While we certainly enjoyed covering SDCC this year, we’re always battling one thing: our battery life on our smartphones and electronics. This year was no different. Between doing social networking, recording videos and taking pictures it was a chore to keep the smartphones charged.
What’s worse is when you discover you have less then 50% battery and it’s not even the middle of the day.
Luckily for us, a certain booth caught our eyes and came to the rescue, promising a mobile solution to charging your devices. MoblNRG stepped up and took the SDCC challenge. So how did the MoblNRG lithium ion battery hold up? Did it give us the extra charge we needed to get through SDCC?
Design
As a fan of minimalist design, I was already enjoying the aesthetics of the MoblNRG lithium ion battery. The device is one solid piece of metal in a variety of colors, with two buttons. It’s small enough to fit in your pants pocket, which made it the ultimate in compact charging. The color selection was also a nice touch, allowing you to have that personal touch (and match your smartphone’s case).
The MobilNRG also comes with a plug, which features all the essentials for most devices: Micro USB, Apple 30pin and Apple Lightning Plug. What was nice was seeing the quality of wires; they felt like they could take a little wear and tear, which was nice to know considering it would be on the go constantly.
Usage
On the floor it was pretty easy to break out the MobINRG and attach your smartphone. I was using the iPhone5s with the ShoulderPod camera mount attached, without any real difficulty. It was easy enough to plug the device in and even hold it while you charged. Simply plug it in and hit the button. It immediately started working. However, the battery can get a little warm after long usage.
I started with my phone at 37% battery, but brought it back up to 75% with just a little bit of charging.
It was immediately passed around to the rest of our staff members, and it was nice to see just how many smartphones it could charge on one fully charged lithium-ion battery. The device is supposed to be able to charge your smartphone 1 1/2 times.
Overall
Generally a pretty solid device, its lightweight form factor makes it perfect for anyone on the go. It certainly worked as advertised, and it also looked good while doing it.
I would recommend this to any hardcore smartphone photographer or videographer. This is certainly a great accessory for anyone that constantly uses their smartphone.