Revolve Electronics xeMini USB Charger and Battery Backup for iPod Review

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I find the Revolve xeMini to be very handy. I have a non-Apple phone and an iPod, and now I don't have to take two separate chargers around with me when I travel. The fact that it doubles as an emergency backup battery makes this infinitely more convenient than just bringing a charger along... Just keeping this thing charged and with me means my devices won't ever die at inconvenient times. The solar charging feature is a little added peace of mind for situations when plugging in isn't an option, or I just want to be a little "greener." I've seen some of the other reviews bashing the solar side of this, but I think they may have missed the point--solar charging is not the primary function, it is simply an added perk to be used along with wall charging as a little green boost. Considering the amount of energy it takes to charge a smartphone these days, you can't really expect a little solar panel to be the only source of power here.

The construction seems very solid to me... The review that said it warped in the car at 85 degrees probably didn't take into account the fact that the interior of a car heats up to a much higher temperature than the outside, meaning the temperature in the car was likely well above 100 degrees (the instruction manual specifies to avoid temperatures above 104).

I love the look of the unit, and appreciate that the packaging is made from recycled/recyclable materials (plus the company donates a portion of its profits to green causes every year). It's nice to see a company that actually seems to care about being as environmentally responsible as possible.

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Okay, so I splurged and got this $70 solar/AC/USB charger. I thought it was a very good "concept" product, and it looked really solid. That is where this fantasy ends...

First of all, it's made in China. For $70, at least make the damn thing in USA.

The bamboo and plastic composite is a nice "green" "idea". Notice I say "idea" cause this plastic is BRITTLE. Meaning, I would hate to find out what would happen if I dropped it. When I opened the battery cover, the latch sheared off into the unit. Now I have a battery door that doesn't latch.

The solar charger is more of a nice emergency "gimmicK" than anything.

The 2200mah charged my 1400mah battery from 20% to full, and that was about it. FAIL!

The ONLY thing this has going for it, is that everything is compact and is one complete unit. As in, A/C charger, battery is all in one unit. The other solar chargers have to have an external AC charger.

PRO:

replaceable battery

solar charger

AC charger built in

2200 mah battery

CON:

even though battery can be replaced, your battery cover latch will shear off

solar needs like 13+hours in the sun to fully charge

AC charger hard to plug into the wall

Was only able to charge my battery from 20% to full, and I have a 1400mah battery

If any of you disagree, just open the battery door cover. I guarentee it'll just shear right off. Would you buy a Ferrari and be Ok with a trunk latch that won't close? I think not....

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I admit I got pretty excited reading the very positive reviews on this product. I even went to their web site and read the instruction manual for this product. Every thing seemed really high quality with the web site, instructions and their "philosophy" on this product and their company. When I received the product I was impressed with the minimal packaging and the overall quality feel of the device. I was really excited.

I first charged the device via AC then proceeded to use it to charge up my iPhone 4. I would say it charged from empty to 100% and then ran out of juice. ...This is when the trouble began. I decided to try out the solar panel charger and left the device on my car dash for about one hour one sunny morning. The outside temperature was probably 80-85 F. When I came back after an hour, I was horrified to find that the case had warped pretty severely and the device was extremely hot (I think the battery inside was generating some heat). The top and bottom pieces are separating from the case and warped up and the front is slightly warped towards the solar panels....worst of all, NO charge on the battery. I then took it to work and left it for days near a window of my climate controlled office...no charging at all......I wish I could return this but I threw the box away so its a $70 lessons learned for me.

For something that is "designed" to be charged in the sun, they should have made the product more resilient to sunlight heat.

Buyer beware.

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LOOOOVE IT!!! I looked at all the portable chargers out there and finally decided to get the Revolve xeMini, mostly because of the battery power which is a 2200mah and the small compact pocket size... I couldn't find this on any other charger... Also the actual unit has a plug on the back that flips out and can be plugged directly into the wall without having another messy cable to deal with! Charged it up over nite and was able to charge my iPhone 4 two full times from 0% to 100% and it still had a little juice left (It literally charged my phone super fast as if it was plugged into the wall)... The solar panel takes a little bit longer to charge but Im going camping this weekend and it will be indispensable since I cant charge the phone in the car unless the keys are in it and the engine is on... I'm getting a second one to put in my Emergency Kit... Highly Recommended!

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So, I used this on a 4 day bike trip I just did and was not happy with its performance. I charged it up prior to starting the ride on the first day. I had it attached to my phone as I was running the gps for guidance and it worked rather well more than doubling my phones battery capacity. The next 3 days, two of which were bright sun light, I had it exposed for over 10 hours (where the status light stated it was charging) and it never stored enough energy to charge my phone at all. Needless to say, it didn't do what I needed it to. This unit is good for battery back up when charged with any other source but sunlight.