Solar Chargers - G1 Accessories

Has anyone bought a solar charger for the G1? I'm going camping for 2 weeks soon and have been looking at the chargers but not sure about them. Anybody have good experiences with any of them? Satisfied with the performance and charge time? I've a 2600 mAh seidio battery.

Solar Powered Charger
Well, I was browsing around one of the numerous Chinese websites that sell random no-brand parts and accessories, and stumbled upon this:
http://www.davismicro.com/products/product_1950.htm
It is a solar powered charger, and based on the specs, it says it can charge a RAZR V3. If I am not mistaken, charging specifications on the RAZR are similar to that of the G1. Any ideas? I couldn't use this, living in Oregon I would probably have to put this on the roof surrounded by mirrors.

dont get it. i got one from best buy and it sucked. never chared my phone once.

BestBuy sells this kinda stuff??

Awesome this is whats needed

I wouldn't bothewr with something cheap like that.
A Friend in OZ got something very much like that and it was rubbish and just wouldn't charge anything so he got one like mine.
A freeloader: http://www.hookarama.com/items/1925_1216480SIL
There's probably better sellers than that and it's a bit more expensive than the cheap ones but you get what you pay for.
Tha advantage of this one is that it has a built in battery and removeable solar panels so once it's charged it's battery you can remove the panels and just take the little battery pack with you.
Charges the G1 just fine too!
Phil

http://www.google.com/products?q=Solar+mobile+charger&oe=utf-8&hl=en&scoring=p
Quite a few.
-bZj

Free Loader
I have a Free Loader Solar Charger, and this is my experience:
The device itself is a couple of centimetres longer than the G1 and the same width/depth and well designed, it comprises of a battery and two solar panels that click onto the battery. It come with 12 different adapters making it very versatile.
The two small solar panels that attach to the device are very small and it takes about 2 days of (admittedly dull) English sunshine for it to reach a full charge. this is pretty impractical.
I purchased a larger solar panel produced by the same company, it has a USB port, so if you know how you could put a usb port on any solar panel and use it to charge this battery via traditional USB to mini USB. On a sunny day this larger panel took only 3 hours to reach a full charge. Making the device very practical and usable.
However even a full charge of this battery achieved via charging from computer USB will only power the G1 up to 60% battery level.
This is purely anecdotal but I get the feeling that this charge then runs down quicker than when i charge direct from USB or mains. Is this just me or could there be an explanation for this?
I use it by charging via the computer and then taking it along as a second battery. In an emergency a few hours of sunshine even with dull light will give just enough for a phone call.

