Product review: Baonuor 8G Music Player, FN Radio, audio book player, bluetooth mp3 player

My main use for this MP3 is listening to music and audio books.  Not all MP3 players are well suited to audio books because they don't start from the same place where the previous play was stopped, but this MP3 player does do it.  This means I can resume listening to the music from where I left off. Big plus!

The MP3 player also has FM receiver and can record FM stations.  I have listened to some music and local sports and the receiver works quite well. The MP3 can work with bluetooth and wired ear buds, but if you want to listen to FM radio you have to use wired ear buds because the wire serves as an antenna for the radio.

This MP3 player also plays videos and allows picture viewing, which are features that exist but I don't use them much.

The MP3 player comes with 8G of memory and can be expanded to 128GB.

I had no problems pairing bluetooth with my wireless ear buds as well as blue tooth wall speakers.  In  my video you can see and hear Grace Digital wall speakers being paired with the MP3 player.  The sound is good and clear as I moved around the room.

The battery life is pretty good, I can use it for several days without recharging.  The manual states 60 hours with wired ear buds, and 20 hours with bluetooth buds.

To add content to the player I just plug it into the computer and it shows up as any USB device. The connection appears to be USB 3.0 as books copy pretty quickly.

MP3 buttons are pretty sensitive so it is good that it has a lock. All you need to do is press the power button briefly one time and it locks the screen.

The MP3 has some minor things I don't like.

1.  It has a nice menu driven interface, but the small font of the text makes it difficult for me read the text. This is curse of being over 40! When I was a youngster small font was never an issue.
2. Controls take a little getting used.  The screen is not touch sensitive, you need to use controls on the bottom part of the unit. When you want to move up/down on the menu, you need to have left/right controls.  The up/down controls control the volume.  I think with the menu layout it would have been more logical to reverse this, as I keep hitting up and down keys trying to navigate the menus.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: LEFON Mutifunctional Dual Channel Digital FM Radio Media Speaker MP3 Music Player Support TF Card / USB Disk with LED Screen Display and Clock Function (Black) LEFON Mutifunctional Dual Channel Digital FM Radio Media Speaker MP3 Music Player Support TF Card

This listing combines a large number of different radios. My review is for the one with Speaker MP3 Music Player that supports TF Card and USB stick.

This radio / mp3 player is 7" x 2.5" x 1". It has an FM tuner and can also double as an MP3 player with external speaker either from USB memory stick or micro SD card.

It has a long antenna so FM reception is pretty decent. However, my main interest in it is as an MP3 player with an external speaker. I use it to listen to audio books while doing chores listening to the external speakers. This MP3 player works very well: decent sound and portable.

It runs on 800 mAh lithium battery or from USB power. I typically have it plugged into a large external battery so the internal battery is constantly recharged and is never is out of juice.

In attached video I show all three functions. Overall, I am quite pleased with it. The only thing I do not like is the scan function for FM radio - it scans really fast you can't hear enough of the station to determine if you like it and it also does not give enough enough time to stop the scan. How to stop the scan is not documented and not intuitive. I found that I can stop it if I press any number key on the key pad. So scanning function is not good. If you know your favorite stations you can just enter its frequency on the keypad - that works very well.

I received this radio for testing and review. I covered the pluses and minuses and I hope the video gives you a view beyond what the words can describe.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Polaris V8 Portable Bluetooth Wireless Speaker with FM Radio, NFC, AUX Jack, TF Card Slot

Polaris speaker can operate as a bluetooth speaker, wired speaker, as FM radio and as an MP3 player. MP3 player uses a TF memory slot. TF memory slot is used for reading regular micro SD memory cards.

In the attached video I show FN radio, streaming music from a micro SD memory card as well as streaming music via bluetooth from my iPad Mini.

♦ The bluetooth speaker works quite well. The sound is crisp and clear. Even bass sounded good for a speaker of this size. To help me evaluate and compare different speakers I always use the same piece of music I can different speakers to each other. As a stress test for the bass I use Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Polaris speaker handled the most challenging part of the Bach's Fugue well. A lot of small speakers crackle in two spots of the Fugue, but this speaker handled it well.

♦ The speaker runs on removable and rechargeable 18650 lithium battery. This is a standard battery which is available on Amazon. This battery can be recharged in the speaker using a standard USB/micro USB cable. The speaker can be used to stream music while it is recharging.

♦ The speaker arrived with a clear plastic tab inserted between the battery contacts and the speaker to prevent the battery from discharging. The tab is under the battery and is hard to see if you just remove the cover. If you lift up the battery you will see it. Initially, I thought the battery was dead but eventually I found the tab.

♦ When the battery level drops low you hear a voice prompt "battery low" and the speaker volume level will drop around 40% to save the battery power. From that point on the speaker continues to work for another 30 minutes until the battery is completely drained.

♦ FM radio reception was not bad. I got quite a few stations. Some of them were a little hissy but Polaris performed better than many other small FM radios I have tried.

♦ It works well as an MP3 player that I can listen to without earphones.

♦ The speaker can be made quite loud. Volume control buttons are on the top of the speaker.

