I'm not phased by dehydration. Like most travelers, my fear of all fears, is that my electronics will lose their power, while in midair! I get the shakes at being left with no phone to tell my family, friends and colleagues that I'm waiting on a line or bored. I also shudder at having no books, magazines or emails from work to read. After all, without any power, I am a broken man - dehydrated, staring at my slip ons.
I'd heard that external batteries were an option but thought they were expensive, bulky and not dependable. After hearing my son Alex rave about his battery pack, I decided to read some independent reviews and take a cyber stroll to Amazon. Review after review highlighted Anker's superb quality, reliability and features. However, my foremost reason for going with Anker was their excellent customer service. I noticed that if in fact there was a negative review, Anker remedied each and every malady. As a result of my research, I decided to order the Anker, 2nd Gen Astro, 6000mAh Portable Charger (2A Output) for $29.99, at Amazon.
Looks: In about two days, I received the Anker, 2nd Gen Astro and the biggest surprise was how small the battery was. While I knew this model was portable, I had no idea it would be smaller and lighter than my iPhone 5. Another feature was the black matte rubber finish which is both good looking and felt solid in my hand. The Anker also came with a handsome padded, nylon-stretchy pouch. The Anker fits nicely in either my briefcase or jacket pocket.
Performance: The Anker comes with a micro USB cable and can be charged, via your computer or with a number of plugs that accommodate a USB cord. The only exception was my iPhone charger. For some odd reason, when I used my iPhone charger, the Anker's light would flash wildly and not take a charge. However, when I used my other electric charger (Non-Apple), the Anker charged beautifully. Out of the box, the Anker came charged and filled up in about twenty minutes. When completely empty, the Anker charged in about three hours, even though the instructions stated six hours. An LED circle light alerts you to the existing power levels and turns off, when charging is complete. Once charged, the Anker goes into sleep mode and can be turned on with a slight shake. With the Anker fully charged, I went on a tear, charging almost anything in sight! I charged my iPhone 5 (With 9% power remaining), Garmin 410 Forerunner GPS Watch (30% power remaining), iPod Nano (Empty), iPod Shuffle (Couldn't determine the remaining power) and iPad Mini with Retina Display (8% power remaining). The Anker charged up the iPhone, iPod Namo and Garmin 410 without a hitch and each, in about an hour and a half. The only problem was with the iPod Shuffle. For some odd reason, I seem to believe there are some cable compatibility issues with the shuffle. As for my iPad Mini, the Anker finally ran out of juice. I would like to add that the charging times are approximations and were not scientifically timed. In my opinion, the charging times were impressive.
Regrets: I have to admit, I wholeheartedly recommend the Anker, 2nd Gen Astro, 6000mAh Portable Charger (2A Output). The charger is inexpensive, good looking, portable, easy to use and will charge your phone, as well as most portable electronics. My only regret is that I didn't purchase the more powerful Anker 2nd Gen Astro2 9000mAh Portable Power Bank Backup External Battery Charger Rapid-Recharge (3A Output) Dual-Port. This bad boy can charge any two electronic devices and only costs $36.99!