Related

Solar Power

Hi everybody,
Since the TP2 is using a whole lot more power than my old HTC Universal, I am looking for a decent Solar charging solution for on my bike.
TomTomnavigator + GPS use more than 500mA (I mean when I put in a car charger of this type hte phone says "insufficient current to blablabl")
I surfed the net, but decent info is hard to find about this specific problem. I mean I want to plug my phone in the solar charger and KNOW that it will give sufficient powersupply to charge the battery (or at least keep it at the same level)
Anybody an idea or maybe a link to a DECENT site (with CORRECT technical info)? Commercial sites with the best product ever, i have seen enough until you test it!
thanx to all!
Kjoere
I have one of these that I got on Amazon for 80 bucks and I love this thing! It also acts as a spare battery, and you can adjust the voltage. I brought it with me when I went camping. It's definitely worth it.
http://www.icetechusa.com/catalogue-solar-167464-spec.html
I've tried several of the cheap Chinese solar chargers and also a Solio, and they are all crap
Solar charger need direct sunlight. If cloudy, they can take a few days (daylight days not 24hr days!) to charge. So unless you live on the African Savanah where it will charge in 7 hours, then you will have a long wait.
I put my Solio on my window cill in January this year, and by the midle of February it got a full charge. I kid you not
You are probably much better off with a external power pack that uses 1 or 2 standard AA batteries or a minimum 2000mAh lithium battery
This solar 'card' from Swiss batteries looks interesting.
A 1mm thick bendable, weather-proof card of more efficient modern solar cell technology, with a claimed [up to] 40% greater efficiency than other cells. A portable battery option (as with the power monkey ) is also available.
And check out the solar bags on their site too!
PaulusUK said:
You are probably much better off with a external power pack that uses 1 or 2 standard AA batteries or a minimum 2000mAh lithium battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where might I get an external power pack with more than one AA battery? I can only find 1xAA packs, and I can't imagine a little old alkaline AA could produce NEARLY enough current at 5v to charge our beefy phones. Not for any amount of time, anyway, and not without heating up to what I would consider dangerous levels...
godefroi said:
Where might I get an external power pack with more than one AA battery? I can only find 1xAA packs, and I can't imagine a little old alkaline AA could produce NEARLY enough current at 5v to charge our beefy phones. Not for any amount of time, anyway, and not without heating up to what I would consider dangerous levels...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid too that alcaline AA's won't do the job pretty well, although rechargeable NiMh could be worth a try
For outdoor-recharge, I'm using this general USB-charger featuring a rechargeable 2200 mAh 18650 LiOn battery:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18883
It has the advantage that you can change the 18650 easily, thus enabling you to take several ones with you for long voyages
MeCry
godefroi said:
Where might I get an external power pack with more than one AA battery? I can only find 1xAA packs, and I can't imagine a little old alkaline AA could produce NEARLY enough current at 5v to charge our beefy phones. Not for any amount of time, anyway, and not without heating up to what I would consider dangerous levels...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the best on I have found
Its a massive 3400mAh with a 5v 700ma output so will charge most phones and other gadgets no problem. It is just a bit smaller than the TP2 so is easy to carry around in a pocket
I got mine off ebay for less money - same unit but a different manufacturer. AFAIK, these are commonly rebranded, but look for the shape and the 3400 mah spec.
Most of the other Chinese ones from places like Dealextreme are lower capacity
I was really hoping for something using standard AA (maybe NiMH, 4 of those would be 4.8V).
In fact, 2xAA NiMH should be able to deliver the sort of current we're talking about here, right?
And, sure enough, Here is someone that's built exactly what I want. Who wants to assemble me one?
One product springs to mind: The powermonkey-eXplorer
https://powertraveller.com/iwantsome/primatepower/powermonkey-explorer/
thanx roger
I got an Energizer 2xAA charger, and it works on my TP2 absolutely fine. You need to use good quality batteries in it, but it's fairly compact and keeps the battery topped up while I'm out using the GPS with no car nearby!!!
http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl...a=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4
gringolian said:
I got an Energizer 2xAA charger, and it works on my TP2 absolutely fine. You need to use good quality batteries in it, but it's fairly compact and keeps the battery topped up while I'm out using the GPS with no car nearby!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Energizer says it needs Lithium batteries (which I think are 1.7v), have you tried with NiMH perhaps (which are 1.2v)? I'd think it'd figure the batteries were empty even when they were newly charged.
godefroi said:
Energizer says it needs Lithium batteries (which I think are 1.7v), have you tried with NiMH perhaps (which are 1.2v)? I'd think it'd figure the batteries were empty even when they were newly charged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got standard Duracell 1.5V alkaline batteries in it right now, and it charges it just fine! I think energizer say that to make you buy their ridiculously expensive lithium batteries!!

