Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPod; iPhone 1G, 3G (Black)
by Kensington
|
List Price: Our Price: $23.30 You Save: $26.69 (53%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $7.99 (click here) Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPod; iPhone 1G, 3G (Black)
Customer Review: *Excellent*
Summary: 5 Stars
wow this battery is amazing because just in 40 minutos the iPhone 3G is full of charger!!!!Customer Review: Love this charger
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had several ipod and iphone chargers and this one is by far the easiest one to use.Customer Review: Great live saver.
Summary: 5 Stars
Love it, but i have to take the cover out on my iphone to use it, but it saves your day.Customer Review: A very good spare iPhone battery for the price
Summary: 4 Stars
There are a lot of so-called "extended" batteries out there for the iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3G S. I was running into issues with my iPhone 3G battery being almost dead after only a few hours of heavy use. I decided to research this for use on one of my vacations, since that seems to be the time when you are away from consistent power the most.
My search ended at the Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPhone and iPod. It is a very compact, lightweight battery that can be plugged into the dock port on an iPhone or iPod for some extra juice.
There are other batteries on the market, namely the Richard Solo 1800, which gets consistently high ratings. But my problem with that battery is the cost (typically double the price of this one) and the fact that it's so bulky on the phone. This battery can be attached to your iPhone and you can still talk on it without looking totally foolish. That's a good feature in my opinion.
The manufacturer of the product, Kensington, claims that this device extends play time up to 30 hours of music or 6 hours of video (on iPod nano 3G) or 3 hours of talk (on iPhone). I never really have scientifically tested these claims, as my purpose for buying this wasn't to extend my talk time on my iPhone, it was more to be able to keep using it as an internet browsing tablet for long after the regular battery dies, and for that this accomplishes the task well. The Kensington battery charged my iPhone 3G from nearly dead to 70% charge within a short amount of time. That's a decent amount of extra juice to work with, and totally worth the money to have an emergency battery such as this around.
The packaging is sparse, but includes a retractable USB charging cable (it uses the standard "mini" USB connection) and can be charged off any standard USB port. It also includes a cover for the battery connector, which doubles as a sort of stand you can use to keep your iPhone or iPod Touch standing up to watch movies. I have yet to bother trying this, but it's a neat little touch.
Overall, this is the best battery for the iPhone 3G I could find that is also portable and cheap. I've been using mine for a few months now, and I'd highly recommend it if you're looking for a spare emergency battery solution that isn't gigantic and has a decent amount of juice to recharge your iPhone with.
Customer Review: Quality Issues Can Be a Concern
Summary: 4 Stars
(UPDATED): Kensington finally made good on providing a second battery to replace the defective unit. It took them a month and half to get it to me due to the item being on eternal back order. I can now report that the replacement unit works very well and I am very pleased with the product.
The Kensington mini battery pack for iPhone is at first glance a nicely designed accessory for iPhone to provide much needed power for the power-hungry iPhone. The battery is sleek and compact and fits well to the phone just as advertised and overall seems to be a decent product.
My final verdict, however, will be determined by the actions of Kensington in how they ultimately resolve the issue that the mini battery pack I purchased is defective. The battery never fully charges even though the power indicator shows a full charge. The instant you plug it into the iPhone the blue indicator light drops to the middle light showing only a 66% charge on the battery. Kensington Tech Support has confirmed that that is not normal and that the battery is defective. They told me they were shipping me a new battery and that it would arrive in 10 to 12 business days. It has now been 15 days and I have not received anything in the mail from them. I have contacted them again and hopefully will get the situation resolved soon. So far they have been very prompt and courteous in every manner, so it is a bit frustrating that they have not fulfilled their promise of delivering a new battery replacement. I will update this post with the final outcome as it unfolds.
To conclude, assuming you pick up a unit that is not defective, it would appear that the mini battery pack lives up to the claims and is indeed a good fit for the iPhone. I still recommend it at this time as I don't think my situation is apparently all that common. Would be interesting to hear if anyone else has had a run in with a defective battery pack.