TECH SPOTLIGHT

Rechargeable battery has pros; iPhone 5 case passes test

The Jackery Mini Rechargeable Battery for Smartphone requires a smart phone with a USB connection. The product retails for $29.95. More information is available at www.jackeryusa.com.
The Jackery Mini Rechargeable Battery for Smartphone requires a smart phone with a USB connection. The product retails for $29.95. More information is available at www.jackeryusa.com.

This week, I’m going to tell you about a new product and revisit one that didn’t do so well with me the first time.

The first is a new product made to help smart-phone users get through the day. It’s the Jackery Mini Rechargeable Battery for Smartphones.

It’s a simple product, an orange battery about 4 inches long. One end has a standard USB and a mini USB port. The mini port uses the included wire to connect the Jackery to a power source, such as a USB power adapter or a computer. The other port is used to connect a smart phone to the Jackery so it can charge the phone.

The same end has a button and a little window on top. Push the button, and four tiny blue lights inside the window let you know how much charge is left in the battery. The lights also blink as the Jackery charges and go solid when it’s finished. The lights also blink when the battery is empty.

The package claims the Jackery can delivery up to 50 hours of added battery life on a full charge. I’m not sure where that calculation came from, unless they mean fully charging a basic smart phone and leaving it idle the rest of the day. You can get a couple of good charges out of it, however, I didn’t get anywhere close to 50 hours. I use my phone a lot, for everything from e-mail to video, so I got about half that time. Still, it was better than searching desperately for a wall socket and lugging around a charger.

That’s one great feature about the Jackery - it’s compact and not terribly heavy, so you can take it with you easily in a purse or pocket. The battery-indicator button doubles as a power switch, so you can leave it off until you need it, even if a phone is attached to it.

The only downside to the Jackery Mini is that it takes about five hours to charge, so don’t expect a quick turnaround if you plug it in because your phone’s battery is low already. I found it was best to just plug it up and leave it overnight. The good news is, it has a long standby time (six months, according to the package), so you can charge it and set it aside until you really need it.

The Jackery Mini is a great product for smart-phone users on the go. It’s a great product for those who can’t quite make it a full day without needing a charge, or those who need an emergency charge while out and about.

Now it’s time to revisit a past item. A couple of weeks ago, I talked about my experience with the Hitcase Pro for iPhone 5. The case claimed to be shockproof, mountable and waterproof. In my tests, it did well on the first two claims, but not so well on the final one. The case leaked in the top corner over the power button.

The makers of the case found the results disturbing, and we talked about my test methods and the results. They asked if I would be willing to take a look at the case again. This time, instead of a prototype case, they would send me one of the retail packaged cases.

I received the case, and once again I performed my tests. The new case didn’t leak at all. The latches were a bit hard to open, but I suspect that has more to do with the fact that it’s a new case.

The screen cover also performed a bit better on this one, though it did miss a couple of letters here and there when I typed.

Basically, you’d just have to type with a bit more force with this.

Upon further discussion and examination, it appears the prototype case’s power button was broken, which allowed it to press farther in than designed and compromise the seal inside. The new case doesn’t have that problem, and I haven’t had any problems with it.

How sure am I of the new one? I was even willing to run the next test - getting the case wet with my phone inside. The case got wet. Thankfully, the phone didn’t.

So whether the first case was a fluke or a design flaw, they seem to have corrected it with the retail version. This case works perfectly.

This isn’t the first time I’ve revisited a product that didn’t do so well the first time.

But this is one of the few that turned around my opinion. I will say this as well - it’s good to see a company care so much about its product that it’s willing to ask for a second chance.

I’ve seen many a company ignore criticism and just keep turning out so-so products. Hitcase definitely is not one of those companies. It’s very refreshing.

Let’s hope the next batch of products does just as well. Melissa L. Jones can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].

Where it’s @

The Jackery Mini Rechargeable Battery for Smartphone requires a smart-phone with a USB connection. The product retails for $29.95. More information is available at www.jackeryusa.com. The Hitcase Pro requires an iPhone 5. The product retails for $129.95. More information is available at www.hitcase.com.

Business, Pages 19 on 04/15/2013

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