[Review] PhoneSuit Power Core Micro; A Tiny Battery pack to Charge your Device

Hello my fellow Android fanatics Rafael here with a great review of the Power Core Micro by an amazing company called PhoneSuit. I had the pleasure of discovering this company on my recent trip to CES 2013 and I have to say I’m happy I passed by. The initial product that drew me in was their Android-Powered Light Play Pico Projector which as built around the Android OS and can put a picture of about 80 inches. After seeing this amazing piece of tech I started browsing around and was approached by one the booth attendants who introduced me to their Power Core series of portable chargers. I got to say I came away quite impressed and after talking a bit more with her I received a Power Core Micro to take home. Now after having had this portable charger for a month I decided to do a review for the good folks over at PhoneSuit, as a thank you, and also to get their name out there to our Android Community. So without further ado here is the review of the Power Core Micro by PhoneSuit.

First Impressions:

When I first received the Power Core Micro I have to say I came away quite impressed. I have had plenty of portable chargers but this is the first one that I actually liked design wise. Also the compact feature of it is great I have seen much bigger “portable” chargers that actually pack less power than this Power Core. The quality of the product is really what puts it all together for me as it feels better than most of the other portable chargers out there, basically it looks awesome. Now let’s see what you get in the box.

In-The-Box:

• Power Core Micro
• Charging Cable

Physical Specs and Features

• 3,500 mAh High Density Battery
• L 85mm x W 60mm x D 15mm (3.34″ x 2.36″ x .59″)
• Weight is 235g/ 8.29 oz ( 0.51 pounds)
• Machined Aluminum accents
• Soft-touch metallic rubber
• Pass-through charging
• Soft Glow LED battery meter
• Quick Charge 1 Amp / 5 Watt

You can’t expect too much in the box, it is after all just a portable charger, but some may not like the fact that it only comes with the charging cable and not the wall charger itself. Personally I have plenty of chargers lying around so this doesn’t bother me as much. Also with the dual charging capability of the Micro you may only need one charger, read on to see more details on this for now let’s talk about LED’s.

First thing I wanted to talk about is the LED’s on the Micro. I feel too many companies underestimate the LED and the great part it can play in bringing a design together while still keeping its functionality intact, some companies just don’t use them at all, but I’m glad to see Phonesuit isn’t one of them. They assigned a simple task to the LED while still keeping the great design of the Micro as a whole. On the Micro each LED represents a 25% charge, so with a total of four you have 100%, lose one you go down to 75%, then 50% and so one. After the charger has been depleted they just don’t light up simple as that.

The amount of amps the Power Core can put out (1 Amp) makes it capable of not only charging your smartphone, but it can also give your tablet a charge as well. I tried it out on my girlfriend’s Kindle Fire and it worked beautifully. I did however have different results with my Note ll, this wasn’t a fault on behalf of the charger however because the Note ll needs a 2 amp charging rate and the charger only puts out 1amp. I did however charge my Epic 4G Touch and Galaxy S3 with no problem.

Pass-through charging is a great little feature as well, if you do find that you have drained your Power Core Micro and smartphone/tablet you do not need a separate charger. You can actually use the Power Core Micro to charge your device while at the same time charging the Power Core. This can essentially guarantee you will have some backup power should you drain you device again because when used this way your Power Core Micro will always be fully charged and so will your device. No need for an extra charger or outlet, just one cable to the Power Core another to your phone and you’re good to go.

Size/Portability:

The size is still something I really like about this charger. I have another portable charger that is twice the size of this one and only holds 3000 mAh’s that’s it. I don’t know why the company went so big but PhoneSuit has clearly proven you can stay small and still pack a punch as the Power Core Micro is actually 3500 mAh’s. There is an additional positive to the small size and that is portability. I was able to fit the Micro in one of the small pockets on the strap of my backpack.  I stuck it in there I forgot I had it most of the time. This is a small factor but a great one to have when talking about portable chargers as some so-called “portable” chargers seem to forget the portability aspect of their product.

So to sum it all up here are the pros/cons and ratings for the Power Core Micro

Pros:

• Portability
• Physical Size
• LED’s
• Pass-through charging
• 3,500 mAh’s
• Machined Aluminum accents & Soft-touch metallic rubber composite materials

Cons:

• One USB port
• Slow charge for Note ll or other 2 Amp devices
• No included wall charger just a USB cable

Rating:

• Power 4.5/5
• Portability 5/5
• Durability 4.8/5
• Usuability 5/5

 

Conclusion:

As you can see this is one well designed portable charger and does have some pretty great charging power considering the compact size. It only has one USB port that does give it an obvious limitation of charging only one device at a time. For the average consumer or tech enthusiast who only has one or two devices that drain quickly or just can’t stop playing Angry Birds (mom), this should be a great addition to your travel repertoire. I hope to see more great products from PhoneSuit and look forward to reviewing many more of their products in the future. This has been another review by your friends at AndroidSPIN, thanks for reading.

Check out this product and plenty of other great items at PhoneSuit.

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