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Lightning Review: Brando's Power Station iPhone Charger
Posted by Jason Chen at 9:00 AM on August 8, 2008
The Gadget: Brando's Power Station, a portable battery pack for your iPhone that slides easily into your dock connection for charging away from a socket or a USB connection. The Power Station, in turn, is charged from ITS dock connection, so you can use the same charger for both devices. Comes in white and black.
The Price: US$25
The Verdict: Works as advertised. In our tests, it charged our iPhone 3G from 10% to 60% in about an hour, after which charging stopped altogether because the pack was out of juice. We then used another pack to take our iPhone from 60% to 100% in about another hour. Great for emergency days when you're low on power from a frantic 3G browsing session earlier that morning.
The only complaint we'd have is that unlike other chargers that wrap around the iPhone to secure itself in place, the Power Station only connects via the dock. This results in a flimsy connection that might snap off if you're not careful. So be careful and don't stick the phone in your pocket when this is docked.
At a price of US$25, it's the cheapest iPhone battery pack that we've seen. Despite its drawbacks (only charges about half the phone's battery and is sort of flimsy when connected), we'd still recommend it as a backup battery for emergencies. [Brando]
Side note: The original unit Brando sent us was defective and would alternate between charging state and plugged-in state, eventually going to DRAINING state. If you get one of these, call them up and get a replacement as it's obviously not supposed to drain your phone.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Johnson
Posted November 1, 2008 1:47 PM
Yep, I got stuck with a DOA Brando charger too. I wrote to them and no replies, go figure. So now I have three choices:
iPhoneck Backup Battery, 1500 mAh $42.99
Richard Solo 1200 mAh $49.99
Mophie 1800 mAh for $99.99
I might try out iPhoneck's as they include free shipping and their price just makes sense. I will let you guys know if its good stuff.
AnakChan
Posted 9:29 AM 8/8/08
Phew, I'm so glad to see this review 'cos I almost bought this 2 weeks ago. Think I'll wait for the iPhoneck one instead.
AnakChan
Sockatume
Posted 9:22 AM 8/8/08
The existence of a draining mode for the battery is interesting. Something like that could be useful if you had plenty of charge, your friend had none, and you wanted to help out.
Sockatume
rochec
Posted 9:20 AM 8/8/08
I ordered an iPhoneck charger, hopefully it works as well. It's supposed to charge more though.
rochec
BadBoyNDSU
Posted 9:20 AM 8/8/08
There have got to be better alternatives with more juice in them.
BadBoyNDSU
itchytooth
Posted 9:13 AM 8/8/08
If you plug the Brando charger into the iPhone, then plug the wall charger into the Brando, will they both charge (either simultaneously or sequentially)?
itchytooth
frigg
Posted 9:11 AM 8/8/08
want
frigg
MadColombian
Posted 9:05 AM 8/8/08
ahhhh a pic of 3 iPhones.
I hate you all.
MadColombian
calebc
Posted 9:53 AM 8/8/08
Are they stackable? It looks like a standard dock connector at the base so they should be right?
calebc
kyel57
Posted 9:32 AM 8/8/08
This might be a stupid question, but would this work with another kinda ipod, like a touch?
kyel57
MrYuk
Posted 10:13 AM 8/8/08
...my only complaint is that it is a bit flimsy so while charging it's best to put on a flat surface and let it do it's thing vs. putting it in your pocket :)
Also, the blue light/arrow on the front is super annoying, so I usually put it face-down when it's charging because it's so distracting.
MrYuk
William Hook
Posted 10:12 AM 8/8/08
@MadColombian: Will this do?
[www.flickr.com]
William Hook
MrYuk
Posted 10:08 AM 8/8/08
I received the Brando a few days ago as well and it works as advertised... gives you a bit of extra juice when you need it most. Easy to stash somewhere, and it's REALLY light so it's not like having to carry around a huge battery pack. For the price, it's perfect.
MrYuk
rochec
Posted 10:03 AM 8/8/08
@Arvin Bautista:
Rechargeable.
rochec
Arvin Bautista
Posted 10:02 AM 8/8/08
Can someone please confirm the potentially stupid question of: are these battery packs also rechargeable, or are they disposables? Cause I hate disposables, especially at 25 dollars.
Arvin Bautista
chizelord
Posted 10:57 AM 8/8/08
I might just get one myself. I havn't had my iPhone in 3 days (2.0.1 killed it) so I REALLY know how much it sucks for your phone to die.
chizelord
MrYuk
Posted 10:49 AM 8/8/08
I should add that it is flimsy so you don't want to keep it in your pocket, and the flashing blue arrow light is so annoying you'll want to face it away from you (put your iPhone face-down on a table)
MrYuk
beyondthetech
Posted 2:10 PM 8/8/08
$25 for this generic version or $50 for the RichardSolo one. Tough call.
beyondthetech
Gilbert
Posted 8:52 PM 8/8/08
@Sockatume: Ever the philanthropist.
Gilbert
GeekyNerdGuy
Posted 1:18 AM 9/8/08
Will the other chargers like that jacket one take the phone back to full charge or do they all run out of juice before then?
GeekyNerdGuy
jhnsn_j
Posted 1:44 AM 9/8/08
awesome. Thanks so much for the review guys! Just what I was needing!
jhnsn_j
hondatwo
Posted 11:28 AM 8/8/08
I was lucky enough to purchase the battery that is described in the update part of the article except my doesn't drain it charges. That is if you can stand the alternating of your iphone between the charging screen and the home screen. How do you call Hong Kong? I wrote then 3 times and still no response. Guess I am stuck with another unusablle iphone accessory...stay tuned
hondatwo
gadgetware
Posted 3:34 AM 10/8/08
Another option is the Lenmar Powerport($30) which is a small external battery with a USB connector. I've charged my iPhone 3G from 20% to full twice with that device.
gadgetware