♦ The speaker weights 23.30 oz. Its dimension are 7.5"L x 2.25"W x 2.75"H

Overall, I thought it produced good sound plus I its versatility of being both an MP3 player and a bluetooth speaker.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: XBOOM Ceramic Mini Portable Capsule Speaker

XBOOM CERAMIC Mini speaker is 3.5" tall when extended, and can be collapsed into a 2" ball when not in use. It weighs in at 3.5 oz. Its small size makes a perfect companion.

I am attaching a video which has several short snippets of music to demonstrate the speaker's sound. As one of the top reviewers I get asked to test and review a fairly large number of speakers. This allows me to compare a large number of speakers to each other. To help me make this comparison I always use the same two pieces of music, so I can compare speakers using "apples-to-apples" comparison. As a stress test for the bass I use Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. The second piece of music (Tchaikovsky) does not have a lot bass and allows me to test the mid-range. XBOOM CERAMIC speaker did well on the mid-tone test, it did break up a bit in a bass range, but it did better than a number of other small speaker which could not handle Toccata's bass at all.

In the video I switch between the tablet's built-in speaker and XBOOM CERAMIC speaker so you can compare the sound. You can hear that the speaker produce the sound that is richer, fuller, and louder sound the the built-in speaker.

The speaker comes with split cable - one part of it is a charging cable (6.5 inches long) the other part is an audio cable (23.5 inches). The charging cable is quite short, but it does not have to be attached when the speaker is playing. This speaker can be daisy changed to another speaker, it has a built in audio cable to connect multiple speakers to each other.

The package also includes is a cloth pouch we can be used the keep the speaker in its cable together so they don't get separated.

I received XBOOM speaker and XBOOM CERAMIC speaker from the manufacture for testing. I found that the XBOOM speaker performed somewhat better than XBOOM CERAMIC speaker at the bass range. I am posting reviews for both of these speakers so you can compare the audio clips I posted if you are trying to decide between these two speakers. I hope the video will give you a good idea of what to expect.

Based on other speakers of similar size/price I rated this speaker as good (4 stars). The XBOOM CERAMIC speaker performed well with music without strong base as well as when I listened to spoken human voice (e.g. news), bass did not sound as well but not too terrible.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Grace Digital GDI-EGRX601 ECOXGEAR - ECOROX Waterproof Wireless Bluetooth Speaker

I am very impressed with ECOROX Bluetooth Speaker. In my video I included two small snippets of music to illustrate my review of this speaker. I used several pieces of music to test this speaker, including Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor which is a stress test for the bass. Some speakers crackle and can't handle the bass, but Grace Digital GDI-EGRX601 ECOXGEAR Speaker handles it extremely well. As one of the top reviewers I get asked to test and review a fairly large number of speakers, as a result I am able to do a relative comparison between a large number of speakers using the same pieces of music to test them. Based on these comparisons I can say that the sound of this speaker is one of the best small speakers I have tested in the last year (top two among the speakers I tested, along with Kinivo speaker).

In the video I start with the music playing through the built-in speakers of the tablet, then turn on blue tooth and then the sound switches to the speakers. You can see how much richer, fuller, and louder the sound is when the speakers are used. There is no cracking and sound distortion even in the most challenging parts of the Bach Toccata.

The speaker is 5.5"L x 3.5"W x 2.5"H. Its weight is 10.6 oz.

The bottom of the speaker has a screw type mounting hardware (purchased separately) Grace Digital GDI-EGSCM Suction Cup Mount. I used the Suction Cup Mount to mount this speaker in my shower and it holds it very well giving me fantastic acoustics in the shower. The speaker can also be mounted on a bike using Grace Digital GDI-EGCBM Handle Bar Mount purchased separately.

I received this speaker from the manufacture for an honest review be it positive or negative. I am very impressed with this speaker, especially how it handled the bass! I hope the video gives you a good idea of what to expect.

I am several photos that show the speaker, including how it is mounted using the suction cup mount. These photos can be located by following 'customer photos' link under the main photo.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Grace Digital GDI-EGSCM Suction Cup Mount

I am using Grace Digital suction mount to mount ECOROX Bluetooth Speaker. The speaker is 5.5"L x 3.5"W x 2.5"H. Its weight is 10.6 oz. The mount holds this weight easily.

I mounted suction mount with the speaker in my shower. It has been installed over a week ago and it still holds well without needing any adjustments. The mount attaches with a vacuum seal mount and has a quick release/lock lever. The mount allows the speaker to be pivoted 360 degrees. The suction mount and the pivot give me a lot of flexibility of where to place the speaker. I put it right inside of the shower stall, so I have great acoustics when I am in the shower.

I received this suction mount from the manufacture for testing and an honest review be it positive or negative. The mount works great, the hold is very strong. It will mount well on any smooth surface.

I am posting a photo of the suction mount holding the bluetooth speaker. The photo can be located by following 'customer photos' link under the main photo.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Grace Digital GDI-EGSCM Suction Cup Mount

I am using Grace Digital suction mount to mount ECOROX Bluetooth Speaker. The speaker is 5.5"L x 3.5"W x 2.5"H. Its weight is 10.6 oz. The mount holds this weight easily.

