Duracell 5 Hour Mobile Phone and MP3 Portable USB Charger Review

Rating: 8.5.

Duracell are universally recognized as being one of the leading manufacturers of battery technology. What many of our readers might not know however is that they also make a range of peripherals to support device charging. Today we are looking at their 5 Hour Portable USB charger, created for mobile phones and portable devices such as MP3 players.

This product is compatible with any USB based charging device, including Blackberry phones, Amazon Kindle, iPhone, iPhone and iPad and mobile phones.

We received a review sample from Duracell, so we weren't supplied with the retail packaging, but as expected it is finished in the traditional black and gold colour scheme instantly associated with the organisation.

The product itself is very stylish – gloss black with gold accenting to highlight various parts of the chassis.

Along the bottom of the charger are two USB ports, allowing it to charge two devices simultaneously.

The flip side of the product is just plain black, although we can see a universal plug adapter socket, allowing the device to be sold in any country.

Above, our UK plug header which slides into the rear of the device.

Duracell supply a single cable with the unit, which has a removable header. This means you can connect it to either micro or mini USB devices without having to carry multiple cables. Just be careful not to lose the header extension!

Above, direct connection to our BlackBerry smartphone via the presupplied cable.

The charger has a built in rechargable battery with a 1800 mAh capacity. There is a button bottom left, which when pressed indicates three levels of charged status from 1-3. Duracell call this the ‘Smart Battery Fuel Gauge'. 1 Bar Solid LED Light = 33% charged – 2 Bars Solid LED lights = 66% charged – 3 Bars Solid LED lights = 100% charged.

Above, the Duracell unit charging both BlackBerry and Apple iPod devices.

In real world terms, the 1800 mAh capacity means you will get enough of a charge to completely recharge your Blackberry phone from flat. Obviously if you connect it to two devices then this will be dramatically reduced. Still, it is meant to be used in an emergency situation so it will certainly help recover a dead phone to allow for several hours of communication. The charger will automatically switch off when a device is fully charged.

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