Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPod; iPhone 1G, 3G (Black)
by Kensington
|
List Price: Our Price: $23.30 You Save: $26.69 (53%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $7.99 (click here) Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPod; iPhone 1G, 3G (Black)
Customer Review: Nice Little Battery Pak!
Summary: 5 Stars
I really liked this handy dandy battery pak! It did exactly what it was supposed to.
CONVENIENCE WISE:
Easy to grab and go for my long days of work and classes all day long using my Iphone 3G TO THE MAX. I would run my Iphone down, plug the pak on there, and let it charge (pretty quickly) while I drove, OR in a pinch (and these pinches happen ALL THE TIME with the Iphone lame battery), I hold the IPHONE and battery-pak-attached ALL in one hand while easily conversing with people. Some people felt the connection was dicey and hard to hold in their hand and feared for their Iphone connector. While there was SOME SLIGHT play, I really did not feel that my Iphone was threatened at all and I was able to easily palm the Iphone and battery extending off the end. Granted, I have pretty long hands!
CHARGE WISE:
It seems to recharge my Iphone one full charge and quite quickly.' No, I dont remember exactly how long it took, but I am a pretty impatient person and ON THE GO- so I knw it was a pretty speedy charge if it did not irritate me!
PRICE WISE:
At the time I bought it last year, it was by far the best deal going (~$25.00 with shipping for 1900 mAmp). I loved it. I almost ordered a couple more. Nowadays, I am tempted to be disloyal by going to a New Trent IMP 550 cuz for ~$45.00 I'll get 5500 mAmp of juice and in what looks like a somewhat even more convenient set up (sleeve for the Iphone style).
SAD NOTE:
The Kensington is so damn cute and convenient and BLACK, that I kept losing it wherever I put it until one day I really did lose it for good! I just know its hiding its cute little self somewhere in my sofa or a purse or something- but I have looked for it and looked for it and it is gone! (Does anyone know why Monoprice stopped making their great collection of anodized colorful lookalikes? First they were on backorder for what seemed like -ever, then I didn't make my move fast enough, then they were gone with only a vague reason given!)
Update*** I found it- it slipped down my car seat or something! Anyway, I'm throwing that one into my glovebox and buying another one. I like these babies...I also have two NewTrent battery paks I really like....Yes, I work and go to school, I can't be without phone power...
SUMMARY:
Great product for quick and easy use, for people who will be happy with doubling their Iphone charge, for people on a tight budget or who just don't feel like spending a lot of money on gadgets but want something good and practical.
Customer Review: A very good spare iPhone battery for the price
Summary: 4 Stars
There are a lot of so-called "extended" batteries out there for the iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3G S. I was running into issues with my iPhone 3G battery being almost dead after only a few hours of heavy use. I decided to research this for use on one of my vacations, since that seems to be the time when you are away from consistent power the most.
My search ended at the Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPhone and iPod. It is a very compact, lightweight battery that can be plugged into the dock port on an iPhone or iPod for some extra juice.
There are other batteries on the market, namely the Richard Solo 1800, which gets consistently high ratings. But my problem with that battery is the cost (typically double the price of this one) and the fact that it's so bulky on the phone. This battery can be attached to your iPhone and you can still talk on it without looking totally foolish. That's a good feature in my opinion.
The manufacturer of the product, Kensington, claims that this device extends play time up to 30 hours of music or 6 hours of video (on iPod nano 3G) or 3 hours of talk (on iPhone). I never really have scientifically tested these claims, as my purpose for buying this wasn't to extend my talk time on my iPhone, it was more to be able to keep using it as an internet browsing tablet for long after the regular battery dies, and for that this accomplishes the task well. The Kensington battery charged my iPhone 3G from nearly dead to 70% charge within a short amount of time. That's a decent amount of extra juice to work with, and totally worth the money to have an emergency battery such as this around.
The packaging is sparse, but includes a retractable USB charging cable (it uses the standard "mini" USB connection) and can be charged off any standard USB port. It also includes a cover for the battery connector, which doubles as a sort of stand you can use to keep your iPhone or iPod Touch standing up to watch movies. I have yet to bother trying this, but it's a neat little touch.
Overall, this is the best battery for the iPhone 3G I could find that is also portable and cheap. I've been using mine for a few months now, and I'd highly recommend it if you're looking for a spare emergency battery solution that isn't gigantic and has a decent amount of juice to recharge your iPhone with.