I mounted suction mount with the speaker in my shower. It has been installed over a week ago and it still holds well without needing any adjustments. The mount attaches with a vacuum seal mount and has a quick release/lock lever. The mount allows the speaker to be pivoted 360 degrees. The suction mount and the pivot give me a lot of flexibility of where to place the speaker. I put it right inside of the shower stall, so I have great acoustics when I am in the shower.

I received this suction mount from the manufacture for testing and an honest review be it positive or negative. The mount works great, the hold is very strong. It will mount well on any smooth surface.

I am posting a photo of the suction mount holding the bluetooth speaker. The photo can be located by following 'customer photos' link under the main photo.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Bolse® M2 10000mAh Dual Port External Battery Pack

I tested Bolse M2 (10,000 mAh) Power Pack with Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet (running ICS 4.0.4) and iPad Mini. This external battery has exceptionally good behavior with iPad Mini and average performance with Galaxy Tablet.

I received this power bank from the manufacturer for an honest review be it positive or negative. Top reviewers are often asked to review new battery packs and one of the benefits of being asked to test different power banks is that it gives me an opportunity to compare them to each other using the same charging test, so I can compare them using "apples to apples" comparison. This set of tests allows me to provide unbiased results as the numbers speak for the performance of each unit.

My methodology is to charge each mobile device on each port of the unit for 10 minutes and measuring how much each unit was charge in that 10 minute period. In addition I tested charging two mobile devices at the same time. Each line in the table below represents a separate 10 minute test.

I use 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.

➨ General features:
======================

Bolse M2 external battery weighs 8.7 oz. Its size is 2.5" x 5.125" x 0.75".

The pack has two USB output ports. The package include 3 tips, among them mini USB and iPad. The package also contains a micro USB cable. Galaxy tab connector and lightening cable for iPad Mini were not included and I used my own charging cables for the tests below. Some external batteries include a small flashlight, this external battery does not.

➨ Test Results:
======================

✔ Samsung Galaxy 7.7 tablet (using my own Galaxy tab connector cable)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1A: AC ~~~~~~ 2% change in charge in 10 minutes
2A: AC ~~~~~~ 2% change in charge in 10 minutes

✔ iPad Mini tablet (using my own lightening connector cable)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1A: AC ~~~~~~ 3% change in charge in 10 minutes
2A: AC ~~~~~~ 6% change in charge in 10 minutes

✔ iPad Mini and Samsung Galaxy 7.7 tablet at the same time
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1A: AC ~~~~~~ 1% change in charge in 10 minutes (Galaxy Tablet)
2A: AC ~~~~~~ 5% change in charge in 10 minutes (iPad Mini)

➨ Key finding:
======================
✔ This external battery has a very good behavior with iPad Mini, and an average performance with Galaxy Tablet. Overall it earned a 4 star rating.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: URBAN TOOL sport Holster Ergonomic Shoulder Holster for Sports

This is a very convenient holster for your music player and a few other small items while you exercise. I usually wear a small fanny pack with my mp3 player and keys when I exercise outdoors. This holster provides a better alternative.

I am attaching a collage of 4 photos  which I will be referencing to illustrate this review.

 

1. Photo #1 shows how this holster is worn.
2. Photo #2 shows the holster on 1" gridded mat for size reference. In the back the holster has a nylon pocket, where you can carry your MP3 player or a phone, and some other small items like keys or chap-stick. The size of the pouch is 6" by 4".
I ordered size S1 (female XS-L, male S). In my photo you see my Sansa Clip MP3 in the pouch. The pouch has velcro closure so your items are securely trapped within the pocket.
3. The left front strap has a retractable key ring (photo #4). This key ring is removable and is attached to a loop that can be used to hold something else. The right front strap has another built-in loop.
4. Photo #3 shows the closure mechanism for the straps. It is an adjustable Velcro strap which is 6 inches long. That means in total you can adjust the arm opening by 12 inches.

If you find that the fit is not too small, the straps can be further adjusted to be larger by sewing on an extension of your own strapping with a bit of Velcro material on the end of each strap. I found that when I wear a thicker fleece I was more comfortable adjusting the arm opening to be bigger than the largest setting. The key to working with strapping is to singe each edges so the edges don't unravel. The strapping material does not burn, it melts. The melting forms a protective coating on the edges so you don't need to worry about them coming apart. Also it allows you to connected the two straps with minimum bulk, you don't need to fold them under. Adjusting the size of holster in this way allows me to wear it for both indoor and outdoor exercises.

I received an evaluation copy of this holster to test and write an unbiased review.

Overall, I really like wearing this holster when exercising. It gives me a better balance than wearing a fanny pack or sticking my mp3 into my pockets, and I am less likely to get caught on a cord, since it is out of the way and goes a very short distance between the pocket on my back to my ears.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: SimplyVibe SV-X6U1-Black Rechargeable FM, MP3 Player and Portable Speakers

SimplyVibe a mini boom box that can tune FM radio and as well as play the content of USB flash memory stick or SD memory card.

