Charging Dock w/ Four Backup Batteries

Alright, Professor. Can you explain how, when my phone is dead and I plug it into a battery of this type (no, it doesn’t have to be 10,000mAH), the phone ends up charged and the aforementioned battery ends up discharged (to varying degrees)?

The dock is powered through Micro USB Cable

Yes it will charge a smart phone, but the time aspect depends on what phone model you have.

It is 3000 mAh each battery

It is a 1.0 Amp output

Yes there is a cable included!

Iphone 8 please?

So I was right. 1.0 Amp is the max.

absolutely, but that doesn’t mean we were hiding the answer - we simply didn’t know until stevene kindly confirmed it for us today. It’s been added to the item description for future buyers to make sure everyone knows what they’re getting.

even with the slower charge speed, this is still a great value with the backup batteries.

I believe these are a branded version of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078JB69GB/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I’ve bought several of these over the last two year. Out of 3 (12 batteries), two of the batteries have gone bad. They’re of mediocre quality and you may get a bad battery, they frequently don’t seat correctly in the charger, the micro USB port is not affixed to the interior plastic wall of the device well, the exterior USB port may not work. However the idea is very good and even with mediocre build quality it still works, and I’ve still bought several. I would recommend buying at least two sets, especially if you have teens in your house (or adults that behave like teens), since batteries will get misplaced. If you buy two you’ll have at least one that works and extra batteries (which will evaporate like socks in the dryer over time).

This is NOT a charger.

It does not plug into the wall. Rather, it has to be plugged into a charger(via USB/MicroUSB cable). Once plugged in the docked batteries charge from it.

Downside of this is:

  1. you are providing/tying up a port/charger, on your existing equipment
  2. this device can provide at most a total output equal to that of the port you have it plugged into.

The batteries also feel a bit light and think it’s a mostly empty aluminum sleeve with a cheapo LiPo battery pack inside.

Haven’t decided if I will keep it or not. Tried one of the batteries once. Fair charge rate/capacity, but haven’t really pushed it either.

I would like to thank all of my fellow Woot customers for a very entertaining exchange about this product. I don’t work for the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth party vendor, so I have no agenda here. And I don’t intend to purchase this particular item, though I do think there are some other products in this same grouping that might be good deals.

So many technical descriptions of what is really a simple and trivial device were posted, that I ask your indulgence while I try to summarize the most likely facts.

If we divide this product into 5 physical pieces, this is what you have:
4 pieces are generic external batteries/power banks like you find anywhere. They are average size but pretty low in capacity compared to more expensive units. But please note that you are getting 5 pieces of equipment for only $21. So the somewhat low capacity of each power bank can be excused as a tradeoff for each one costing four or five dollars. Like similar products, each power bank has a turn on button, a micro USB port to charge the unit, a status LED, and a USB type A port for connection to your device that you want to charge. There is one special attribute of these four power banks - they also include a connector on the bottom, where they sit in the black charging stand, which allows convenient charging of each power bank by simply placing it into its slot in the base unit. This convenience is not shared with other similar cheap power banks, so its an extra that distinguishes the product.

As for the base unit itself, it is not a charging unit in the conventional sense. It would be more properly though of as a network of extension wires and ports. I would call it a piece of plastic with wires and sockets. It doesn’t convert 120vAC to 5v DC. It relies on an external 5v power supply, thus explaining the micro USB port labeled “In” on the front of the base unit. This also explains why the device can only supply 1 amp at 5 volts. It’s because it relies on some other external 5 volt supply, which may range anywhere from 500ma to 2A. The designers of the unit don’t know how much power it will receive.

I hope this all makes sense. Finally, on a personal note, I would place this in the category of a cheap junk electronic item which has licensed a known brand name in an attempt to gain market acceptance. Despite the “Energizer” letters printed on it, it’s still a cheap junk piece of equipment. But sometimes, that’s all you need!
Peace and long life to you.

Post-sales-event comment: I got one of these and they are complete junk. Woot took care of me, but just want you all to know that either these are complete garbage, or very dated old-new stock.

Two of the battery packs in my set turned out to be useless. One would not charge and started expanding, and the other had leakage signs around the charging-port and seam. Honestly looks like it’s been through hell and back already.

Also, the package looked pretty worn. Hopefully it was just my bad luck, but I doubt it. For two cells out of four to be bad, it indicates really bad QC or a really old product. Just an FYI at this point in case these ever pop-up again.

I’ll 2nd that. Mine arrived missing a battery, missing cables, and one of the three remaining batteries was defective. I returned it.

Yeah, which tomorrow are you talking about?

I know I’m a little late, but I was also entertained by this thread. Thick with drama, anticipation, and humor!

I’ll add one thing - Anker should get in on this type of setup. With their design and build quality, they’d do it right.

This is on Groupon for $13.99.