Portable power packs or rechargeable power backups are becoming handy accessories for those who have lots of gadgets. These are not just useful when there’s a power outage but also when you’re in transit and your phone or gadget is running out of juice.
There are many power packs that popped up in the market since last year and here’s another one from Cooler Master, the Choiix Power Fort. What we have here is the 10Whrs model but they have other bigger or smaller power packs available. What’s nice about this one is that it has the required output to charge your tablets such as Apple’s iPad.
Design
The Power Fort 10Whrs is a very light and handy power pack with a sleek, curved body. It has 4 LED lights up front along with the multi-purpose button. Each LED light represents 1/4 of the charge left on the power pack. Press the button once to start charging or to see the remaining charge, and press the button twice to turn the flashlight on or off.
On the top end there are bright LED lights making this Power Fort double as a flashlight. I find this feature really handy. On the other end are two USB ports, a regular one as output and a miniUSB for input when you want to charge this pack. Apart from the flashlight, it’s quite similar to the MiLi Power Crystal we had before.
Aside from the power pack itself, the package only contains a carrying pouch, manual, and two USB cables (USB – miniUSB, USB – microUSB). You still have to bring your cables if they’re not powered via microUSB (iPad, PSP, etc). For comparison, the MiLi Power Crystal has different connecting tips included so you don’t need to bring your gadgets’ cables with you.
Performance
The equivalent rating on this Power Fort 10Whrs is 2700mAh and it took me around 4.5 hours to charge the whole thing. It didn’t matter if I charged it using my laptop’s USB or from a standard power outlet using a USB adapter.
So what can you get out of a 2700mAh power pack? I was able to charge an Android phone with a 1270mAh to about 85% before the LED lights conked out. I was expecting it to be fully charged with a bit more juice left but it wasn’t the case. I’m not sure if it was fully charged or maybe some of its charge has drained.
I also tried it on my iPad 2 and it only took 2 hours before all LED lights went out bringing my iPad’s battery from 34% to 63%. That’s almost 3 hours worth more of iPad usage.
Conclusion
When buying power packs, make sure it can charge most or it not, all your handheld gadgets. Look at the input rating or the packaging and see if it supports the things you want charged on-the-go. One of the merit of this 10Whrs Choiix Power Fort is that it can charge tablets. Your typical power pack can’t do that. The lack of cables or connecting tips might hinder the usability of this power pack but you can get those tips from CDR-King cheaply anyway.
According to our source from Cooler Master, the price for the Choiix Power Fort 10Whrs is around Php2000 to Php2300. There’s also the smaller Power Fort 5.5Whrs which goes for around Php1200 to Php1500.