- 10000mAh Lithium Ion Rechargeable Battery
- Dual USB Charging Ports 2.1 Amp
- LED Charge Status Indicators
- Rapid Charging Technology Built In
- Sleek Design
Now that we're seeing the beginnings of the first true 4G mobile networks, smartphones and tablets are becoming an increasingly integral part of many people's daily lives. Whereas it's pretty commonplace to sit down somewhere with your laptop plugged in while you work, modern tablets and smartphones allow us to do our computing and gaming on-the-go. Even with the advances in battery technology and power-saving LED displays, it's tough for the average user to make it through a full day on their mobile device without running out of juice.
Enter devices like this -at 5000mAh, it's got enough power to completely charge most smartphones 2-3 times. Even running 4G and watching streaming videos on your phone, you can comfortably be away from the charger for a couple days without having to worry. It'll also give you about a 75% boost on your tablet battery (iPad 2 battery is just shy of 7000 mAh).
This device is fairly portable -a little bulkier than a kit-kat bar -and should fit easily into your purse or backpack... I wouldn't really want to carry it in my pocket, but I guess it'd fit fair easily into a zippered jacket pocket or something. Once you add in the necessary cable, though, it can start getting sorta bulky.
Speaking of bulk, one thing that sorta bugged me about this device was the proprietary charging cable. So many devices nowadays are mini-USB. It's nice having a standard plug. Why, then, do you have to use some weird DC adapter to charge this portable battery? It already comes with a mini-USB cable for use with smartphones and such -just let it charge with that! Since this device must be charged using the proprietary USB-to-DC plug, if you happen to lose it, you're done. Sorta sucks. For this reason (and for the added portability) I'd prefer to stick with a smaller charger like the Belkin F8M158tt Power Pack 1000. Sure, it doesn't have quite the same capacity, but how often are you really going to be needing several days' worth of portable charge on your smartphone in between opportunities to plug it into a wall outlet or USB port?
Anyway, this is a decent device. It comes with a whole range of adapters that allow you to plug it into your smartphone, normal phone iPad / iPod, etc. It's got great capacity but suffers from being a bit bulkier than lower-capacity battery units and a proprietary charge cable. While this could be a good workhorse for iPad users, I'm thinking of these types of devices as being primarily used to extend the life of smartphones for folks on-the-go. As such, this is just a little too bulky to be practical for my daily use. I'd give it a higher rating but the DC charge cable bugs me.
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You can read all the specific details pertaining to this device in all the other reviews. I just wanted to correct the misconception that it will only charge via a computer USB port. This is not true. I used my HP Touchpad charger and it worked perfectly. This battery pack requires a charger capable of 1.3 amps. The iPhone charger only is .5amps (I believe). Any aftermarket charger that provides a higher current should work fine.
Only reason I am not making this a 5 star item is for the slight bulkiness of the pack. At the discounted price it can not be beat.
Read Best Reviews of Aluratek APB04F Dual USB 10000mAh External Battery Pack for Charging of Tablets Smartphones eReader Here
My first review of this product would have been an enthusiastic 5 star recommendation; however, having had it for a few months I have found a massive drawback a faulty USB cable. I contacted the company to see if they would send me a new one, and indeed they would if I paid 10 dollars for the cable and 9.95 in shipping. Needless to say I was not amendable to doing that.
When I originally received this item, I didn't use it right off as I never found that I was able to drain my Samsung Infuse cell phone or IPod touch 4th gen completely of batteries and find myself no where near a charger. I kept it in my purse just in case, and I did find myself needing it when I traveled extensively in November for both business and pleasure. First I found myself taking many pictures, and sending those pictures to Facebook, draining my cell of battery when I visited Walt Disney World. I was very lucky to have had this to charge my cell while we took a break for lunch or dinner. Secondly, when I traveled to Denver on business from Boston, I found I had forgotten to charge my IPod before I left. Having this in my purse was a Godsend for the 5 hour flight! After these experiences I became diligent about keeping the external battery pack charged, just in case.
Unfortunately, the USB cable (and its' attachments to charge my cell and Ipod) went dead in January as I was on the road for business again. I was unimpressed by the lack of customer service and how long it took them to get back to me only to tell me that I would have to shell out 20 dollars for a replacement cable. My work around for this is inconvenient, but it works I carry an IPod and USB mini cable with the battery to be able to use it to charge when needed. This is unwieldy, but again it works. The battery still works fabulously, so I will rate this at 3 stars for that, but be aware of the 0 star customer service and usb cable.
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This is a rechargeable battery that you charge up using your computer's USB port. Once it is charged, then you can plug any number of electronic devices into this battery, using the USB port in the battery, to run or charge your device from it. I've used this to charge up my 2nd generation iTouch iPod(r), my iPad2(r), and my Blackberry(r) Tour phone. (Obviously not all at the same time; just one at a time, grin).
When you charge this from your computer, it has 3 blue lights that will light up as it becomes fully charged (1 blue light means it's about 1/3 charged up, 2 lights is 2/3rds). It comes with all the cables to charge the battery from your USB port, and to then charge or run your devices. It does not come with a AC adapter to charge your battery from a wall plug, and it does not come with a 12 volt adapter to charge the battery from your car's 12 volt accessory port (cigarette lighter). To charge/run your device, select the right cable with the right connector for your device, plug it into your device and into the battery, and then there is a button on the batter to push to turn the charging on. While you are running/charging off the battery, the blue lights will tell you about how much battery you have left: 3 lights, full; 2 lights, 2/3rds; 1 light, 1/3rd. I don't have a good way to tell you how many hours this battery will run before you needs to recharge it again, but my experience has been really good. It's not like I have to charge it up each day. I don't use it more than about once a week in an emergency when one of my devices needs a charge. High recommended! The battery is small enough to fit in most pockets, less than 3 inches x 4 inches and about 3/4 inches thick.
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I bought this product reading some of the good reviews and for the price it should have worked too. The first charge went well although it ran out of power just after charging my smartphone only once. That was not a good sign. The next time I tried to charge my cellphone with it, it kept switching off and would need to be turned ON multiple times manually. I give it two stars because of its looks and light-weight design. May be it was my bad luck but i returned it asap.
