My new 2xAA Batteries Emergency Charger for iPhone 4 / 4S/iPod - Black from dealextreme!

Hey everyone! I've finally received my new iphone portable charger from dealextreme. Its SKU67065 from dealextreme.com. I bought it for US$5.30, which is a reasonable price considering that most brand-less li-polymer mobile chargers go for about SGD$10.

I bought this because my dad's old hand-me-down li-polymer based portable charger isn't really working out for long trips away from the power socket. Sure, it does help to ensure I'll survive the rest of my day but that would mean I will have to be conscious about the battery usage.

The biggest difference between this and my old portable mobile charger is that I can always replace fresh batteries to charge my phone so that as long as I have enough batteries with me, I can always keep my phone juiced up all the time. Using rechargeable NiMH batteries to power this little thing provides a guilt free environmentally friendly way to keep a smartphone happy for hours. This is unlike energizer's energizer's aa portable phone charger which was reputed to be only good when used with expensive lithium batteries.

I particularly like the clean design of this portable charger. There are no switches, buttons whatsoever. All you need to do is to insert them batteries and plug it into your phone. Viola! It starts charging instantly. Due to this simplistic design, it is feasible to leave your batteries inside all the time without the circuitry slowly draining the battery away (refer to parasitic drain below). 

The finishing of this charger is also quite high quality. The plastic is tough and durable. Something that I expect to last quite some time.

 

Simply slide to unlock.

I used lithium batteries and it worked too.

The size and design complements the clean iphone look and is not at all obstructive when I used the phone when charging.

The bottom part of the charger follows the contours of the iphone so that it can be rested on a flat surface. This is good as it is unlikely to bend the connectors in the long term.

So far, I tried two different NiMh batteries:

MAHA imedion 2400mAh  - 60% increase (avg).
IKEA 2000mAh NiMH - 50% increase (avg)

Parasitic drain (not plugged in): 0.4mA
[Theoretically, a pair of MAHA imedions would be completely drained after being left inside for 8 months]

The charging data is pretty consistent given the delta in battery capacity and phone charge increase. I am also particularly pleased that this little thing produces very little heat in the process of charging, translating to minimal energy loss.

I would recommend using Low Self Discharge (LSD) NiMH batteries for your charger to give you the assurance that there will still be energy left in the batteries when you really need them. Typical NiMH batteries will lose most of its energy by around 3 weeks while LSD batteries can retain as much as 70% over a year or two.

All in all, an excellent buy with a very reasonable price considering the build quality and efficiency of the circuitry.