Customer Review: Quality Issues Can Be a Concern
Summary: 4 Stars
(UPDATED): Kensington finally made good on providing a second battery to replace the defective unit. It took them a month and half to get it to me due to the item being on eternal back order. I can now report that the replacement unit works very well and I am very pleased with the product.
The Kensington mini battery pack for iPhone is at first glance a nicely designed accessory for iPhone to provide much needed power for the power-hungry iPhone. The battery is sleek and compact and fits well to the phone just as advertised and overall seems to be a decent product.
My final verdict, however, will be determined by the actions of Kensington in how they ultimately resolve the issue that the mini battery pack I purchased is defective. The battery never fully charges even though the power indicator shows a full charge. The instant you plug it into the iPhone the blue indicator light drops to the middle light showing only a 66% charge on the battery. Kensington Tech Support has confirmed that that is not normal and that the battery is defective. They told me they were shipping me a new battery and that it would arrive in 10 to 12 business days. It has now been 15 days and I have not received anything in the mail from them. I have contacted them again and hopefully will get the situation resolved soon. So far they have been very prompt and courteous in every manner, so it is a bit frustrating that they have not fulfilled their promise of delivering a new battery replacement. I will update this post with the final outcome as it unfolds.
To conclude, assuming you pick up a unit that is not defective, it would appear that the mini battery pack lives up to the claims and is indeed a good fit for the iPhone. I still recommend it at this time as I don't think my situation is apparently all that common. Would be interesting to hear if anyone else has had a run in with a defective battery pack.
Customer Review: Works great !
Summary: 4 Stars
I like others have found that the iPhone's battery doesn't last that long when you are on the 3G network. I looked at several battery extenders and decided on this one because of the size. It is much smaller than the Richard Solo and seemed like it would be a good deal for the money.
The pros: I have been very pleased with the results as I am able to go all day on the Kensington. By the time I get off of work, it is usually on the last battery indicator. That is with moderate use. With heavy use, it will fully deplete by that time. That is all I was wanting from the device. That way, by the afternoon, I still have a full charge on my iPhone's internal battery. In my typical day, I am able to set the iPhone down, near me, and not have to put it in my pocket all day.
Now the cons: If you are someone who is very mobile and has to put your iPhone in your pocket and is always taking it out, putting it back in........etc. it might not be a good battery extender for you because it is just hanging there off of the bottom of your iPhone. There have been times I have knocked it off while putting it in my pocket or taking it out. I have found also that if you use a case on your iPhone, there are times when certain cases will make it to where the Kensington can't plug in all the way. It will work, and will charge, but it is not engaged all the way to where the bumps are inserted, thus making it very easy for it to just fall off. If you are a mobile person, I would suggest something like the Mophie or other brands of battery extenders that are also "cases" at the same time. That way you don't have something hanging off the end of the iPhone.
Overall.......this is a great device for adding battery life, and also extending the life of your iPhone's internal battery. Since it uses the Kensington first, it lessens the amount of charge cycles your iPhone's internal has to do, thus prolonging it's life.
Customer Review: Good For One-Time Emergencies
Summary: 4 Stars
I tested this charger on my iPhone(first iphone version when they just came out.)
I drained my iphone down to 10% warning and plugged in a fully-charger Kensington Battery. It took about 70 minutes until the charger's juice was gone and it powered my iPhone to about 50%. Surely enough, 3 hours later of constant texting, my iphone gave me the 10% business.
The Good:
Truly Portable. Dimensions are 2.5 x 2 x 0.5 inches. (I'm not sure why at the time of this review, it shows dimensions as 5.2 x 6 x 1.5 units. I pondered why this was the case, and it turns out that these dimentions are in centimeters.) Dimensions blend in well with your iPhone: it doesn't stick out, but just extends the lenght of your iphone by 2 inches.
Charge and use your phone at same time: No need to wait til the power transfers.
Stylish: Yes, I said "stylish." Every time I plug this in, the other iPhone users turn their heads and wonder what my little attachment does. The brightly-lit blue energy bar really stands out and lets you charge in style.
Tiny charging retractible USB cable: While its 4 inches in closed position, its retractible up to 2 feet at full lenght. Its fully compatible with iphone's usb plug adapter, so you can charge your battery on the plug OR using computer's USB slot.
The Bad:
For emergencies only. It would be nice if this portable charger had more juice capacity than 50% of the iPhone's battery. Because of this, I don't carry it as much and only take it with me for emergency purposes. Its a good thing to keep in your car's glove compartment or at home for those blackouts.
Bottom Line: Perfect for emergencies, but will leave you wishing for more juice in the long run.