To illustrate my review I am attaching a video and a collage of 4 photos. The video demonstrate FM reception for voice and music, as well as SimplyVibe's ability to play MP3 content from a memory stick.

1. The first photo shows the content of the entire package. Besides the unit itself, the package includes a USB charging cable, an audio cable, a rechargeable lithium battery, and instructions. The unit's size is 6.41 " x 1.50" x 2.30". The photo of the unit show is on 1 inch gridded mat for size reference, I also included a pen in the photo for relative size.

2. I found FM tuner to be a bit weak and a number of stations sounded a bit hissy. The attached video will give you a good idea of the reception I get on two different stations, one station will demonstrate speaking voice, the other will demo music. It is acceptable, but not as good as a larger receiver (I compared it to CC Crane radio FM reception). Photo #4 shows the display during an FM radio broadcast. The display is fairly small, and stays on only for a few seconds. As you see in the video I had to touch the button many times to keep the display active. The unit has a mode which displays a clock, but because the display turns itself off so quickly SimplyVibe cannot function as a general purpose clock. The controls take some getting used to, they are not totally intuitive and the display is faint and might be hard to read for people with presbyopic eyes.

3. Photo #2 show the side of the unit where you plug in USB memory stick, a charging cable, and a SD memory card. The speaker performed much better when playing MP3 music from a memory stick. The sound was louder and it was very clear. It even did a reasonable job with the base for a unit of such small size.

4. Photo #3 shows the back of the unit - the battery compartment and the audio plugs. You can attach headphones to the unit, or attached the unit to a laptop as an external battery.

I found this speaker to be a nice size to stand on my night table. The bottom of the unit is flat and it balances well.

My main use for this unit is when I want to have an mp3 player which has an external speaker instead of headphones. I listen to a lot of audio books, and when I am sick I like listening to the audio books in bed. I don't like falling asleep with the headphones in my ears so SimplyVibe gives me a nice alternative.

I was provided an evaluation unit for testing and review. I noted the pluses and the minuses of my experience in this review, and if you have any questions about the features I have not covered I am always happy to answer comments.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product Review: PowerGen PGMPP12000 12000mAh External Battery Pack High Capacity Power Bank Charger Triple USB 3Amps output for Apple and Android Nexus

I tested I 12000mAh PowerGen external battery pack with Nexus 7 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet, and Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone, and SanDisk Sansa Clip+ player.


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:
================
(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:
-------------------------
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
-----------------------------------
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
-----------------------------------
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
-----------------------------------
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
-----------------------------------
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:
-----------------------------------
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:
-----------------------------------
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 ★★★★★

Product review: PowerGen 6000 mAh external power pack in use with Nexus 7 Tab, Galaxy Nexus Phone, Galaxy 7.7 Tab, Sansa Clip+ MP3

I tested I 6000mAh PowerGen external battery pack with Nexus 7 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet, and Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone, and SanDisk Sansa Clip+ player.
I received 6000mAh external battery pack 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 2 photos labeled with number 1 & 2 under customer photos that I will be referencing in this review.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the package is that brick looks slick and well made. Its dimensions are 4.15" length x 1.83" width x 0.88" thickness. A photo of the unit is included in both photos I posted.

The box contained two USB cords 7" and 27" and adapters to fit different devices (Nokia 2mm round, Playstation Portable 4mm round, mini USB, two micro USB). 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.

A big button on top of the unit turns the unit on and off (hold it for a few second to turn off). The blue lights on the sides of the button indicate the level of power in the battery: 4 lights indicate full charge, 3 lights indicate 75% and so forth.  The power pack also has an LED light, which generates a pretty good bright light and can be used a flashlight.

The 6000mAh PowerGen has one 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 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.  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.

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:
================
(1) The power pack worked well with Nexus devices,but did not work at all with Samsung Galaxy 7.7 tablet.  The documentation states that it does not work unless you have a tablet USB adapter.  But even with this adapter the Battery App showed that the tablet was 'discharging'.
(2) Using PowerGen cables vs generic cables made a postive difference for the phone but not for the tablet (note that I used a generic charging cable, not a data cable)

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:
I tested each devices charging them for 10 minutes using PowerGen cable and using my own charging cable.

The table below summarizes my findings.

Nexus 7 Tablet (photo #1)
--------------
generic cable .... AC source .... 1% charge in 10 minutes
Powergen cable ... AC source .... 1% charge in 10 minutes

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone (photo #2)
--------------------------
generic cable .... AC source .... 3% charge in 10 minutes
Powergen cable ... AC source .... 4% charge in 10 minutes

Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7 (photo #3)
--------------------------
generic cable .... discharging
PowerGen cable -- no adapter, cannot be used

SanDisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player
------------------------------
generic cable ...... works
PowerGen cable ..... works

The MP3 player recognized the charger on both outlet, however it behaved differently than charging from the charger it came with.
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:
---------
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:
--------------
1. Does not work for Galaxy Tablet 7.7 (with my own adapter, no PowerGen adapter)
2. The multiple piece connectors are flimsy and easy to loose. I prefer a one piece charging cable I bought as a replacement.
3. Labels and documentation are hard to read: 2A and 0.6A labels are white on white and are hard to read.

