Overall Design:The design is very portable. Enclosed in a sturdy enclosure and easy to carry in your purse or pocket. There is even a slot for attaching a lanyard to tie it your backpack. The material is hard acrylic and feels somewhat solid. It looks that will take some average amount of abuse and will still be functional.
Flashlight & lantern feature:The included flash light is very bright & useful. There are two lanterns that provides plenty of light in emergency situations which are natural color bright LEDs (Total of 8 LEDs) - These are very good and lasts a very long time from a fully charged state.
Pressing the (*) button once will activate the super bright white Flashlight, Pressing the same button second time will activate one Lantern and pressing the same button third time will activate two Lanterns. Pressing again will turn the two lanterns off.
Lantern details:
2 x 4-Natural Color LED Duration:
24 Hours (1 Lantern continuous use)
12 Hours (2 Lantern continuous use)
Flashlight details:
1 X 1W super bright White LED
Brightness: about 160 Lumens
Duration: 36 Hours (continuous use)
Charging & Discharging:
Built-in Lithium Ion battery is rated for 2,400mAH
Input Power: 5V/500mAH
Output Power: 5V/800mAH (MAX)
This unit will take about 5-6 hours to fully charge and will indicate so by changing the 'RED' charging indicator LED to green color. It does not have any on-demand battery status indicator. Charging is done via Micro USB port (cable is included) The patented 'smart jack' provides the power Output: USB 5V (1A compatible but can deliver only about 800mAh Max) Average Cell Phone Charging Time was about... 60 ~ 90 Minutes.
In my observation, During discharging to the attached cellphone the unit itself got warm. This is natural as long as it stays that way. But that also tells me some of the stored energy is lost as heat and may not be very efficient. Assuming that the unit will perform at 76% efficiency the total usable capacity of 2,400mAh will be around 1,800mAh which can be delivered to attached USB devices.
Based on these assumptions, You can probably charge most cellphones may be 'once' or 'twice' at maximum before the unit needs recharging. BTW, This cannot be used to charge tablets or any other power hungry USB devices as it is not powerful enough to deliver the required amps.
The unit also has a tendency to keep the 'DC-DC' converter running (when you have USB cable plugged into the SMART JACK) sort of intermittently when the built-in 2,400mAH battery gets low. In this state of low charge some cellphones will either beep or vibrate because it detects a DC 'power loss' situation. The manual says that you must disconnect immediately and must recharge the PN-1 internal battery as soon as possible.
The manufacturer claims that the unit can maintain it's charge for one full year! - This is a very bold claim. I can only theorize that once the USB cable is removed from the Smart Jack the 'DC-DC' converter turns off and there no phantom current drain thereby allowing the battery to remain fully charged for up-to a year. I have not yet tried to verify that claim.
Bottomline:
This is very portable and gets the job done in emergencies. However, this does not have enough power allowing you to keep your cellphone charged for multiple times. The Flashlight and lantern features are very nice.
The initial price offering is way too high. I am sure the price will come down making this very affordable useful device to have for emergency use.
If you need a more powerful portable charger in the same price range give PowerGen 12000mAh External Battery Pack a try. This unit has good reviews and is a very good alternative.
You can get one of these from Amazon by using the link below:
Datexx Power Now USB Mobile Battery Charge with Smart Jack and LED Lantern
Cheers!
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