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After using this battery pack for about a week, I make the following observations, in order of personal significance:
1. Build quality: The battery pack feels, in a word, solid. There is no flimsy plastic deflection if you press on it and no creaky or uneven seams.
2. Looks: The pack looks great. Yes it is a fingerprint magnet, but it also wipes cleanly to a beautiful gloss to match most smartphones out there.
3. Utility: Very versatile. One port for smartphone and most usb powered gadgets, the other higher amperage port for more power hungry devices, like tablets. I've even used this to charge AA batteries with a usb AA charger. There's nothing I've tried that this won't charge. Also has a built in led "flashlight," but more on this later.
4. Convenience: This pack will charge easily with any usb charger. Standard micro usb connector means you won't have to go searching for a special cable to plug this in and charge it. This pack will also charge as you are using it. This may seem silly if you're at home, plugging this into your computer or power supply, and your phone into the batter, but if you ever use this with a portable solar charger, as I am with the Goal 0 Zero 19010 Guide 10 Plus Adventure Kit Nomad 7 Solar Charger & 4 AA Battery USB Power Pack, then it is great to charge while the battery pack as per the available light, while still being able to charge your device with the battery pack with reserve and stable power. The led light is also very convenient. Not very bright but it's there and charged up when you need a quick light in the dark, and most importantly, so you can see your cable as you plug it into your device (great for iphone, as there really is no way to feel which side is up or down on the charger cable)
5. Support, Brand Name: Honestly I never heard of the brand name. At first glance, it seems like just an "off-brand" made in china product, and the packaging and manual even has chinese alongside english. But the packaging is attractive and not a generic box like you typically see with other generic products. While I have not yet had to call on the company for support, the quality packaging and literature would lead me to believe that this company is out to make a name for itself, and therefore would be responsive. We shall see. The instructions, on the other hand, were terrible. Very engrishy. But the product is so simple and well designed, that I didn't need the instructions.
Final observations: Again, great product, feels very solid and seems to be of high quality. No problems yet, charges everything. Worth the money.
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Here is my unbiased review of Anker Astro 2 8400mAh external battery pack:Charge Efficiency: Its rated at 8,400mAh as it's capacity. The lithium ion battery may have that capacity but it's ability to charge other devices isn't so hot. I understand the Anker power bank needs power of its own to operate and conversion from 3.7v to 5.0v takes energy. I wasn't expecting 100% of 8,400mAh to fully charge into other devices totaling up to 8,400mAh. But I was expecting it to be efficient. I did 5 charge and discharge cycles (though it may not be necessary on lithium batteries but I did it anyways to calibrate it) then I went on with my test to see how much it can charge my Kindle Fire, HTC Evo 3d, HTC Evo, Kindle reader, and portable speaker. Yes, the devices I were charging were completely off to preserve energy for charging only instead of also powering it on. The first charge cycle it totaled 5,425mAh (64% efficiency), 2nd is 6,032mAh (71.81% ), and 3rd is 5,280mAh (62.85%). This means ~28% ~37% of its 8400mAH capacity is unusable. I predicted at least ~20% of 8,400mAh is powering itself which is 1,680mAh and perhaps some energy is loss through heat. I concluded that the circuitry work on it is not as good and/or the lithium ion battery isn't of "higher" grade technology (ie. Panasonic & Sanyo 18650). It fell somewhat below my expectations regarding its most important function. However, I do have an Incredicharge I-11000 with 11000mAh capacity and it is about 65-70% efficient but much bigger in size. Perhaps this is the best we can get with portable battery technology. Another alternative is to buy a high quality spare battery(ies) specifically for your cell phone as 100% of it's rated capacity will be used to power that device. Though, this is not achievable with Apple products or others without removable batteries and that this method can be expensive and impractical if you plan on buying many different batteries for various products.
Time to Charge Anker 8,400 mAh: It takes nearly 8 hours to charge with the included cord and adapter. DC input is rated at 5v/1.5amp which is good, however, the included wall adapter is only 1amp. So the charging could have been quicker if it was included with a 1.5-2amp usb wall charger. Would definitely not charge this thing via a computer (.5amp). By pointing this out it does not mean it's a pro or con since it is accurately stated under product description.
Design: Very nicely polished and sturdy case. USB ports and LED light function as described without any problems. The case is the size of a bridge sized Bicycle cards. Easily carry with you where ever. It is dense and not hollow so I would say it is high quality.
Mislabeling: At the time of ordering Anker Astro 2 I noticed it indicated the 2 USB port is rated at 1amp & 2amp. However, upon receiving the package it is clearly 0.6 & 2amp. 0.6amp is adequate for phones but that is 40% slower than 1amp. I believe another customer has pointed this out in an earlier review. It appears they have fixed this error.
Price: I purchased this mid April for $46.99 but now it is $49.99. Still not a bad deal but price inflation due to more stellar reviews isn't cool. I noticed some feedbacks were left by those who has gotten a free sample for review, could there be a correlation in price increase and demand based on reviews?. Just wanted to let you know the Incredicharge I-11000 I purchased in March went from $49.99 to $79.99 in a span of 1 month. Now I cannot even search for this product on Amazon.com anymore.