Motorola Store has Photon Batteries

Just posted this on another forum. Just bought one and used coupon code THANKYOU for 10% off.
http://www.store.motorola.com/Batte...olor_map,price,size_name&searchRank=salesrank
Went on ebay and got 3 batteries and a wall charger for 12 bucks. Had the same for my Epic, they are from Hong Kong, and last about half as long as stock but for money spent, well worth it IMO.
Normally i stick to seidio for aftermarket batteries, but that offer is too good to ignore! thanks for the tip!
They take about 2 weeks to get to you, ground mail from China but used them for a year on my Epic. Great little backups, keep one in the car, one in the office, whereever.
I am still not sure which battery will fit the Photon. Let us know how it works out.
This one claims to be for the Photon and only the Photon, it only recently came out so it should work. It is not one of those that advertises for Atrix/Droid X2/Photon, which as we know the Photon does not share a battery with.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-3X-1500...119425?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item45fc81f7c1
Thanks for that ebay link! Wow 3 batteries and the external charger! I just purchased these and it is worth the gamble for $13. I think it will be okay. Worst case scenerio I also get the Seidio battery and I have this purchase to charge my OEM battery in the external charger
They have them for like every phone, usually 2 not 3, but the 3 is nice insurance for a DOA. Never heard bad about them other then they last about half as long as OEM.
What about those 1950 mAh batteries? Will they fit? They scare me because it does not say mB855 anywhere.
Just to confirm the 3 for 13 ebay batteries do fit and work in the Photon. Can't speak of life yet, i expect about half of stock prob a bit more but well worth it.
I posted this over in android forums but forgot to post it here as well.
I ordered this 3x 1500mAh battery + charger over in ebay.
The package does indeed come from China. The package has the 3 included batteries and the charger box.
Next we have images of the battery in its protective pouch and the battery charger.
Each battery is a 3.7VDC 1500mAh Rechargable Lithium-ion type of battery.
It states as a replacement for the BF5X/MB520/MB525 battery. But I can rest assure that it does fit the Photon.
The charger has retractable prongs to connect to the wall and it also has a usb port which I guess is to connect another device to charge from (like the Photon connected via a usb cable.) There is a nicely soft glow light that is colored red (more like magenta) when the battery needs charging and turns a nice color green when the battery is fully charged. Supposedly the charger box indicates that the charging stops once the battery is full to prevent overcharging, but I have no way of knowing that without a battery tester of some sort.
Here is the view of the light with a pic without flash on.
As I was testing this product, the supplied batteries get charged in about an hour each. Originally, I just inserted one of the batteries into the photon to see if it fit and worked and yes it does fit and charge the phone. But it quickly died since I didn't have it fully charged. Well after a few hours of charging all three batteries, I inserted one of them into the photon and see how long they last.
as for the USB port on the charger, well it does not provide any juice to the Photon via a usb cable. At first I thought it was my cable (previous HTC EVO cable) so I switched it to the official one from Motorola and nothing, zip nada.
At this point, I thought either I had a charging device that had a defective usb port or the port doesn't work at all. So I decided to do one last final test and plug in my Kensington Pocket Battery for Smartphones device (which I highly recommend by the way) into the usb port of the charger and tada, we have power. It charges the Kensington battery pack. But not the Photon via the usb.
Now going back to the battery in the photon, while not as long lasting as the official Motorola HF5X 3.8v 1650mAh battery, it does keep the Photon working long enough for me and until I am able to reach a charging port on long travels outside. And with 3 of them, I really do not have to worry. (So long as they all are charged fully). lol
Overall for the price, $12.90 I really can't complain. True the USB charge port only works for my Kensington but it does charge the 3 supplied batteries as well as the official Motorola one. Small, compact and good for travel.
oh and this image shows the pouch and where it came from as well as the model number of the batteries. As one can see it states it is a replacement for the BF5X Moto battery.
and finally here is another ebayer with a higher rated battery.
TS
We (Sprint) have OEM batteries available as well. They are currently not in any store, but we can direct ship them. They come with 1 OEM battery and the external charger for $49.99
http://shop2.sprint.com/NASApp/onlinestore/en/Action/OSBrowseAccessoriesDetail?categoryRefName=Chargers+%26+Batteries&PHONE_ID=MOTOMB855&selectedAccessoryID=BSM5687&topPageNumber=0&subPageNumber=0 Granted a bit more expensive, but they are still in production and once again, OEM.
notoriouspyro said:
