iPhone 5 Review

Over the past couple of weeks we’ve looked at a number of different solutions for keeping your iPhone 5 up and running; we’ve looked at the PoP’n Charge battery, the mophie juice pack helium, and, most recently, reviewed the PowerSkin Battery Case for iPhone 5. This time out we are going to take a look at another battery case from mophie and then, in the next few days, offer a side-by-side compare and contrast of these different solutions. The mophie juice pack air for iPhone 5 is a familiar case to anyone who has used any of mophie’s juice pack battery cases. The formfitting mophie juice…


PowerSkin PoP’n Battery Review – It Should Be in Your Gear Bag

We’ve said it over and over and over again — battery life is the Achilles Heel of today’s mobile devices. Speeds have improved, screen resolution and size have too; battery technology has, unfortunately, not kept pace. The result is that many of use have to either carry our wall adapter and charger cable or an external battery. And there are some people, me for example, who carry both. These days I’m carrying the PowerSkin PoP’n battery in my jacket and another battery in my gear bag. Here’s why the PowerSkin PoP’n battery is so useful. The PowerSkin PoP’n battery has an…


Mophie Juice Pack Helium for iPhone 5 Review

I truly wish smartphone battery technology would improve to the point that companies like mophie would not be needed. Unfortunately for us- and fortunately for companies like mophie- I don’t see that happening any time soon. That’s why there is a huge potential market for the new mophie juice pack helium. The mophie juice pack helium is 13% thinner than any of the company’s previous iPhone battery cases and adds 1500mAh of additional battery to the current generation power-sucking iPhone. The company was kind enough to send one for review. Let’s take a look and see if this $79.95 battery…


Mophie Juice Pack Pro for iPhone 4/S Review

Tough on your iPhone 4/S? Prone to drops and breaks, and your slim case just isn’t cutting it? Want longer power for your iPhone? If you said yes to any of these questions, you might want to consider taking a gander at the Mophie Juice Pack Pro. Designed to exceed the U.S. military’s MIL-STD 810G specifications, barring any full submersion in liquid, the Mophie Juice Pack Pro will keep your iPhone safe and secure under most conditions. While lacking complete immersion protection, the case will protect your device from rain and splashes, sand and dust, vibration and shocks, as well as drops…


Just Mobile Gum Max Backup Battery Review

In the first post of this two-part series, we looked at the Just Mobile Gum Plus backup battery. (Read the review, here.) It provides 5200 mAh of battery life and lets you charge your iPhone a number of times. The Gum Plus is small and light enough for you to easily throw the battery into your gadget bag and carry it all the time. But what if you REALLY need extra battery life? What if you have an iPhone and an iPad you need to keep charged? What if you can’t be sure you’ll be near an outlet at all…


Just Mobile Gum Plus Back Up Battery Review

One of the main challenges for those of us who attend CES, is making sure our mobile devices stay charged. Year after year we find that, half way through the day, we are scrambling to find somewhere to plug in and repower. Not. This. Year. No, this year is going to be different; this year we are going to carry enough backup batteries to easily make it through the day. (Yeah, I know we said that last year but, this year, we mean it.) I reached out to our friends at Just Mobile, and asked if they might be willing…


PowerStick+ Backup Battery with 4GB of storage and Gear Diary Branding Review

CES is coming up quickly, and we’re making lists of the gear we’ll be bringing. When PowerStick reached out and told us about some of their upcoming products, we knew we wanted to spend some time with them in Las Vegas. And when they offered to brand a couple of their PowerStick+ backup batteries with the Gear Diary logo … well, that was an offer we couldn’t refuse. After all, the PowerStick+ packs in a 2300mAh battery AND 4, 8 or 16GB of storage into a small package that easily slips into a pocket or gear bag. Let’s take a look….


Mophie Juice Pack for Samsung Galaxy SIII Hands-On Review

If there is one constant in life, it is that portable electronics don’t ever have enough battery life. With each new product we get new features that beg for more power, so regardless of what the manufacturers do to extend battery life … our usage always seems to keep up! Enter Mophie, a company that has had great success making iPhone battery cases for several years. Now they are branching out with their first non-iPhone case, for the hot-selling Samsung Galaxy SIII. Mophie sent me one to check out – let’s take a look! The Hype: Get the most out…


My Hurricane Sandy Survival Gear

I started this post prior to losing power Monday night. In the middle of writing it, the power went out … and it stayed out until late Thursday night. We had no heat or electric; because we are on a well and septic system, we had no water. We had no internet and no phones either, since I had insisted we get rid of our landline a few years ago (Oops!). We, however, were among the lucky ones. We had no property damage, and the two trees that came down fell as perfectly as if I had actually planned the…


