Sunday, April 28, 2013

TECH REVIEW: TYLT Powerplant Portable Battery

Don't leave home with your tech toys without the TYLT Powerplant....

One of the reasons that I love being a blogger is because I get to try out new products - including lots of new tech products.  If you have read my blog for a while, then you know that I get to demo all the new, cool smartphones as they come onto the market. 

From the Motorola Droid Razr HD to the super high tech Samsung Galaxy S3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 2, I have tried out many smartphones during the last year.

And looking forward, I cannot wait to get my hands on the new HTC One and of course the new Samsung Galaxy S4 and the cool new S4 accessories including stylish S4 flip covers and even a cover that let you use the Samsung S4 when the cover is closed - so awesome!

But one thing that I still don't like about today's smartphones is that they can run out of power at the most inopportune times. Lots of smartphones, including the Nexus 4 and Samsung S3, still have "so so" battery life. And even long battery life phones like the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Motorola Droid Razr HD can still leave you hanging if you get too use to the long time between charging and forget to charge them before you leave the house.

The TYLT Powerplant can keep its charge if unused for up to 1 year!
So I was very happy when I received for review the TYLT Powerplant portable battery pack.  The TYLT line of portable charging products was the hit of 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas and they have some new, innovative devices that will be released later in the year.

The TYLT Powerplant portable charger is a current best seller which features -

• 5200mAh for plenty of charging power
• Built-in Flex Arm for charging on the go
• Universal USB Socket for charging any USB device
• Rapid charge or charging 2 devices simultaneously
• Micro USB and Apple 30-Pin versions available
• Easy to read LED Battery level Indicator lights
• Automatic shut-off when device is fully charged
• Ability to retain a full single charge for up to one year


Like the name implies, the TYLT Powerplant is a little device that can keep your portable devices fully powered while on the go and away from electric outlets. The Powerplant device measures 3'x1.5'x1.25' and is very light in weight.  It is small enough to keep in your bag or purse and powerful enough to fully charge your devices in a pitch.

The TYLT Powerplant, with its 5200mAh power source, has enough juice to charge two devices - and charge them both at the same time. The Powerplant has a USB plug where you can plug in a device's USB charging cord (see photo above).  It also has a built in flex charging arm that extends out so you can power a second device.

the TYLT Powerplant flex charging arm extends to power my Nexus 4 smartphone
The type of flex charging arm you need determines which model of TYLT Powerplant you will purchase.  The Powerplant comes in 3 models (based on the flex charging arm) -

- 30-PIN model with a charging arm for iPhone 4/4S
- LIGHTNING model with a charging arm for iPhone 5
- MICRO USB model with a charging arm for most other type smartphones and devices (see photo above)

The Powerplant has 4 indicators on the front of the unit that light up green, when you push the button in the left upper corner, to let you know how much charging power is left in the unit.  Four green lights indicate that the unit is fully charged.  One light means it is time to charge the unit by using the included USB power cord.

The really great thing about the TYLT Powerplant is that the unit will stay charged for up to 1 year if you don't use it.  So it is great for those times when you really are in need of an emergency charge for a device.  I use my Nexus 4 smartphone as a portable wifi hotspot for my iPad and laptop, which really drains my smartphone battery. Now when my smartphone battery gets low, the TYLT Powerplant can come to the rescue to keep my smartphone fully charged for hours.

I would sum up my review of the TYLT Powerplant as follows -

Pros -
- Can hold a charge for up to 1 year if not used
- Lightweight
- Can charge two devices at the same time
- Can fully charge two devices on one single charge
- The attached flexible arm allows you to charge a device even when you don't have a separate cord

Cons -
- The price is not cheap!

The Tylt Powerplant charging both my iPad and the Blackberry Z10 smartphone
The TYLT Powerplant retails between $70 and $90 (depending on the type of flex charging arm) and can be purchased on the TYLT online store and in retail stores including Sprint and T-mobile.


Enjoy!

Disclosure: I received complementary TYLT Powerplant to facilitate this review.  All opinons are my own.

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