We (Sprint) have OEM batteries available as well. They are currently not in any store, but we can direct ship them. They come with 1 OEM battery and the external charger for $49.99
http://shop2.sprint.com/NASApp/onli...oryID=BSM5687&topPageNumber=0&subPageNumber=0 Granted a bit more expensive, but they are still in production and once again, OEM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How come it says 1700mah I thought ours was 1650
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
here's a link for the current sale of the 1800mah one. I just bought one. Will update once I get it..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-BF5X-180...ccessories&hash=item4aae919049#ht_3638wt_1396
twospirits said:
I posted this over in android forums but forgot to post it here as well.
I ordered this 3x 1500mAh battery + charger over in ebay.
The package does indeed come from China. The package has the 3 included batteries and the charger box.
Next we have images of the battery in its protective pouch and the battery charger.
Each battery is a 3.7VDC 1500mAh Rechargable Lithium-ion type of battery.
It states as a replacement for the BF5X/MB520/MB525 battery. But I can rest assure that it does fit the Photon.
The charger has retractable prongs to connect to the wall and it also has a usb port which I guess is to connect another device to charge from (like the Photon connected via a usb cable.) There is a nicely soft glow light that is colored red (more like magenta) when the battery needs charging and turns a nice color green when the battery is fully charged. Supposedly the charger box indicates that the charging stops once the battery is full to prevent overcharging, but I have no way of knowing that without a battery tester of some sort.
Here is the view of the light with a pic without flash on.
As I was testing this product, the supplied batteries get charged in about an hour each. Originally, I just inserted one of the batteries into the photon to see if it fit and worked and yes it does fit and charge the phone. But it quickly died since I didn't have it fully charged. Well after a few hours of charging all three batteries, I inserted one of them into the photon and see how long they last.
as for the USB port on the charger, well it does not provide any juice to the Photon via a usb cable. At first I thought it was my cable (previous HTC EVO cable) so I switched it to the official one from Motorola and nothing, zip nada.
At this point, I thought either I had a charging device that had a defective usb port or the port doesn't work at all. So I decided to do one last final test and plug in my Kensington Pocket Battery for Smartphones device (which I highly recommend by the way) into the usb port of the charger and tada, we have power. It charges the Kensington battery pack. But not the Photon via the usb.
Now going back to the battery in the photon, while not as long lasting as the official Motorola HF5X 3.8v 1650mAh battery, it does keep the Photon working long enough for me and until I am able to reach a charging port on long travels outside. And with 3 of them, I really do not have to worry. (So long as they all are charged fully). lol
Overall for the price, $12.90 I really can't complain. True the USB charge port only works for my Kensington but it does charge the 3 supplied batteries as well as the official Motorola one. Small, compact and good for travel.
oh and this image shows the pouch and where it came from as well as the model number of the batteries. As one can see it states it is a replacement for the BF5X Moto battery.
and finally here is another ebayer with a higher rated battery.
TS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very sweet
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
so glad I purchased this. Just got mine and its awesome for 13
mobilebuddha said:
here's a link for the current sale of the 1800mah one. I just bought one. Will update once I get it..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-BF5X-180...ccessories&hash=item4aae919049#ht_3638wt_1396
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am very interested to know if this works out since the offer seems to be for another phone.
Thanks.
I noticed there's a US seller with a 1950mAh package... any thoughts on this one?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3x-1950mAh-BF6X-Battery-Charger-Motorola-Photon-4G-/160653180016?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item2567acfc70
stormygal said:
I noticed there's a US seller with a 1950mAh package... any thoughts on this one?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3x-1950mAh-BF6X-Battery-Charger-Motorola-Photon-4G-/160653180016?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item2567acfc70
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DO NOT BUY THIS! I did and they are steamy Chinese turds. One hour battery life and the charger does not work. I bought Chinese batteries for my EVO that were very adequate. These suck.
Sidewinder7 said:
This one claims to be for the Photon and only the Photon, it only recently came out so it should work. It is not one of those that advertises for Atrix/Droid X2/Photon, which as we know the Photon does not share a battery with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the heads up, big fan of back ups
they're only $12 now re listed

