Gaming: Portable Chargers

We have all experienced the scenario where you rush out the door, phone in hand, get to work or the pub then the phone rings and oh no!!! The phone goes dead!! You forgot to charge it, now this has happened to me on numerous occasions and yes I know I should learn from my mistakes but in reality we don`t always manage to do that.

To be honest most places have somewhere to charge your devices these days but heavens forbid you end up in a place without one, and then you are screwed my friend, unless you get yourself a portable charger.

I have had a snoop on the interweb thingy and come up with three interesting devices that might ease the burden.

First on my list is The Kissable Lipstick Powerbank looks like a big lipstick, it comes with a protective cover and you can get it in three different styles, the sexy, glamour and innocent.

I am going to stick my neck out here and assume this is predominately aimed at women and because of its relatively small size should fit in any hand bag,(or man bag) you can charge both smart phones and tablets with this one and it has a mini and standard usb connector, you also get a fast charge cable as well.

Fast charge it does well, I used this on my tablet and it was the fastest out of the three I tested.

The one thing I didn`t like about it is once the cover is on there is nowhere for the cable to go which could be a problem. Recharge time for the unit itself is around three hours.

You simply plug in your device and then press the button and off it goes.

Overall it looks good and is well built, simple to use and does the job well, lack of space for the cable is a bit of a let-down though.

Input : 5V ≤1000mA

Output : 5V ≤1000mA

Capacity : 2600 mAh

Discharge time: ≥2-3 Hours

Recharge time: ≥2-3 Hours

Dimensions : 25 x 24 x 100mm

Safety : Short & Surge IC Protection

Price: £29.99

Available from: www.retouchpower.co.uk

Next on my list is made by the same company and again is aimed at women, the Blush compact mirror powerbank comes in three different models, Sexy, glamour and innocent all basically the same just with slight colour modifications.

The Blush compact looks just like a normal compact and even has a mirror, the good thing about this one is there is actually a space for the cable to be stored so it is actually compact!

Again as with the Kissable it’s easy to use, just plug in your device press the button and off it goes

You charge it up by inserting the mico usb into the device and then plug the standard usb into your pc , laptop or wall adaptor, it generally takes a couple of hours to fully charge and you should get a couple of charges out of it.

Tried this with my tablet and it isn`t as fast as a wall charger but does the job in a couple of hours, ideal for an emergency,

This one is more powerful than the kissable but I noticed no difference in charge times really from the kissable.

Nice solid design works well, like the idea of a space for the cable.

Input: 5V ≤1000mA

Output: ≤2000mA

Capacity: 4200mAh

Discharge time: ≥3-4 Hours

Recharge time: ≥3-4 Hours

Dimensions: 70 x 70 x 28mm

Safety: Short & Surge IC Protection

Price: £39.99

Available from: www.retouchpower.co.uk

The third and final item on my list is the Robot Head Portable Charger; this is priciest of the three, based on a popular Japanese character Danbo, this looks like a cardboard robot head but packs a bit of a punch with its 6000mAh battery.

Charging is done via the Usb cable the same as the others, and you can reverse the cable to charge your devices.

Takes a few hours to charge up this one and I managed to get almost two full charges for my tablet from this unit, it’s not as fast as a wall or standard usb charge up but it gets there in the end, I tended to use it like a backup battery most of the time, saves plugging my tablet into the wall and sitting at the end of the sofa for an hour whilst it charges up.

To charge a device you have two usb sockets to choose from so you can charge two devices at once and it will do that just takes a fair bit of time, yet like I said this is ideal as a mini power dock to use when other options aren`t available. Attach your device press the mouth on the robot head and off it goes it will shut itself down after charging as well so no need to keep checking it.

The eyes are the power level indicators and pressing the mouth will tell you the level of charge remaining.

You also get a handy carry bag for the unit, good idea really because there is no storage for the cable.

Overall a good little gadget does the job perfectly and is easily transportable.

Generous 6000mAh capacity

Charges smartphones 2.5 times from flat on a single charge

Also charges tablets and most other USB-powered gadgets

The number 1 selling portable charger in Japan

Small and lightweight – weighs just 140g

Can charge 2 devices simultaneously

Press his mouth and his eyes light up to indicate the remaining power level (Red = under 33%, Orange = 33%-66%, Yellow = 67%-100%)

Automatically shuts down when the device is fully charged

Up to 500 charge cycles

Input: 5V / 1A Micro USB

Output: USB1 5V/1A and USB2 5V/2.1A

Use port 1A for charging and 2.1A for charging tablets

Includes microUSB cable, hessian carrying pouch, user manual

Price: £34.99

Available from www.firebox.com

Summary

These three items are all the same when you break it down, and I do think the Robot Head Charger is the best out of the three, mainly because it has a bigger battery and you can charge two devices at once, the Kissable and the Blush are more a novelty but they still do a decent job and the Kissable is the fastest of the three.