I am attaching a video and a photo that I will be referencing in this review.
The first thing I noticed when I opened the package is that juice pack looks slick and well made. The photo shows a close up of the power pack on a gridded mat, next to a ruler and a pen for size reference. Its dimensions are 3.25" width x 3.75" by 0.88" thick. It weighs 8.9 oz (without cables).
The box contained two USB cords 7" and 27" and 5 adaptors to fit different devices (Nokia 2mm round, Playstation Portable 4mm round, mini USB, two micro USB). The adaptors are a weak point of the design, they feel a bit flimsy and it is easy to loose all the small pieces. The minimum number of adaptors needed for each of my devices is two: one that goes into the AC plug to charge the external battery and the second (mini USB) that goes into the devices for charging.
The blue lights on top of the battery pack indicate the level of power in the battery: 4 lights indicate full charge, 3 lights 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 video shows turning the juice pack on, charging the juice pack, charging a device, and turning the juice pack off.
The power pack also has an LED light, which generates a pretty good bright light and can be used a flashlight.
The 12000mAh PowerGen has three USB outlets: Out A 2 Amp(best for iPad or any Apple device), Out S (best for non Apple devices), Out 1 Amp (best for iPhone and iPod). I tested my four electronic devices using both my own USB cable as well as the manufacture cable + adapter. In the documentation booklet PowerGen states that PowerGen cables provide better performance for non-Apple devices on the 2Amp (Apple port) and I wanted to see the difference between the cables.
The manual says that non-Apple devices for which adaptors are provided will charge at full speed. The provided adaptors 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 adaptors fit Galaxy Samsung 7.7 Tablet so my in my tests for Samsung Galaxy I used the cable that came with my tablet.
I used Battery App by Elvison to determine how each device recognized the charging source. '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:
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(1) 2 Amp and 1 Amp outlets is aimed at Apple devices but worked fine with Nexus devices, and did not charge Samsung Galaxy 7.7 tablet (but slowed its normal discharge rate).
(2) S outlet worked for all Android devices, including Samsung Galaxy 7.7 tablet
(3) Using PowerGen cables vs generic charging cables made a positive difference.
Difference between a power cable and a data cable:
Charging cables short the two data connections together (rendering them useless for data transfer), but this fools devices to see them as an AC power connection, and thus accept the higher current of the charging source. Both my generic cable and PowerGen cables used in my tests are charging cables.
Description of my tests:
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I tested each devices by charging each unit for 10 minutes and noting how the charge % change.
Note that I have been running the same tests with several PowerGen Juice packs, so if you are interested in the difference between the juice packs you can compare these test relative to each other.
The tests were run with the following permutations:
--- on 2A Apple port, 1A Apple port, and S port
--- using PowerGen cable and using my own charging cable
--- For Samsung Galaxy that was discharging attached to PowerGen on two Apple ports, I compared the discharging rate attached to PowerGen and normal discharge without the juice pack
The table below summarizes my findings.
Nexus 7 Tablet
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1Amp Apple port ..... generic cable .... AC source .... 2% charge in 10 minutes
1Amp Apple port ..... Powergen cable ... AC source .... 2% charge in 10 minutes
S port .............. generic cable .... AC source .... 3% charge in 10 minutes
S port .............. Powegen cable .... AC source .... 4% charge in 10 minutes
2Amp Apple port ..... generic cable .... AC source .... 2% charge in 10 minutes
2Amp Apple port ..... Powergen cable ... AC source .... 5% charge in 10 minutes
Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone
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1Amp Apple port ..... generic cable .... AC source .... 3% charge in 10 minutes
1Amp Apple port ..... Powergen cable ... AC source .... 5% charge in 10 minutes
S port .............. generic cable .... AC source .... 5% charge in 10 minutes
S port .............. Powegen cable .... AC source .... 5% charge in 10 minutes
2Amp Apple port ..... generic cable .... AC source .... 5% charge in 10 minutes
2Amp Apple port ..... Powergen cable ... AC source .... 5% charge in 10 minutes
Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7
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1Amp Apple port ..... generic cable .... discharging .... 0% discharging in 10 minutes
S port .............. generic cable .... AC source ....... 5% charge in 10 minutes
2Amp Apple port ..... generic cable .... discharging .... 0% discharging in 10 minutes
not attached......... N/A................discharging..... -4% discharging in 10 minutes
SanDisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player
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1Amp Apple port ... works
S port ............ works
2Amp Apple port ....works
The MP3 player recognized the charger on both outlet, however it behaved differently than charging from the charger it came with the player itself. 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. This is very handy for Sansa MP3 player since it has built-in battery that cannot be swapped for a charged one. I used to have to stop listening to have it recharged and now I can continue to listen while it re-charges. I was very happy to have this feature during hurricane Sandy when I lost power and my books on MP3 player were my only source of entertainment.
To summarize:
I liked:
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1. Good behavior with Nexus devices.
2. Galaxy tablet consistently works at AC rate on S port (some of the PowerGen packs I tested in the past did not give me consistent results)
3. Solution for MP3 player with built-in battery
4. Looks sleek, feels solid, is compact
5. Labels for the ports are now in black font so they are easier to read (Thank you PowerGen for listening to feedback!)
I did not like:
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1. The multiple piece connectors are easy to loose. I prefer a one piece charging cable I bought as a replacement, even though its performance is slight slower
I received 12000mAh external battery pack for testing from the manufacturer to write an honest and unbiased review and I hope you found my tests useful.
Overall, I am pleased with this unit and recommend it.
You can find it on Amazon by following this link.
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Ali Julia review ★★★★★
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