Overall, I am pleased with this unit and recommend it with the exception of Galaxy Tablet.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: PowerGen Dual USB 3.1A 15w Travel Wall Charger with Swivel plug (Android, Apple)

I tested PowerGen Dual Port 15W / 3.1A USB Wall Charger with Nexus 7 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet, and Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone, and SanDisk Sansa Clip+ player.
I received PowerGen wall charger 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 two collages with 8 photos (each collage has 4) labeled with numbers 1 through 8 under customer photos that I will be referencing in this review.

The first thing I noticed that the charger has re-tractable prongs which is very handy for travel. Photo #1-1 shows the black plug with prongs retracted, and the white plug with progs extended.

Photos #1-3 and #1-4 show this plug on a power strip. This is where the only negative thing I have to say about this plug comes in. The position of the prongs is such that this plug takes up two and a half slots. As you see not only does each plug cover two outlets, I also could put two of these plugs next to each even on the short side. The prongs are not polorized as you can see on photo #1-1. The plug itself is very slim, if the prongs could have been oriented differently, the plug would only take 1 slot.

The plug has two ports labeled "A" and "NA" which stands for Apple and Non-Apple devices. I own all Android devices but I tested both ports to see their behavior with my devices. The charger comes without a USB cord, so tested it with the USB cords that came with my devices.

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:

•  Excellent results on both ports for Nexus Phone and Nexus 7 Tablet
•  Samsung Galaxy 7.7 can be charged on NA port
•  Better results than 10w PowerGen wall charger

The table below summarizes my findings:

Nexus 7 Tablet (photo #2-2, note the port is labeled "A" is closer to the edge of the plug and the port labeled "NA" is the one that is further away from the edge of the plug)
--------------
A port -- AC
NA port -- AC

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone
--------------------------
A port -- AC
NA port -- AC

Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7
--------------------------
A port -- discharging when screen is on, charged slowly with screen off
NA port -- AC

SanDisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player
------------------------------
A port -- charged at AC rate
NA port -- charged at AC rate

Charging times for Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7
-------------------------------------------------
NA: from 90% to 100% ---> 33 minutes
A: from 90% to 100% -> 1h 37 min charged when screen was off despite saying discharging (powering the screen was enough to turn from slow charge to discharge)
Samsung plug that came with the 7.7 Tablet: from 90% to 100% ---> 1 hour

Charging times for Nexus Tablet
-------------------------------------------------
NA: from 94% to 99% ---> 17 minutes
A: from 94% to99% ---> 19 minutes

The behavior of both Nexus 7 and Galaxy Nexus plugged in at the same time was the same as when they were plugged in individually. This means if you can charge them both together at the same time. If you need to charge Samsung Galaxy tablet and one of the Nexus devices you would need to put the Galaxy tab on the NA port.

The MP3 player worked in both ports. I was able to charge and listen to the MP3 player at the same time.

To summarize:

I liked:
---------
1. Excellent behavior on both ports even when you have two Android devices
2. Samsung tablet 7.7 charged twice as fast as with the plug that it came with
2. Solution for MP3 player with built-in battery
3. Can charge two devices

I did not like:
--------------
1. Position of the prongs that makes the plug 2+ slots on the strip

Overall, This plug has given me the best performance of any dual plug I have tried. I recommend it.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Update: I recently noticed that the seller upgraded the charger but kept the same ASIN number (so that the old ratings and the number of total sales remain with the product). So some early reviews, like this one, are talking about a totally different product.

Product review: Grace Digital ECOXGEAR ECOXBT Rugged and Waterproof Wireless Bluetooth Speaker

Review for use with Nexus 7 Tab, Galaxy Nexus Phone, Galaxy 7.7 Tab, Sansa Clip+ MP3

I have tested Grace Digital ECOXGEAR bluetooth speakers with Android devices using bluetooth (Nexus 7 Tab, Galaxy Nexus Phone, Galaxy 7.7 Tab) and using a audio plug for non-bluetooth Sansa Clip+ MP3 player.  I found the speaker had a nice rich sound that can be made quite loud.  I paired with my bluetooth devices flawlessly and worked well with an audio plug as well for my Sansa MP3 player.  It really enriched my listening pleasure - the sound is so much better! Plus it extended the distance of where the sound is available from my devices.  My computer is on the second floor study. Normally the bluetooth connection on my computer allows me to listen to the devices on the first floor, but not on the deck off my first floor. With a ECOXGEAR bluetooth speaker I can listen to my tablet and mp3 while on the deck, plus I don't have to worry about exposing the tablet to sun and water.  Note that under manufacture warnings for ECOXGEAR (included at the end of this review) it is mentioned to avoid exposing the speaker to direct sun.
I am attaching a photo collage of 8 photos number 1 through 8 under customer photos for reference in this review.

