During the last couple of months I’ve had a chance of reviewing a number of iOS-compatible battery packs. During this time I’ve seen that you can expect two things from a good external battery, and those things are: great performance (in terms of charging speeds and maximum capacity) and usable design (in terms of aesthetics and portability). Just like with any product, in order to truly succeed in today’s market you simply need to offer something new and different. So naturally, I was very interested to see any possible changes to a typical battery pack design.
We’ll be taking a look at a battery pack called Bolt, made by Fluxmob. This device has dual role, since it acts as a typical external battery, but can be also used as a wall charger for your iPhone. This is very simple, yet very interesting and efficient device, so continue reading to see how Bolt works and if it’s worth the price of $60.
As you can see from the pictures, Bolt is a cubic device where you can see two cubic shapes placed in a vertical manner. The top part is used as a power charger and here you’ll see two metal prongs which you’ll be able to hide when not in use. The larger bottom part is used as an external battery and comes with a standard USB port. You’ll need to supply your own cable in order to charge your phone, but this shouldn’t be a problem since you already received one with your iPhone. You’ll be able to use the Lightning cable, as well as the older 30-pin connectors since both of these come with one USB end.
What’s great about this device is that it’s able of charging your iPhone and charging its internal battery at the same time. This can surely save a lot of time and is very convenient. You’ll be provided with 3000mAh battery, which should provide approximately 150% of power of the newest iPhone generation. This is a great result, especially if you know how small and portable this device is. What you should also know is that you’ll get somewhat better recharging results if you’re using iOS7 instead of iOS6, so I would recommend upgrading to the latest version of this operating system.
Even though this battery pack is very interesting and fully functional, I still managed to pinpoint two issues that might be of interest to potential users. The first thing is that LEDs located on the battery part of this device are constantly blinking while the battery is charging, so you’ll need to unplug in case you’d like to see if the battery is fully charged. I would have also liked to see a micro-USB port used to recharge the internal battery, which could be seen as an added functionality. Both of these things are very minor and they don’t affect functionality of this device.
In case you’re looking for a new iPhone charger, or if you’re looking for a new battery pack, I would recommend looking into Bolt by Fluxmob since it combines two very useful roles at an affordable price.