Desk Docks

I bought a desk dock from SmartphonePedia.com
http://smartphonepedia.com/samsung-galaxy-s2-desktop-docking-station-with-battery-charging-slot.html
It's OK but not impressive. It does appear to charge the phone and spare battery together (whether simultaneously I do not know -- I do not have a spare battery yet). Documentation is amusing but not helpful. The fit is snug but pretty easy NOT to get the phone in a charging position (there's a bit of a wiggle/push you need to do).
Samsung has a powered dock here:
http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones-accessories/ECR-D1D3BEGSTA
which serves a different need -- speakers, etc. No comment.
But they also have this:
http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones-accessories/ET-CGPK005GSTA
The nice thing is that for the $50 price you ALSO get a spare battery, which makes it somewhat attractive. What is not so clear is whether it actually charges the phone. The description says:
The SAMSUNG Galaxy SII i777 battery charging station is the perfect way to charge your battery and explore the capabilities of your phone. While your spare battery charges (standard 1650 mA battery included) your phone can sit snugly in the stand at an optimal viewing angle for watching a movie or reading the news. (SAMSUNG wall charger also included).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not found any pictures that show whether there is a USB plug in the channel that holds the phone, all the images are from the back. Local stores have nothing.
Does anyone have this latter, and know if it does indeed charge the phone and spare battery at the same time? I need another dock for my office, and this would be a good way to get a spare battery at the same time -- but I do not want to pay $50 for a setup where I can ONLY charge the battery if I remove it.
It only charges the spare battery. It's a "stand" not a mount or a dock. I had the equivalent product for the Captivate.
Have to say that it's great to never ever have to have your phone plugged in, can just do a quick swap of the batteries. But the battery is improved enough on the SGSII that I don't feel I need a spare.
pdubcramp said:
It only charges the spare battery. It's a "stand" not a mount or a dock. I had the equivalent product for the Captivate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Need to keep looking then.
By the way, the unit at the top (the no-name dock from Smartphonepedia) works very nicely except it doesn't show up as a dock, i.e. it doesn't have the resistor to make it know it is docked. I found a clock I like that senses power connected and that's really good enough for me. Also, if you want to use it by a bedside, you will need black electrical tape to cover over the blue LED that is VERY bright and always on. But it is sturdy, the phone fits snugly, after about 2 times it is easy to insert with one motion. Not a bad arrangement. A 10 cent resistor would have made it much better!
I wish that samsung dock with extra battery was half the price. 50 is too much.
i just got the Samsung one from Newegg... the fit and look is great, but the footprint is a triangle, which can get a little unstable when trying to do things with the phone while docked.
How was the deck?
Which is better Samsung deck or one you bought?
Wanting one for the office, I also bought the EVO desk dock.
It does not appear to trigger docking behavior either, though I have started using the Kaloer clock, and this substitutes nicely, maybe even better.
The EVO dock "feels" better - a little heavier, more solid, prettier. It came labeled for the international version, but it works fine for charging. It has a separate power connection for the spare batter (and two cables supplied), but this is something of a pain -- two cables running across your desk. The dock on my first post at the top does both battery and phone with one cable. Since I don't have a spare battery yet, not a big deal, but it is disappointing of the EVO.
The EVO also has a MUCH more muted LED status light, this one I think would be fine by the bed at night.