Photo #1 shows everything that came in a package: in addition to the speaker, the package included a charging cable, a narrow profile charger that takes up only one slot on the power strip,  a leash for the gasket covering outlets on the back, and a small carabiner clip (which I have not found use for yet). 
The speaker is positioned next to the ruler for size reference. It is 9 inches in the widest part (handle-to-handle), 3.75 inches in height, the bottom is 2.5 inches wide.  Photo #5 shows the speaker on the digital scale weighing in at 1 pound 9.2 oz. It is a substantial piece of equipment, best suited for using on the deck or at pool side. It is a bit heavy for hiking, where I watch every extra pound I bring along.

Photo #2 shows the gasket covering USB and audio jacks. If you compare photo #1 which shows the gasket on, and photo #2 which shows the gasket off you can see how the design on the back of the speaker helps you position the gasket in the proper way.  Positioning the gasket correctly assures waterproof tightness of speaker. And it works! I put the speaker  under the faucet for a test, then dried the outside, and re-opened the gasket - it was completely dry.

Photo #3 shows the speaker upside down. The bottom of the speaker is 2.5 inches wide and has some textured, so the speaker stands very securely with a good balance.

Photo #4 shows the back of the speaker with a gasket on the leash. Initially I was not going to use the leash, as the speaker looks better without it when the gasket is closed. However, when I used it with an MP3 with an audio cable I misplaced the gasket. After finding it, it was immediately leashed!

Photo #6 shows the top of the unit. From the left:
- The first button is a power button, it is green when the unit is turned on. When you turn it on it generate 1 short beep to indicate it is on.
- The second (blue) button is bluetooth. When you want to pair the speaker with the device you press the button, the light will flash quickly and beep twice to indicate that the speaker awaits pairing. At this point you can go into bluetooth setting on your device and connect. Photo #7 shows "EXOXGEAR" appearing on my Galaxy 7.7 tablet. Once the device and the speaker are paired the speaker will issues 2 short beeps and the blue light stops flashing, when the unit is paired the color is steady blue.  Photo #4 shows power on and bluetooth on state of the unit.
- The third button (red) is battery indicator. When this button is red in indicates that the unit is charging, when it turns green it means the charging is completed and the unit is fully charged.  Photo #6 was taken when the unit is charging. Note this is another situation where the gasket is off and a leash is handy.
- The forth button (with plus/minus labels) is the volume button. One short beep is issued when the maximum volume is reached.  To reach the absolute loudest volume possible both the device and the speaker should be at maximum level.
- The fifth button can be used to answer phone calls if the speaker is paired with the  phone. You can listen to the caller on the speaker and talk over the built-in microphone. 

Photo #8 shows me holding one of the handy handles on the speaker.  Each size of the speaker has a handle. Pretty handy!

CHARGING TIP:
-------------------------
The unit can be charged while playing the music. However, if you plug in a charger while the speaker is playing the speaker will turn off.  You need to turn it on again, as well as re-enable bluetooth connection.  The first time it happened I thought I could not charge the speaker and listen to it at the same time, but it is possible if you restart the speaker.

The charging colors on the speaker (red for charging, green for full) are lit only when the charging cable is connected. If charging cable is disconnected the status of the battery is not shown..


Often I get extra insight into a gadget by reading the manufacturer's warnings.  Here is the complete list of ECOXGEAR speakers manufacture's warnings:

Manufacture's CARE, MAINTENANCE & PRECAUTIONS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.    Although the unit is waterproof when the CAP is properly closed, the unit is NOT designed for use under water. Do NOT intentionally submerge the unit underwater.
2.    Close the CAP properly before use.  If the unit is placed in water
without the cap properly closed, water may enter into the unit and void your warranty.
3.    Dry unit completely before opening the cap. Do NOT open the cap if wet or in a wet environment.
4.    Do NOT apply excessive force to any surfaces of the unit when wet or in a wet environment.
5.    Do NOT use or store the unit in places with high temperature.
6.    AVOID direct exposure to sunlight and strong magnetic fields.
7.    Periodically check the rubber seal ring on the cap for premature wear.
8.    Periodically clean the rubber seal ring with a soft moist cloth and ensure no objects such as dirt,
hair, sand are on the rubber seal ring. Do NOT use any oily solvent or chemicals for cleaning.
9.    Rinse off the unit with tap water after use in salt water or swimming pool.
10.    Power the unit using the built-in rechargeable battery for portable use and connect the USB cord
to a computer USB connection or to an AC outlet using the AC-to-USB cord adapter to charge unit.
11.    Noise and audio distortion may occur when the batteries are nearing end of charge.
12.    Do NOT remove the built-in battery. Do NOT remove the grill cover.

I received Grace Digital ECOXGEAR speakers 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.  If you have any questions on features I covered I am always happy to answer comments.

