I received 8400mAh and 5400mAh external battery packs for testing from the manufacturer to write an honest and unbiased review and you will find both pluses and minuses of my experience in this review.
I am attaching a collage of 5 photos labeled with number 1 through 5 under customer photos that I will be referencing in this review. I am also attaching a user manual as photo #6.
The first thing I noticed when I opened the package is that brick looks slick and well made. Its dimensions are 3.8" x 2.5" x .87" (only slightly larger than a deck of cards). It weighs 6.5 oz by itself, and 7.4 oz with the charging cable. A photo of the unit is included in 4 out 6 pictures I posted.
The box contained two USB cords 7" and 27" and adapters to fit different devices (Micro 5pin, PSP, Nokia DCP 2.0, Mini 5pin, iPhone/iPad). Photo #1 shows the entire content including all adapters. The adapters are a weak point of the design, they feel a bit flimsy and it is easy to loose all the small pieces. The minimum configuration for my devices is two connectors: one that goes into the AC plug to charge the external battery and the second (mini USB) that goes into the devices for charging. You can see the large connection bundle it creates best in Photo #5. Photo #1 shows the cable with connector for the AC plug.
The blue lights on top of the battery pack indicate the level of power in the battery: 4 circles indicate full charge, 3 circle indicate 75% and so forth. To turn on the device you need to press the button on the side of the unit. To turn off the device you need to press and hold the button for a few seconds (this is not documented, I found it by experimenting).
The 8400mAh PowerGen has two USB outlets: 0.6 Amp and 2 Amp. I tested my four electronic devices using both my own USB cable as well as the manufacture cable+adapter. In addition I tested charging two devices using both outlets at the same time.
The provided adapters fit Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone, Nexus 7 tablet and Sansa Clip MP3 (as they take regular USB-to-micro USB cable) but none of the provided adapters fit Galaxy Samsung 7.7 Tablet. The Amazon product description states that Galaxy Tablets are not supported, but I actually got it to work - more on that below.
I used Battery App to determine how each device recognized the external battery pack. 'AC' status means the charging is at full charging rate. 'USB' status indicates charging at a lower charging rate. 'Discharging' status means that the charging rate is below the power that the device is consuming so it slows down the discharge rate but does not re-charge.
The key findings:
(1) 2 Amp outlet is aimed at Apple devices and did not work as well as 0.6 Amp outlet for non-Apple devices.
(2) Using PowerGen cables vs generic cables that came with my devices made a difference.
Why using PowerGen cables makes a difference:
PowerGen cables are charging cables, not data cables. This is achieved by shorting the two data connections together (rendering them useless for data transfer), but this fulls Nexus to see it as an AC power connection, and will accept the higher current of the charging source.
The table below summarizes my findings.
Nexus 7 Tablet (photo #3)
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Regular cable -- 0.6 AMP outlet -- AC
Regular cable -- 2 AMP outlet -- discharging
PowerGen cable -- 0.6 AMP outlet -- AC
PowerGen cable -- 2 AMP outlet -- AC
Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone (photo #3)
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Regular cable -- 0.6 AMP outlet -- AC
Regular cable -- 2 AMP outlet -- USB
PowerGen cable -- 0.6 AMP outlet -- AC
PowerGen cable -- 2 AMP outlet -- AC
Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone and Nexus 7 Tablet together (photo #3)
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8400 PowerGen was able to handle charging of both devices using two different ports, the charging levels are same as in the two tables above,
variying based on cable used and outlet.
Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7 (photo #2)
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Regular cable -- 0.6 AMP outlet -- AC or discharging (I got inconsistant results, 1 out of 5 times it worked)
Regular cable -- 2 AMP outlet -- discharging
PowerGen cable -- no adapter, cannot be used
SanDisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player (photo #5)
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0.6 AMP outlet -- works
2 AMP outlet -- works
Behavior with Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7 was inconsistent. The Amazon product description says that Galaxy Tablets are not supported by PowerGen external pack and the USB cable that fits this device is not included. Yet, I got it to charge with my own cable (photo #2 show "AC" status) and it charged my Galaxy Tab from 75% to 100% in 2 hours and 7 minutes. However, the next few times I tried the charging level indicator stated 'discharging'. It significantly slowed the discharge rate in that state but did not re-charge. So far I have not determined the specific conditions when the power pack is recognized as 'AC'.