Customer Service: LaptopMate replied to emails quickly and seems very concern about customer satisfaction. Their 18 months warranty is the most of all power bank I researched.
Conclusion: Astro 2 is very convenient device that comes with plenty of adapters (btw, it doesn't come with Apple adapter so use your own). I like the idea of charging on the go but plan ahead to charge the Astro 2 as it takes very long. You can considering looking at the Powergen 8400mAh battery which is an identical replica of each other and same price but the Powergen comes with an Apple adapter. It seems like somewhere in Shen Zhen or Guandong China they make these without branding and you can get them in bulk with customization for advertisements. Ebay "Power Bank 8400mAh" and you will see plenty of clones but they have short or no warranty. I hope this review has been helpful to the readers.
Best Deals for Anker® Astro2 8400mAh Portable Dual-Port External Battery Pack
Lots of devices need more than 1A to charge but there are very few battery packs that will put out that much current. In fact there are few 12V-5V converters that will do that. This battery pack has both the capacity and current output (2A) to charge pretty much anything that takes 5V phones or tablets. I like the charge indicators and also the flashlight, for emergencies. The instructions were in both chinese and english and they were adequate. I tried the battery on an iPhone, Kindle Fire and HP Touchpad. All charged correctly. Note that there are two USB outputs one is limited to 0.6A and the other to 2A. Use the higher current for tablets.Honest reviews on Anker® Astro2 8400mAh Portable Dual-Port External Battery Pack
Purchased the Anker external battery pack for my Samsung Skyrocket 4G LTE phone. The battery pack has already saved me on 2 occasions when I ran out of juice before the day was over! I even plugged up my ipad to it and i still haven't had to recharge it.The only function of the device that can be improved is the flashlight. It is difficult to turn on and off..and slow to respond so I wind up pushing the on/off button multiple times not knowing if I'm pushing it hard enough. Once you get the flashlight to turn on, it is difficult to turn off and I end up having to push and hold on to the power button for a long time before it will respond. But, this is no big deal as I bought this battery to backup my phone, not use as a flashlight. I can always use the flashlight on my phone.
Overall, I am very happy with the purchase and would recommend it to anyone looking for a portable battery pack for their power hungry smartphone!
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Anker® Astro2 8400mAh Portable Dual-Port External Battery Pack
Astro 2 external battery by Anker is one of the most powerful, versatile and reliable external batteries that I've come across. It has met or exceeded most of my expectations for such a device. I would strongly recommend it as a travel backup battery for most small electronic devices.***** The Specs *****
This 8400 mAh battery has one DC 5V 1A input, and two outputs: DC 5V 0.6 A and DC 5V 1 A. The specified input charging time is 6-7 hours, and in my own test I've verified this to be an accurate estimate. The total number of rechargings is specified to be 500, but for obvious reasons I've not been able to test this claim.
***** Battery Capacity *****
At 8400 mAh, Astro2 is the largest-capacity external USB battery that I've ever tested. It has enough capacity to charge an iPhone or any similar small electronic device at least a couple of times. For a less power-hungry device (plain vanilla cell phone, Kindle, etc.) you can expect to get at least full charges from this battery. The two charging outputs have different charging rates, but either one will be able to charge your device in a two to three hours max. I have tested the charger with Morolar Razr, Motoroal Krzr, Amazon's third and fourth generation Kindle, iPhone 3G, iPhone 4S, and the first generation iPad. It performed more than adequately with all of those devices.
In order to get a good, intuitive feel for the charge capacity of this external battery I subjected it to the "iPad test." That is, I try charging my first generation iPad form the fully discharged state in order to see how much "juice" am I able to get. iPad is the largest electronic device that I can think of that would still qualify (barely) into the small-electronics category. (A MacBook Air would definitely be out.) The verdict: I was able to charge the iPad to about 56% capacity. This is, thus far, the most I've been able to get out of any such external battery. It took this battery about two hours to charge it to this level. This means that you'll be able to watch several movies on a trans-oceanic flight and still be able to use your iPad when you land.
***** Accessories *****
The battery comes with a built-in power adapter, two USB cords, one PSP charge adapter, one Nokia adapter, and a micro and mini USB adapters. This versatility of adapter heads means that you'll be able to use this battery with most cellphones and small electronic devices that are popular right now, but the owners of the iOS devices need to remember to use their own Apple USB cord. I wish that the battery came with a small carrying bag or a pouch to put all these accessories in, as I find myself losing these kinds of accessories more often than I care to admit. The battery has a small built-in led flashlight, but I personally don't have much of a need for such a thing.
***** Design and Build *****
The battery sports a slick cool design, and it looks and feels very modern. It doesn't feel cheep, and it will definitely not look out of place with the latest and coolest electronic gizmos. It's a bit on a heavy side, so I'd not recommend carrying it in your pocket or in a purse all the time.
***** The Bottom Line *****
If you are a frequent traveler and carry more than one small electronic device with you all the time, or tend to go on longer trips to places without an easy access to a wall outlet (camping, long flights) then this charger is a must for you. It will keep all of your devices charged for a reasonably long periods of time, and it will give you a peace of mind that you'll never be in a situation where you run out of power. Astro 2 battery is compact and durable, and it will serve well all of your portable charging needs.
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