Overall, I am pleased with the speaker. It provides rich sounds and extends the use of my electronic devices to area I could not reach before.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


The speaker is available in three finishes black (shown in my photos), orange and red.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: PowerGen Dual Port USB 2.1A 10W AC Travel Wall Charger with Nexus 7 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet, and Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone, and SanDisk Sansa Clip+ player

I tested PowerGen Dual Port USB 2.1A 10W AC Travel Wall Charger with Nexus 7 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet, and Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone, and SanDisk Sansa Clip+ player.
I received PowerGen wall and car chargers 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 numbers 1 through 5 that I will be referencing in this review.

The first thing I noticed that this wall charger is fairly small, it takes up only one slot on the extension cord. Photos #1 and #4 show this plug on two different power strips.

The plug has two ports labeled "A" and "NA" which stands for Apple and Non-Apple devices. I own all Android devices but I tested both ports to see their behavior with my devices. The charger comes without a USB cord, so tested it with the USB cords that came with my devices.

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) Samsung Galaxy 7.7 cannot be charged with this wall charger with either port
(2) "A" port provides reduced power for some non-Apple devices and does not work for others
*** Update 1/9/2013 ***
I repeated the test with Nexus 7 running Jelly Bean 4.21 and both ports are now charging it at AC rate.  The original test which showed poor performance on Apple port was Nexus 7 running Jelly Bean 4.1.
I also retested Galaxy Nexus Phone running CyanogenMod 10.1 version of Jelly Bean 4.21, but it showed no improvement. It still gets only USB charging rate on Apple port.

The table below summarizes my findings:

Nexus 7 Tablet (photo #4 and #5, note that the left port is labeled "A" and the right port is labeled "NA")
--------------
A port  -- discharging (Nexus 7 running Jelly Bean 4.1.)
A port  -- AC (Nexus 7 running Jelly Bean 4.21)
NA port  -- AC
Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone
--------------------------
A port -- USB
NA port -- AC

Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7
--------------------------
A port -- discharging
NA port -- discharging

SanDisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player
------------------------------
A port -- charged at USB rate
NA port -- charged at AC rate

The behavior with Nexus devices was consistent and good on "NA" port. Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone gets USB rate on Apple "A" port.  After upgrade to Jelly Bean 4.21 Nexus 7 gets AC rate on both ports.

Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7 did not work (was discharging) in both ports.

The MP3 player worked in both ports, but as USB rate in "A" port and at "AC" rate in in "NA" port. When I charge Sansa MP3 with a standard AC charger (photo #3), the MP3 player goes into charging mode, displaying the charging animated icon, the MP3 content is not played. When MP3 was plugged into the PowerGen plug (photo #3) 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.

To summarize:

I liked:
---------
1. Good behavior with Nexus devices.
2. Solution for MP3 player with built-in battery
3. Can charge two devices (but one at a reduced rate for non-Apple devices)

I did not like:
--------------
1. Did not work with for my Samsung Galaxy tablet
2. For non-Apple devices one port has less power or does not work
3. For non-Apple devices the less useful plug takes up a little extra room

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review:PowerGen Dual USB 3.1A 15w High Output Car Charger review for use with Nexus 7 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet, and Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone, and SanDisk Sansa Clip+ player

I tested PowerGen Dual Port USB Car Charger with Nexus 7 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet, and Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone, and SanDisk Sansa Clip+ player.  My original test  for Nexus devices was using Jelly Bean 4.1, I repeated the tests for Jelly Bean 4.21 and saw a significant difference.  I updated this review to show the differences between two releases.
I received PowerGen car charger 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 3 photos labeled with numbers 1 through 3 under customer photos that I will be referencing in this review.

The first thing I noticed that this car charger is fairly short (3 inches in length, 1 inch by 1 2/8 in width). Photos #1 shows this plug plugged in.

The plug has two ports labeled "A" and "NA" which stands for Apple and Non-Apple devices. I own all Android devices but I tested both ports to see their behavior with my devices. The charger comes without a USB cord, so tested it with the USB cords that came with my devices.

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) Samsung Galaxy 7.7 cannot be charged with this car charger with either port
(2) "A" port provides reduced power for some non-Apple devices and does not work for others
*** Update 1/11/2013 ***
I repeated the test with Nexus 7 running Jelly Bean 4.21 and both ports are now charging it at AC rate. The original test which showed poor performance on Apple port was Nexus 7 running Jelly Bean 4.1.
I also retested Galaxy Nexus Phone running CyanogenMod 10.1 version of Jelly Bean 4.21, both ports also show charging at AC rate.


The table below summarizes my findings:

Nexus 7 Tablet
--------------
A port -- discharging (Jelly Bean 4.1)
A port -- AC (Jelly Bean 4.21)
NA port -- AC

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone
--------------------------
A port -- USB (Jelly Bean 4.1)
A port -- AC (Jelly Bean 4.21)
NA port -- AC

Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7 (photo #2 and $3 show Galaxy tablet is running battery app and showing "discharging" on both port)
--------------------------
A port -- discharging
NA port -- discharging

SanDisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player
------------------------------
A port -- charged at USB rate
NA port -- charged at AC rate

The behavior with Nexus devices was consistent and good on "NA" port. After upgrade to Jelly Bean 4.21 both Nexus devices are charging at AC rate on the Apple port.

Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7 did not work (was discharging) in both ports.