The behavior with Nexus devices was consistent and very good when used with PowerGen cables. Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone was more forgiving and worked even in 2 AMP outlet with my own cable at USB rate.
The MP3 player recognized the charger on both outlet, however it behaved differently than charging from AC recharger.
Photo #4 and Photo#5 show the difference. When I charge Sansa MP3 with a standard AC charger, the MP3 player goes into charging mode, displaying the charging animated icon. When it was plugged into the PowerGen external battery it continued to play the content. I listen to books on my MP3 player so this caused me to move forward in my book and I had to manually reset my position by a few chapters to get back to where I was when I started charging. The positive side of this, is that is possible to continue listening while MP3 is recharging. Update: This turned out to be immediately useful, as 30 minutes after I posted this review a thunderstorm knocked out my electric power for 9 hours and when my MP3 battery died I listened to it attached to the PowerGen battery while it recharged.
To summarize:
I liked:
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1. Good behavior with Nexus devices.
2. Solution for MP3 player with built-in battery
3. Looks sleek, feels solid, is compact
I did not like:
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1. The multiple piece connectors are flimsy and easy to loose. I already ordered a one piece replacement.
2. Labels and documentation are hard to read: 2A and 0.6A labels are white on white and are hard to read. The documentation is in microscopic font and written in broken English.
3. I wish it worked consistently for my Galaxy tablet
Overall, I am pleased with this unit and recommend for the devices I tested with the exception of Samsung Galaxy tablet.
You can find it on Amazon by following this link.
Update 11/12/2012
I just finished testing and wrote a review of the new 9000 mAh PowerGen power pack that works with Samsung Galaxy table, and provides AC performance on both ports for Nexus devices.
Ali Julia review ★★★★★
From product description this battery is compatible with:
Apple iPhone 4s, 4, 3Gs, 3G, 2G / iPod Touch / iPad [OEM CABLE REQUIRED]
HTC Sensation XE XL / Thunderbolt / EVO 3D
Samsung Galaxy S 2 / Epic 4G / Galaxy Nexus [NOT Compatible with Galaxy Tab series or Asus Transformer]
Blackberry Curve / Storm / Tour / Style / Bold / Torch
Motorola Atrix / Bionic / Droid Razr, X , X2, 2 , 3, 4 / triumph
Nokia N900 / N8 / N97 / C6 / C3 / Lumia 800 900 700
LG Optimus , 2x , V , S , T / Quantum / Vortex
Google Nexus One / Nexus S
Sony Experia / X1 / X10 / X8 / Arc / Neo / Play / Mini
Amazon Kindle Fire, and all other kindles
I wish I had read this review earlier before heading of on vacation without the original cable. It is somewhat infuriating that it requires a special cable to charge at 2A - the cable I use with the stock Nexus 7 charger charges at 2A just fine, so why shouldn't that same cable work with the Powergen charger?
ReplyDeletePowerGen cables are charging cables, not data cables. This is achieved by shorting the two data connections together (rendering them useless for data transfer), but this fulls Nexus to see it as an AC power connection, and will accept the higher current of the charging source.
ReplyDeleteCharging cables are sold individually if you prefer one piece connector.
Thank you for a good question! I added the explanation to the review.
ReplyDeleteHow did you order replacement connector tips? I've not found them anywhere having, like you, lost a couple!
ReplyDeleteHi BFB, That's exactly why I thought those connectors were the weak point of this system - easy to lose. I replace not the tips, but the entire PowerGen cable with a one piece charging cable, like this one this one on
ReplyDeleteAmazon
Two questions:
ReplyDelete1. Can the PowerGen Power Bank be plugged in and charging (either with a.c. connection or automobile connection) while charging other devices? (e.g. "daisy chain")
2. You mentioned "I am also attaching a user manual as photo #6." but I cannot find "photo #6". Do you have a link to the user manual?
Thank you, Roy
@Roy
Delete1. I just tried daisy chaining, and yes, no problem can be charging the brick while charging the device.
2. Opps. Posted photo #6. Thank you for pointing this out. I do not have a link to the manual
AJ