As a newbie blogger, I use my phone ALOT. As great as my phone is (love Samsung) between Twitter, Hootsuite, WordPress and Instagram I am normally at thirty percent charge by three in the afternoon. Add to that the fact that I use my phone as a Sat Nav, to play Words with Friends and Candy Crush check emails, text and chat to my mates, – my phone is a portal that connects me to the majority of my online and real life.
So I had been looking at portable chargers for some time, because sometimes, as happened when I was watching Chic in Hyde Park recently, I run out of battery. I had read a lot of reviews and seen a lot of videos about portable power packs and had come to a decision about which one I was going to buy. To be honest, it was not the Belkin 2000 but when I saw it on Amazon for less than fifty percent of the retailers recommended price I had to give it a try.
Belkin do a range of portable chargers. The 1000 for charging mobile phones, the 2000 which I have charges mobiles and smart phones and the 4000 which charges tablets and smart phones.
The 2000 is supplied with one lead which has a micro usb and usb connection which means that you can you can charge your android phone whilst or charge the portable battery with it. but the battery itself has two ends (a micro usb and a usb) which means that if you have another lead with either a micro usb or a usb end, you can charge a variety of equipment.
Belkin, charges my smartphone is about 1.5% per minute which means that it will take about 33 minutes to get to 50% charge which is a level that should make you feel more comfortable than 33% . The charger is slightly sueded in texture likes a NARS compact which collects finger prints and scuffs.
There are two blue lights which show when it is fully charged, if it is half charged, one blue light will show. It needs two blue lights to charge a mobile phone. I tried it with my Samsung Galaxy Tab and it did charge it but at a much slower than my mobile phone. It is significantly smaller than my mobile phone so it fits into many of the now redundant phone pockets in my handbags. It is the size of a much loved phone from Nokia ‘s heyday – the 6300 candybar phone
For me, it is already demonstrated it’s worth. When I broke down, and was waiting for the AA, I was able to charge my phone with the engine off while I waited to be towed.
If you use your phone a lot, or have lots of gadgets that can be charged with a usb cable, this is definitely worth the investment.