Review of Aluratek APB04F Dual USB 10000mAh External Battery Pack

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List Price: $74.99
Sale Price: $73.19
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Now that we're seeing the beginnings of the first true 4G mobile networks, smartphones and tablets are becoming an increasingly integral part of many people's daily lives. Whereas it's pretty commonplace to sit down somewhere with your laptop plugged in while you work, modern tablets and smartphones allow us to do our computing and gaming on-the-go. Even with the advances in battery technology and power-saving LED displays, it's tough for the average user to make it through a full day on their mobile device without running out of juice.

Enter devices like this -at 5000mAh, it's got enough power to completely charge most smartphones 2-3 times. Even running 4G and watching streaming videos on your phone, you can comfortably be away from the charger for a couple days without having to worry. It'll also give you about a 75% boost on your tablet battery (iPad 2 battery is just shy of 7000 mAh).

This device is fairly portable -a little bulkier than a kit-kat bar -and should fit easily into your purse or backpack... I wouldn't really want to carry it in my pocket, but I guess it'd fit fair easily into a zippered jacket pocket or something. Once you add in the necessary cable, though, it can start getting sorta bulky.

Speaking of bulk, one thing that sorta bugged me about this device was the proprietary charging cable. So many devices nowadays are mini-USB. It's nice having a standard plug. Why, then, do you have to use some weird DC adapter to charge this portable battery? It already comes with a mini-USB cable for use with smartphones and such -just let it charge with that! Since this device must be charged using the proprietary USB-to-DC plug, if you happen to lose it, you're done. Sorta sucks. For this reason (and for the added portability) I'd prefer to stick with a smaller charger like the Belkin F8M158tt Power Pack 1000. Sure, it doesn't have quite the same capacity, but how often are you really going to be needing several days' worth of portable charge on your smartphone in between opportunities to plug it into a wall outlet or USB port?

Anyway, this is a decent device. It comes with a whole range of adapters that allow you to plug it into your smartphone, normal phone iPad / iPod, etc. It's got great capacity but suffers from being a bit bulkier than lower-capacity battery units and a proprietary charge cable. While this could be a good workhorse for iPad users, I'm thinking of these types of devices as being primarily used to extend the life of smartphones for folks on-the-go. As such, this is just a little too bulky to be practical for my daily use. I'd give it a higher rating but the DC charge cable bugs me.

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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program My first review of this product would have been an enthusiastic 5 star recommendation; however, having had it for a few months I have found a massive drawback a faulty USB cable. I contacted the company to see if they would send me a new one, and indeed they would if I paid 10 dollars for the cable and 9.95 in shipping. Needless to say I was not amendable to doing that.

When I originally received this item, I didn't use it right off as I never found that I was able to drain my Samsung Infuse cell phone or IPod touch 4th gen completely of batteries and find myself no where near a charger. I kept it in my purse just in case, and I did find myself needing it when I traveled extensively in November for both business and pleasure. First I found myself taking many pictures, and sending those pictures to Facebook, draining my cell of battery when I visited Walt Disney World. I was very lucky to have had this to charge my cell while we took a break for lunch or dinner. Secondly, when I traveled to Denver on business from Boston, I found I had forgotten to charge my IPod before I left. Having this in my purse was a Godsend for the 5 hour flight! After these experiences I became diligent about keeping the external battery pack charged, just in case.

Unfortunately, the USB cable (and its' attachments to charge my cell and Ipod) went dead in January as I was on the road for business again. I was unimpressed by the lack of customer service and how long it took them to get back to me only to tell me that I would have to shell out 20 dollars for a replacement cable. My work around for this is inconvenient, but it works I carry an IPod and USB mini cable with the battery to be able to use it to charge when needed. This is unwieldy, but again it works. The battery still works fabulously, so I will rate this at 3 stars for that, but be aware of the 0 star customer service and usb cable.

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You can read all the specific details pertaining to this device in all the other reviews. I just wanted to correct the misconception that it will only charge via a computer USB port. This is not true. I used my HP Touchpad charger and it worked perfectly. This battery pack requires a charger capable of 1.3 amps. The iPhone charger only is .5amps (I believe). Any aftermarket charger that provides a higher current should work fine.

Only reason I am not making this a 5 star item is for the slight bulkiness of the pack. At the discounted price it can not be beat.

Honest reviews on Aluratek APB04F Dual USB 10000mAh External Battery Pack

I bought this product reading some of the good reviews and for the price it should have worked too. The first charge went well although it ran out of power just after charging my smartphone only once. That was not a good sign. The next time I tried to charge my cellphone with it, it kept switching off and would need to be turned ON multiple times manually. I give it two stars because of its looks and light-weight design. May be it was my bad luck but i returned it asap.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Aluratek APB04F Dual USB 10000mAh External Battery Pack

I was surprised how heavy and bulky the product is; it feels more like NiCd than Lithium Battery technology.

Charging this device also takes longer than expected despite the 5V-2A AC-charger that I use...

The device doesn't have any rubber feet on the bottom, so it will slide around on a smooth surface when used in on plane etc. If placed in a pocket, bag or suitcase etc, the on/off switch is easily touched accidently. Tip: Use some (white) sugru to add feet and a ring around the power switch.

Also don't be fooled about the capacity: Just because its capacity says 8000mA/h doesn't mean you get 8000mA/h charge out of it: As always in life, you can't transfer energy without having any loss. If you charge an electric device with this product, it will first convert the stored chemical energy into electrical energy and then your cellphone/table will convert it back into chemical energy. Therefore expect to lose about 30% of the stored energy when charging your cellphone/tablet with it.

For comparison: I was able to fully charge my cellphone's battery (1850mA/h =6.85Wh/3.7V) only 2 1/2 times with this product.