Does anyone have any experience with these? I almost bought one last time they were up, but the absence of reviews gave me pause…
edit* Specifically, how long does this hold a charge in a purse or a drawer before you have to recharge it?
Does anyone have any experience with these? I almost bought one last time they were up, but the absence of reviews gave me pause…
edit* Specifically, how long does this hold a charge in a purse or a drawer before you have to recharge it?
I tried to visit the manufacturer’s website to get some additional information, but the link is faulty.
Link to manufacturers site, not very helpful though.
http://www.evolutiontablet.com/Evolution_Electronics/Evolution_Electronics-Power.html
I’ve never used one myself, but here’s what it says on the Golfsmith web site, of all places:-) “•Charges average cell phone one to three times
•Charges iPhone one to two times” and “can hold a charge for up to three months.”
-Not compatible with my Samsung phone (but then, nothing is compatible with Samsung without an adapter)
-Nook tablet drained this thing in 2 minutes. Nook charge did not go up.
-I THINK is bumped the Kindle Fire charge up a little
Check your phone/tablets battery rating. These are rated at 2600mah. Of course its barely gonna move the charge icon on a tablet that has 7000mah or the like. If your device isnt the same mah or smaller dont bother. Also the 800ma output could cause you problems by not having enough umph to get the charge going. A quick check would be if you can charge your device from a normal usb 2.0 (500ma)port on a computer, this would charge it. My personal buy point on these would be about $5 before shipping unfortunately as the going rate on amazon is about $4 per 1000mah with free shipping if more than $25 of course.
Found a better description at goldsmith.com
Evolution Power Bank
At only 3.75" long, the rechargeable Evolution Power Bank makes for the perfect portable recharging station for your handheld electronics. It can recharge an average cell phone one to three times before it needs to be recharged and can hold a charge for up to three months. The Evolution Power Bank will recharge most handheld devices that charge through a USB, such as a camera, handheld game system, cell phone, small tablet, etc.
Additional features:
Recharges your phone/small electronics
2600 MAH
Recharges from any USB port
Only 3.75" long
Weighs 2.5 oz.
Charges average cell phone one to three times
Charges iPhone one to two times
I ordered one in June and must have rec’d a bad one… the on/off button doesn’t work and it DISCHARGES my phone when I plug it in. No directions or tips come with the unit.
I love mine, it charges my iPhone 4 to half within 20 minutes…
I have purchased around a dozen of these off eBay for about $6 each delivered right from China. $17 is laughable. Many deal sites have tried to resell these from $12 and up. Just go to eBay and search.
Capacity: 2600 mAh
Input: 5V/800mA
Output: 5V/800mA
Based on other chargers and devices I’ve used, this will give you about one charge of an iPhone 4s. It might give you 10% on a Kindle Fire HD 7". If you’re using either device while charging, YMMV. It’s small and will charge the phone reasonably quickly. It’s good for a night out, but it won’t carry you through a weekend.
Hmmm… can a geek please help us all understand how the input and output voltages both are able to be the same? And is 800mA a typical current for most niMH batteries? I know that one can draw perhaps even 5A from eneloops relatively safely -model airplane enthusiasts seem to do that all the time.
The reason I am asking is that I have been curious about whether one could hack out a similar device by just putting five regular NiMH batteries in series? That wouldn’t have a timer for cutting off voltage when the phone is fully charged (but the phone itself shouldd have one), but it would be around 6 volts when charged, and using a set of LSD batteries means that it could be kept in a purse or backpack for a while in a charged state. And 6 eneloops would completely out-perform this baby in terms of energy capacity (around 6000 maH at a minimum) for a price of $15
Also, I imagine one could use an old USB cable to make the connection. Anyone have thoughts on what might go wrong with that plan?
Well, first off, phones don’t have timers for shutting them off when fully charged. That wouldn’t work they sense the state of the battery and control charging that way.
Second, when you’re charging these up, they take 5V input at 800mA. When you use them as the charging source, they supply 5V at 800mA. That’s how they can be the same. Not sure what the conundrum is.
Third, Wall chargers and USB charging for cell phones supplies 5V at about 1000mA (one amp), so this is a tad less and will charge a bit more slowly.
But, hey, it’s your phone, why not experiment and let us know what happens and how much the damage costs to repair?
Should have done a little more research before I bought 2 of these. Have a galaxy note 2 and it doesn’t put a dent in it. Super slow to charge. Ended up giving them away. Im sure they are a fairly good product just not functional in my world.
whats up with the warranty description. Woot says 1 year, their official site says 90 days? mine is broken after two uses. it wont shut off, so its just a slow drain fromt the LED
Sorry you’re having trouble. Have you written in to support@woot.com with your order number and user name? Additionally, I’d suggest contacting Evolution directly. They can let you know what options you have with them.