Charge on the go

Does anyone know if the charger pack u charge to act as a charger for your phone (when not near electricity)is compatible with the note? I've seen them but i didn't know if they are compatible with the note since it has such a large battery. Also does anyone have a link to one?
Sent from my Galaxy Note
I just bought this Anker one from Amazon. Reviews are almost overwhelmingly positive and I can confirm that it does work on the Note just as well as it works on my Atrix 4G.
http://www.amazon.com/Anker-5600mAh...5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1330474615&sr=1-5
Does the higher the amount of mah on the battery pack equate to numerous recharges for your phone(depending on the phone's battery mah)?
Sent from my Galaxy Note
Yup. It's just shy of three full charges for my Atrix, which has a ~1900mAh battery. Should be two charges for a Note, give or take a little bit.
That's great! I just saw one on amazon with 11200 mah for $69 i think im going to get it.
Sent from my Galaxy Note
How long is the charge time on yours? I've never had one so i don't the slightest idea of how long it could take to charge one.
Sent from my Galaxy Note
I was going to get that one, but it was just too huge. I can slip the Anker 5600 I bought into a jacket or pants pocket with the cable and it's just fine. No problems with portability. Charge time is equal to what it'd be from an AC charger in my experience so far, but I only got mine a few days ago.
I meant wats the charge time of the battery pack?
Sent from my Galaxy Note
Haha...sorry. It was about half-charged when I got it (2/4 indicator lights) and took two hours to charge to four lights.
I got the mycharge ones since the cables are built in. 3Ah and 6Ah depending on my needs (1 or 2 nights). I like them even though they aren't 10Ah monsters.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note
Just ordered the anker. I appreciate the info.
Sent from my Galaxy Note
Does it hold the charge or do you constantly have to recharge it?
Sent from my Galaxy Note
Most portable USB battery chargers do not support the signals that allow the Note to go to high current charge mode. Pins 2 and 3 of the USB connection need to be shorted with a low resistance. The Note senses this and switches on a high charge otherwise, it will stick to a standard USB charge of less than 500ma even if the battery charger can put out 1A.
I bought a Scosche 5000 mah portable battery charger that comes with a special USB adapter designed for the Galaxy Tab. I tested it with my Note. With the adapter, the Note charges in under four hours. Without the adapter, it takes overnight to charge the Note even though the Scosche has a USB port that puts out 2.1A to charge an Ipad.
Staples sells the Scosche battery for $80 but there is a $29 online coupon that is good until 3/5/2012.
Hmm... I have a rechargeable battery from Monoprice that I use with my iPhone 4 but I haven't tried it with my Note yet. It will probably only charge the battery about half way. Monoprice has good cheap rechargeable batteries to charge on the go if anyone is looking for something similar.
After a few more days with the Anker, it charges my Atrix and my Vivid at least as fast as my AC charger. Probably placebo effect, but it honestly feels like it charges it faster.
Why not just carry a couple of extra batteries and get a charging station for them? Seems cumbersome to have to have one of these attached to your device when you need more juice, when swapping out a battery is quick and has an instant full charge...?
welchertc said:
Why not just carry a couple of extra batteries and get a charging station for them? Seems cumbersome to have to have one of these attached to your device when you need more juice, when swapping out a battery is quick and has an instant full charge...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1^^^
If you're gonna carry something anyway you might as well just have a single, spare battery instead of a power pack plus a cable. The Note has such an easy back to pull off and swap. Bing-bang-boom.
kimtyson said:
+1^^^
If you're gonna carry something anyway you might as well just have a single, spare battery instead of a power pack plus a cable. The Note has such an easy back to pull off and swap. Bing-bang-boom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As someone who used to do this exact same thing with the captivate, it's definitely convenient to carry, however the interruption while you take off the case, remove the cover, replace the battery/reboot, can get annoying especiallky if you're right in the middle of doing something.
I'm getting ready to take a long plane flight, and I bought some battery packs from monoprice just now, with the intention of using one of them up front while I use the phone, so we'll see how that goes.
brookssw said:
As someone who used to do this exact same thing with the captivate, it's definitely convenient to carry, however the interruption while you take off the case, remove the cover, replace the battery/reboot, can get annoying especiallky if you're right in the middle of doing something.
I'm getting ready to take a long plane flight, and I bought some battery packs from monoprice just now, with the intention of using one of them up front while I use the phone, so we'll see how that goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note sure if it's just me, but the minute or so that my phone is down to swap the battery and reboot seems much more appealing and convenient than having a battery pack dangling by a cord from my phone for multiple hours while it charges, or keeps it charged.
Not to mention how many spare batteries you could buy for the price of one external battery pack.
welchertc said:
Note sure if it's just me, but the minute or so that my phone is down to swap the battery and reboot seems much more appealing and convenient than having a battery pack dangling by a cord from my phone for multiple hours while it charges, or keeps it charged.
Not to mention how many spare batteries you could buy for the price of one external battery pack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually agree partially, however I just found out that monoprice.com sells 2800mah battery packs for like $13 each. I just bought three:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10833&cs_id=1083311&p_id=7664&seq=1&format=2
That said, I likely will still buy an extra regular battery that I can just carry in my pocket. The main reason I'm going with the external batteries is because I'm getting ready to go on a trip with 15 month old twins to europe, and I can use these external packs to power up both my phone, and my touchpad (Which I need for playing childrens shows)

