U.Love Portable/Home Charger Review
Oh my, it’s been well over a month since the last Gadgetoid update. Is it too late to wish any lurkers a Happy New Year? We hope you’re having a good one but now it’s time to grab a cuppa and see our thoughts on the latest gadget that landed on the doorstep before Christmas.
Here in Norfolk the trains are pretty crap, you can’t even charge your phone on them, seriously. With it taking 2 hours, yep, 2 whole hours to get to London, a lack of plug socket is a pretty serious issue. To be fair, in Norfolk or out of Norfolk, anyone with a smartphone knows that you need back up power in your bag. We spend the whole day tweeting and uploading photos of food to Instagram, it’s no wonder that phones get tired very easily and by the time you need use it for traditional reasons it’s just about to take a nap.
MyMemory.co.uk kindly sent us the U.Love Dual USB charger/backup battery for review and I can confirm that it has been very useful over these last few months. It can be used as a handy power pack or a normal USB charger.
You can probably tell from the photo that it’s bulky. At first I thought it would be too chunky and heavy to carry around on day trips. However, before handing it over to Phil, I decided that I’d give it a go. If I can lug around my 7D all day then this should be no problem. And guess what? It’s not that bad, it sits nicely in the back zip of most bags and really isn’t that heavy.
There are two USB ports on the power pack, which is handy if your friend needs a power top up when you’re on the go, or for charging two devices simultaneously at home.
It takes just 6 hours to fully charge the battery pack. With a quick press of the button you are given a clear overview of how much power is in the pack. I managed to charge my iPhone about 1 and a ½ times on my last outing, pretty good going for a £12.99 charger.
Don’t forget that it can also be used as a home USB charger. The plug slides onto the pack with ease but needs a little force to remove it. That’s a good thing in my book, otherwise it would end up getting lost.
As it’s sitting in the wall charging the LED lights will flash to indicate how much power there is.
I think the best feature of this product is its duality. Not only is this a good travel companion, but it’s also it’s also handy for the home. If you’re anything like me, then you’ll have USB cables knocking about the house and only a couple of plugs that you can never find. Similarly, you’ll find that your USB power packs are never charged when you need them- U.Love solve this problem by making it convenient to use plugged in.
-Daisy