The MP3 player worked in both ports, but as USB rate in "A" port and at "AC" rate in in "NA" port. When I charge Sansa MP3 with a standard AC charger (photo #3), the MP3 player goes into charging mode, displaying the charging animated icon, the MP3 content is not played. When MP3 was plugged into the PowerGen plug (photo #3) 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.

To summarize:

I liked:
---------
1. Good behavior with Nexus devices.
2. Solution for MP3 player with built-in battery
3. Can charge two devices (but one at a reduced rate for non-Apple devices)

I did not like:
--------------
1. Did not work with for my Samsung Galaxy tablet
2. (Not applicable after upgrade to Jelly Bean 4.21) For non-Apple devices one port has less power or does not work
3. (Not applicable after upgrade to Jelly Bean 4.21) For non-Apple devices the less useful plug takes up a little extra room

Overall, after upgrade to Jelly Bean 4.21 this plug has an excellent performance on both ports for Android devices.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: PowerGen Mobile Juice Pack 5200mAh External Battery Pack High Capacity

I tested PowerGen Mobile Juice Pack 5200mAh External Battery Pack with Nexus 7 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet, and Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone, and SanDisk Sansa Clip+ player.
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 6 photos labeled with number 1 through 6  that I will be referencing in this review.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the package is that brick looks slick and well made. Its dimensions are 3.66" x 1.69" x 0.87" (smaller than a deck of cards). Photo #1 has it next to a pen for size reference.

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, Samsun 20 pin, LG, SONY Ericsson). 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 #1 where the cable is shown with the adapter 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 5400mAh PowerGen has one USB outlet. I tested my four electronic devices using both my own USB cable as well as the manufacture cable+adapter.

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 mentions Samsung Galaxy and does not explicitly state that Galaxy Tablets are not supported so I hoped it would work, but it did not.

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) Using PowerGen cables vs generic cables that came with my devices made a difference.

(2) Samsung Galaxy 7.7 cannot be charged with this battery pack

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 #2 and #3)
--------------
Regular cable -- discharging
PowerGen cable -- AC

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone (photo #4 and #5)
--------------------------
Regular cable -- USB
PowerGen cable -- AC

Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7 (photo #6)
--------------------------
Regular cable -- discharging
PowerGen cable -- no adapter, cannot be used

SanDisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player
------------------------------
Regular cable -- works (USB rate)
PowerGen cable -- works (AC rate)


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 Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone with 3800 mAh super battery Trexcell Samsung Galaxy Nexus 3800mah got charged from 81% to 100% in less than 2 hours. The charging started at 3:18pm, at 5 pm it was at full charge. It stayed at 100% with the battery going down to about 3/4 full when I checked at 9 pm. At 6:15 pm the next day (27 hours later) the phone was at 100% and the battery pack was down to 1 light (25% full).  Finally, at 8pm the next day last light on the battery pack went off, and the phone began discharging. Pretty good!


Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.7 did not work (was discharging) with this external power pack. I got slightly better results with 8400mAh power pack (for details see my review of PowerGen 8400mAh).

The MP3 player recognized the power pack, however it behaved differently than charging from AC recharger.
When I charge Sansa MP3 with a standard AC charger, the MP3 player goes into charging mode, displaying the charging animated icon, the MP3 content is not played. When MP3 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 turned out to be immediately useful, as 30 minutes after I finished testing 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:
---------
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:
--------------
1. The multiple piece connectors are flimsy and easy to loose. I already ordered a one piece replacement.
2. Documentation are hard to read: it is in microscopic font and written in broken English.
3. Did not work with for my Samsung 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.


11/12/2012 Update:

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 for Nexus devices.

I also just finished testing and wrote a review of the new 6000mAh PowerGen power pack which similar to this one.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

From product description this external battery is compatible with:
Apple:iPhone 4S / iPhone 4 / iPhone 3GS/ ipod touch/classic/nano/ iPad/ iPad 2 [OEM CABLE REQUIRED]
HTC Sensation XE XL / Thunderbolt / EVO 3D / EVO 4G / Incredible S / Evo Shift 4g
Samsung Galaxy S 2 / Epic 4G / Galaxy S 4G / Galaxy Nexus
Blackberry Curve / Storm 2 / Tour Style / Bold
Motorola Atrix / Bionic / Droid X , X2, 2 , 3, 4, Pro , R2D2 / triumph
Nokia N900 / N8 / N97 / C6 / C3 C7 / E7 / X6
LG Optimus , 2x , V , S , T / Quantum / Vortex
Sony Experia ARC Arc / Neo / Play / Mini
Amazon Kindle Fire, and all other kindles
Others Nook Color, NDS, Portable Wifi, PSP (NOT compatible with PSP vista)

Product review: PowerGen Mobile Juice Pack 8400mAh External Battery Pack High Capacity Power Bank

I tested I 8400mAh PowerGen external battery pack with Nexus 7 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy 7.7 Tablet, and Samsung Galaxy Nexus cell phone, and SanDisk Sansa Clip+ player.
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)
--------------
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:
---------
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:
--------------
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