[Video Review] [1/31 Updated!!] RAVPower qi battery pack

I bought the RAVPower qi enabled battery pack from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00HYAZMU2
Its arriving tomorrow so I will follow up with a review and video if anyone wants it.
Has anyone used this with the Nexus 6 yet or have any experience using it? I doubt it will fully charge the Nexus because its only 4800mAh and it will likely lose 15-20% of that due to heat. I'll let everyone know around how much it can charge before draining completely and its charge time (for the battery pack). Is anyone else interested in these batteries? As a commerce student convenience is key and while I do carry my stock Moto charger with me I don't like using cables. I never kill my phone during the day, but if it's a long day (0700-1900) at school then I probably could kill the battery. I usually take my phone off the charger at 0500-0600 and use/abuse it all day with WiFi hotspots, streaming music etc... so this charger/battery seems to fit my needs. I ordered the black model and I can compare it to my old Anker battery pack.
Video review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rGopmNoeGM&feature=youtu.be
Pictures coming soon!
Update:
I received my replacement from Amazon and it charges perfectly fine. My original one looked fairly beaten up (the box was damaged and dirty) so it could have been kept in poor conditions resulting in the battery becoming defective. My replacement seems to be a lot better and I am very happy with it. I will now begin to test the efficiency of the battery pack and post the results here when I am done. Check back for pictures and updates!
I have now been using the battery for 5 days and I graphed the usage along with the batteries efficiency. It's really nowhere near as efficient as I had hoped, but then again qi charging is still in its infancy.
Here is how I found the efficiency: [(total % of phone in decimal form charged * 3320mAh)/(5000mAh the batteries capacity)]*100%
Here is an example: [(0.50*3320)/(5000)]*100% =32.2% efficiency
I also placed a scale of my usage of the phone while it was qi charging. I made a scale from 1 (no usage) to 10(Steaming 4k videos, super GPS powering everything... you get my point usage) vs. the number of days that I tested it.
overall I am still happy with the battery even though I expected it to be a little more efficient while charging via qi.
I'd like to know if qi also works without wall plug-in so in standalone mode and how fast is the charge. Thanks!
mouse100 said:
I'd like to know if qi also works without wall plug-in so in standalone mode and how fast is the charge. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It says that it works without a wall outlet hence the qi battery pack. I will let you know how long the charge time is once I get it tomorrow.
I like the idea, but might get the charger pad they also have. It would work with the power bank I already have and a recent review commented that it works well with a case on the phone.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3006538
This guy used the qi pad and glued it in his car dock. Seems to work well. Its not the power pack one though.
So I got the battery yesterday and made a short video review. I also took some pictures of the pack. The bad news is once the battery pack drained completely it would not charge I ordered another one and I'm sending my original one back today. My replacement will be here Saturday so I can't comment on much else other than my initial use. It's unfortunate that it won't charge (I tried the original cable and AC adapter that came with it and 3-4 more cables and adapters without any luck. I also tried 7 wall outlets to make sure...) I love the battery and the qi is great but I must have received a defective pack. I'm willing to give it one more chance before moving onto a different brand. As of right now I would still recommend it because it foes work well and I may have just gotten the short end of the stick so to speak.
I will keep everyone updated with what happens and how the new one works. I will also try to find more ways to make it charge tonight and research more into the issue.
OP updated & Video added
My replacement pack works great! Lemons happen so I am glad the second one has 0 issues so far.
Stop it, bro. You are making me waste too much money!! LoL Now I want one of these too. I already have two non-qi battery packs.
Off topic: What ROM? I see the boot animation in the background of your video
PaisanNYC said:
Stop it, bro. You are making me waste too much money!! LoL Now I want one of these too. I already have two non-qi battery packs.
Off topic: What ROM? I see the boot animation in the background of your video
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The boot animation is form Dirty Unicorn. I had the ROM for a few days and I always save the boot animations because I like to change it up. Some of my kernel settings have been causing random reboots lately but I think I fixed it by switching kernels.
The battery is practical for me when in in a class and it's on my desk so that's my main reason for buying it. (Let's not forget I also bought it to annoy the iPhone people who can't wirelessly charge without a dumb case) /s but its funny when they ask what in doing.
updated OP with charging results/efficiency over the course of 5 days
Thanks!!
Great review, I was looking for info on battery packs, had not even thought of Qi charger for one at the same time
Question for you: Does using the USB port to charge work in turbo charge mode? I was concerned that it probably won't due to output listed at 1A.
Found another one on Amazon that has a bigger battery, and outputs at 2.1A
http://www.amazon.com/MobilePal-100...id=1423491409&sr=1-1&keywords=Qi+battery+pack
githyanki said:
Thanks!!
Great review, I was looking for info on battery packs, had not even thought of Qi charger for one at the same time
Question for you: Does using the USB port to charge work in turbo charge mode? I was concerned that it probably won't due to output listed at 1A.
Found another one on Amazon that has a bigger battery, and outputs at 2.1A
http://www.amazon.com/MobilePal-100...id=1423491409&sr=1-1&keywords=Qi+battery+pack
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it doesn't support QC 2.0 and as of right now there is only 1 QC 2.0 battery pack. Its made by APE and you have to order it from overseas because its not available to buy aside from dealer samples.

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