Battery chargers have become a necessity of modern life — thank the ubiquitousness of cell phones and their fast discharge of battery power for that. Carrying a charging cable around may reduces the bulk of a wall plug, but it relies on the certainty that there will be a charging station close by — never a good idea. Hence: battery chargers appearing in multiple colors and with varying wattage. But the Fuel + Mobile Rechargeable Battery 9000mAH is different from the others. Not because of what it is but because of what it can do. For your non disposable battery needs, take a look at the best D batteries on the market. For a bit more power, take a look at the battery that was used during our goBAT 12000 rugged battery contest. Once you test it out, you will know why some consider it to be the best portable phone charger.
Start with the obvious: the shape is rectangular and there’s plenty of heft to convey the fact that there’s a 9000mAH rechargeable battery inside the compact, dual tone shape. The basic procedure isn’t different from other chargers, so lets get that out of the way first. At one end of the Fuel + Mobile is a power input, with 2 outputs at the other end (consisting of USB outputs, one 1 amps and the other 2.5 amps). This gives two choices: either plug the wall charger into the Fuel + Mobile to charge its battery, or plug a USB cable into the Fuel + Mobile to draw upon the battery for charging a cellphone or tablet (thanks to one of the 2 USB outputs having 2.5A circuity for the power hungry requirements that a tablet requires). All of this is similar to what you’d be doing with another charger, but the difference here is that I had both the wall plug AND an iPhone 5 connected to their respective sides at the same time. I could do that because the Fuel + Mobile has the ability to charge the battery while at the same time dispensing juice to one of the USB outputs. If you want to extend the life of your truck, car, lawn mower, boat or motorcycle, you need a smart portable battery charger. A good option is detailed in our enhanced automotive portable maintainer motorcycle review.
Another difference is that the Fuel + Mobile is “smart” enough to know when to shut up. Other chargers, once given the go-ahead, keep flinging out the juice like circus clowns coming out of that teeny car. You have to decide when to turn it off. I took the Fuel + Mobile over to a chair, connected an iPad that was badly in need of charging power to it and placed both down on a side table. I then pressed the button to turn the Fuel + Mobile on and ignored it as I spent a pleasant hour re-reading Raymond Chandler’s classic detective story, The Big Sleep. Feeling a bit drowsy myself later, I looked at the iPad and saw it had been recharged to 100%. The Fuel + Mobile? It had turned itself off once this had happened. And the faster 2.5A output traveld more juice so it was able to charge faster than normal too. Of course Android devices or any device that can drink in juice from a USB output (like a portable camera) would also work. In case you want a portable charger that has a flashlight and can power two devices at the same time at a blazing-fast speed, read our Getihu portable charger review.
Patriot Memory didn’t stint on the information either — just because the Fuel + Mobile knows when to stop working doesn’t mean you don’t want to know how much power it has at any given time —especially if you’re charging two devices simultaneously (which you can) For that, just look at the glowing blue LEDs that brighten when the power button is depressed — these show remaining power in 4ths (i.e., up to 4 LEDs glowing means 100% power)
Bottom line: The Fuel + Mobile Rechargeable Battery 9000mAH should be an addition to any trip, be that in luggage or the glove compartment. And the home shouldn’t be discounted either; that rare but inevitable power outage where the phone wasn’t charged earlier now can be laughed off. What else offers such peace of mind for $79.99?