First Look at the myCharge Portable Power Bank 6000

Things are winding down at CES 2012, which was nice for Francis and me, as we were able to walk around more freely due to less traffic and spend more quality time with some vendors. Luckily for us, we were able to stop by and visit our friends from myCharge and PowerBag. We have reviewed the PowerBag Messenger and PowerBag Backpack in the past, and Dan mentioned how useful a PowerBag can be. They also have a great brand called myCharge, which is a set of portable batteries for recharging mobile devices, including iOS and Android devices. The team at…


Mophie and Rocketfish (Best Buy) Issue External Battery Pack Recalls

Two recalls just crossed my inbox; these may be products that you all own, so please check: The first item is the Mophie iPod Touch Rechargeable External Battery Case (shown above); it’s being recalled due to a burn hazard. If you have one of these, check to see if your serial number  has the first five alphanumeric characters of TR113 through TR120. Cases that fall in between those numbers are affected by the recall. WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should…


Yoobao Power Bank 4400mAh External Battery Review

We recently looked at the Yoobao Power Bank battery. It’s a beast and has a huge capacity that can keep your device or devices going all day long. That Power Bank isn’t the only capacity that the company is offering, however. They also offered this smaller 4400 mA hour battery, and while it is smaller, it has the same great features. In fact, when the power in my home went out again the other day, this battery stepped in and saved the day. Let’s take a look at it.


PhoneSuit Primo Power Core Rechargeable Battery Pack for Tablets and Phones Review

Electronic devices always seem to run out of power at the most inopportune times, don’t they? Figuring out ways to keep those devices powered for as long as they are needed is key. Whether you are a regular road warrior or simply away from the office for the day, if you aren’t going to be near an outlet or power port, and if you carry multiple devices that will require energy doses at random times, carrying a portable power supply is the best option. Many times, these power supplies can best be described as bricks.


Review: Tekkeon TekCharge MP1860A Dual Port Power Pack

Of all the commercials that Apple has run the one that ticked me off the most involved the iPhone 4 and its battery life. Yes, Apple ran an ad telling us how amazing the battery life of the iPhone 4 is and, while it is BETTER than other phones there really is no smartphone I have used that I would say has “great” battery life. That is the reason I still need to carry an external battery with me wherever I go. There are many out there but the one I am currently carrying comes from Tekkeon and I am…


The Mili Power King P18 External Battery Review

Word spread yesterday that Apple might be looking to radically change the makeup of the batteries they use and, if this rumor bears fruit, have batteries in their devices that last much much longer. Just imagine how great it would be to have an iPhone that gets a few DAYS of runtime!? Unfortunately it is just a rumor. Moreover, while such advances would be great they do nothing for us as we sit her using the current devices available to us. For that we need external batteries and, as the saying goes, bigger is better. We’ve looked at a few…


Review: i.Sound Portable Power Max 16000 mAh External Battery

Our mobile devices have become more powerful. The screens have become brighter and crisper. Our reliance on such devices has exploded. And battery technology seems to have hardly improved. Often times the best you can do to get longer battery life is to just increase the size and capacity of the battery. It is not a great option but it is what it is. Battery life was a huge issue at CES once again this year. As a result, since getting home we have gone in search of large, high-capacity batteries that would have kept our devices juiced with ease….



The BatteryGeek 130Wh External Battery Pack Review

I have had my MacBook Pro for about 6 months now, and for the most part I have been very happy with it. The one issue that has been with it from the beginning is battery life. While it may be quite a powerful laptop, the 2.5hrs battery life (I have seen less more than once) is just plain slack. Due to the design of the MBP an extended battery isn’t really practical either as it would be a rather awkward hump in the middle of the laptop. There is a solution however. It might not be the most elegant…


The Datexx ULTRABattery Rechargeable USB Power Bank Review

It never fails – I’ll either get caught on a flight with no power outlet under my seat, or I’ll be stuck somewhere with no power outlet and a device with a dwindling battery. Because of this I am always on the lookout for products that will help manage or extend my battery life, which is why I was interested in reviewing the Datexx ULTRABattery Rechargeable USB Power Bank. Measuring 3.9″ tall x 2.4″ wide x 0.8″ thick and weighing 5.7 ounces, the ULTRABattery is housed in a pearly white plastic casing which feels quite solid in hand and does…