This week, I have a handful of great gadgets to review that I have been using over the last several weeks. If you’ve ever run out of power on a mobile device – then you’ll definitely want to read on. Likewise, if your fingers have ever gotten tired of tapping on hard glass, then you’ll also want to check out a couple of great mobile accessories. There’s five devices in total and I bet at least one would be great for you! Read on and see!
Item: Monoprice External Battery Pack 9531
Price: $38.92
What It Is and Why I Love It: External, portable battery back with 9,000 mAh of power for any mobile gadget needing USB power. This thing is a beast, packing tons of power and 2.1A which is enough for high-speed charging of even power hungry devices like large tablets. Considering most mobile phones have battery capacities of around 1,500-2,000 mAh, this packs enough power to charge most phones four full cycles from completely dead. LED lights indicate remaining power and it comes with a fantastic carry case. This is a solidly built battery and looks great as well. Offering almost as much power as the Jackery Giant ($60) that we reviewed a few weeks ago, on a per mAh basis, you can’t beat the price tag of this Monoprice offering. Not only does the battery charge your devices quickly, it can be recharged itself in a relatively short time period.
But… There’s a couple things to know about this battery pack. There’s only one USB out so you are limited to one device charging at a time. Also, unlike the Jackery Giant, the battery is not recharged with the USB cable. There is an AC cable that comes with the devices so you have to keep that with you to recharge it. It fits nicely in the travel case but just something else to remember. At about 10 oz, it is not exactly heavy, but not something you’d likely want to carry in your pocket.
Bottom Line Fantastic battery and great value packing tons of power in a well built package perfect for long trips, festivals, camping, or when away from power for extended periods.
[Monoprice External Battery 9531]
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Item: Monoprice Battery pack 9752
Price: $15.96
What It Is and Why I Love It: Another external battery pack that can power your mobile device. This is almost the same size and weight as the Jackery Mini ($30) but half the cost at $15.96 and same power of 2,600 mAh. This should get you a full cycle of a phone charge, basically doubling the life of your phone. The beauty of this one is the form factor and weight – small enough to slip in your front pocket or travel bag. (About the same size as a stick of lipstick). It recharges with a standard USB cable so there’s no additional cable to carry. My kids have been happily using 9752 for a few weeks with pretty rough and tumble handling and it seems to be holding up perfectly fine. There’s a small carrying pouch included but it is so convenient to carry that you’ll likely not even use it. Like the Jackery Mini, this sports an extremely bright LED flashlight that can light up a room or a dark path for hours on end.
Bottom Line: Again, the bang for the buck is tough to beat on this one making it a great companion to bring along to concerts, day at the beach, hiking or any other event that taxes your battery life on your phone. With the reasonable price, may as well grab two!
[Monoprice 9752]
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Item: Zero Lemon Battery
Price: $30
What It Is and Why I Love It: Extended battery for select mobile phones. WHOA! This thing is AWESOME! Remember the halcyon days when you never really had to think about charging your phone? And you only had to charge it every few days? Welcome back to those times with the ZeroLemon battery. Currently it is only available for Samsung Galaxy SIII, Galaxy Nexus and Note II with plans for other devices such as Samsung Galaxy S4 and LG Optimus Pro G. These batteries offer a massive increase in built in capacity. For example, the SGSIII battery has 7000 mAh which is more than triple the factory installed battery. The battery comes with a TPU case that acts as both a back and edge protector that feels great in the hand.
Keep in Mind: Like most extended batteries, the ZeroLemon adds some depth to your phone. I’m not sure it is the same design with every device, but at least with the SGSIII the shape is actually unique. Unlike some other extended batteries like the Q-Cell or Hyperion, this is not just a thick battery shape. The battery fits not only the battery compartment, but extends all the way up the back of the phone to just about the camera lens. This way, it can offer the extraordinary capacity without being terribly thick. Innovative design for sure.
Bottom Line: This is a new company based in Cheyenne, WY with some exciting new products and more coming. If you have a device that has a ZeroLemon battery offered, I highly recommend it if you can live with a couple extra millimeters. For me, this is an impossibly easy trade off to decide upon. To get about three days of battery life and not constantly having to be worried about power is a Godsend. And at the price, roughly $30, you can buy a backup to keep charged and have nearly a week of power. Amazon, the only retailer right now, might be out of stock as demand has been extraordinary. Keep checking back. Well worth the wait and investment.
[ZeroLemon Battery f0r SGSIII]
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Item: Sensu Artist Brush and Stylus
Price: $39.99
What It Is and Why I Love It: A stylus that sports both a rubberized, soft tip and an artist’s brush with capacitive bristles for use on touch screens. When not using the brush side, it is protected by a large cap that transforms the stylus into a 7″ paint brush. Both sides of the device work fantastically well. The soft spongy tip when using as a stylus is one of the most comfortable and best performing devices I’ve used. The screens that I tested it on, iPad, iTouch, Galaxy Tab and SGSIII all responded extremely well. The weight is just right in your hand and it looks great to match. The real magic though is in the brush side. The bristles give you the responsiveness of using a real brush. It is ultra enjoyable gliding the brush across the screen and it works exceedingly well. I am about the furthest thing possible from an artist, but am constantly coloring floor plans and other types of similar documents for work. After a few minutes using your finger, it can be irritable and raw when having to color or paint large areas. The Sensu brush makes the process a breeze no matter if you need ultra-thin detail work all the way up to broad strokes. Artists will no doubt love to use this for any creative work, but really anyone needing both a responsive brush and stylus should consider picking this up.
Bottom Line: An extremely well made stylus and brush that simply feels great in your hand with perfect balance and weight. The stylus side is perfect for tapping on keyboards, playing games, editing photos or really any other time you’d have to tap your screen. The brush side is ideal for artists or anyone needing to use apps where you need to color or draw.
[Sensu Artist Brush and Stylus]
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Item: Touchfire iPad Keyboard
Price: $49.95
What It Is and Why I Love It: A flexible, transparent, silicone-rubber keyboard that lays over your iPad screen and works with all full sized iPad versions. This thing is pretty cool and works amazingly well. The ultra-light (less than half an ounce) and thin rubber keyboard snaps perfectly into position with the use of magnets. The soft and comfortable keys give just the perfect amount of resistance and cushion for typing. Without the Touchfire, I loathe to type much more than short texts or Tweets on the flat, hard tablet. With the Touchfire, I was happily composing long emails, Word documents and pretty much anything else I’d do on my laptop. It really gives the sensation of using a real keyboard and makes sense for people who are used to “touch typing”. Likely, if you are a hunt and peck typer and only use your index finger, there will not be much value here. However, if you like quickly finding the home row (the F & J keys have small bumps to quickly locate them), and typing fast with two hands- you’ll love the Touchfire. It rolls up nicely and hides away when you don’t need it and doesn’t need batteries, power or Bluetooth.
Bottom Line: A great iPad keyboard for touch typists that makes typing much more comfortable and fast.
[Touchfire Keyboard]
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Well that’s it this week! Two great batteries with unbelievable performance and value from Monoprice, mobile phone batteries from ZeroLemon that will blow you away with capacity, an artist brush and stylus from Sensu that is one of the best stylus’ out there, and an iPad keyboard from Touchfire that will change the way you type on an iPad. Hope you found something that piques your interest.
Winner: Last week we reviewed the great RHA-SA950i Headphones and offered a pair for a lucky reader! MikeK, you were randomly picked as the winner! Please contact me with the contact info below to arrange for shipping.
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Hidden Track Technology Tuesday
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twitter: @tmwsiy
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