UPDATE: ZaggSparq 2.0 May Fail After 3 Months!
UPDATE: It's been about three months and my zaggsparq 2.0 has kicked the bucket. I hope yours doesn't meet the same fate. After a short investigation and opening it up - i spoke with an electrician who told me it appears there was a battery short circuiting - which led to a capacitor blowing and frying the entire kit. I hope your warranty holds out longer than mine.
Nonetheless, enjoy your zaggsparq while it lasts folks!
If you own a smartphone one of these days, one of the biggest blunders of the rapidly evolving and advancing technology is its life when on the go, AKA the battery life. When you stick 1GHZ processors and 512 MB of RAM into a tiny frame, you're going to have such problems come up. Rather add to the weight and bulk of the device, as devices get more powerful the battery amperage remains the same, leaving you in the dust with poor battery life!
The only way to compete is to keep around an AC outlet or car adapter - unless of course you have been blessed with the ZAGGSparq 2.0!!
The ZAGGSparq was a portable lithium polymer (li-po) battery system developed by the Corporate Giant in the industry of phone protection: ZAGG, creators of the InvisibleSHIELD. For years, they've controlled the market as the leading accessory maker for phones, and continue with this POWERFUL and HUGE portable battery. Originally, the ZAGGSparq was released last year with horrid performance due to a technical issue. After ZAGG offered free replacements to users of the older ZAGGSpraq, they went straight back to the factory and redid the entire unit from scratch, repairing the poor performance and setting the road for this great device!
This device is huge, and when we mean huge, we MEAN HUGE. The unit is a 3.5" square and 1 inch thick, so we hope you have deep pockets! (Or a backpack to store it in)
Now, how fast does it charge? FAST. Just as fast as an AC adapter, thanks to that optimized port. Charging on two ports at once will of course slow your charging process, as you distribute the mAH further, But considering you can't get a faster charging process aside from AC (PCs only pump out 550 mAH, and this bad boy will do almost quadruple that in output!) so this is truly a game changer on the road.
Recharge? No problem! This unit will recharge in just a few hours, perfect if you're at the train or bus and have a long ride ahead of you without AC. This bad boy will keep you going all the way home and back!
On a stress test, we kept the EVO running off of the ZAGG's power and turned EVERYTHING on, this includes WiFi, Bluetooth, 4G, FM Radios, and also kept a constant TV stream going. The unit survived for over SIX hours before finally depleting the ZAGGSparq, leaving us with another 100% on the EVO to keep it going. What does this mean? This essentially means you can go almost 8-10 hours of moderate or typical usage before you use up your sparq, saving you from the horrid car rides and family reunions of boredom. Why watch Aunt Sally play horseshoes with Cousin Rachel when you can be watching the latest from the Daily Show News Room, not to worry about losing your battery at the picnic site!
Now, some of you may acclaim ZAGG didn't fix the problems visited in the first release, and we wag our finger at them, as we constantly and consistently tested the ZAGGSparq for not one, but TWO months, confirming it will NOT fail due to heavy usage over a long period of time, and the next best thing, the HTC Battery Bank, won't even compare with less Amperage, no simultaneous charge/discharge, and the limitations overall. The ZAGGSparq is a beast for mobile power, and you will NEVER again be without juice with this monster of a battery bank!
Be sure to pick one up over at the ZAGG website, at 99.99, the investment of always having power (say during emergencies, long road/train trips, or boring family reunions) even when the moment doesn't offer it.
Thanks to Mr. Sherman for the assistance in this review!
© 2010, Laos101. All rights reserved.
Cool but the price is to much
The story said…”Recharge? No problem! This unit will recharge in just a few hours, perfect if you’re at the train or bus and have a long ride ahead of you without AC. This bad boy will keep you going all the way home and back!”
THis is not true. According to the manufacturer the unit should be charged for NINE HOURS before initial use and every time thereafter, not just a few hours. Sure the unit can be recharged in a few hours, but NOT completely and also at the risk of loosing battery capacity. I can’t wait for nine hours every time I charge it but I also don’t want to damage my $100 battery pack by not completely charging it every time. What else in this write-up is misleading?
I bought one so we will see. I entered into their contest for the iPad and got a 40% off coupon. Hopefully it will work. I just don’t want to buy a phone battery that won’t work on the next latest and greatest phone so i thought this would be a good device that would work with anything.
@Pandaman – Your Manufacturer for your cell phone also states a nine hour charge. Recommended does not always equal actual. Battery capacity is depleted whether or not you recharge it for one hour or nine, what are you on about? More importantly, its lated several months already on excellent usage. Please don’t mistake directions for actual performance, as they are often exaggerated to ensure a guaranteed successful initial charge for first time users.
Also, you have used one, so you would know.
@Pandaman – I think that statement meant that you can recharge your phone in a couple hours… not the unit itself. If you’re on a train or bus you obviously won’t have an AC outlet to plug into to charge your phone so you would plug into this instead to charge your phone in a couple hours.
@Pandaman –
It isn’t a NiCad Pandaman… What part of Lithium Polymer don’t you understand?..
@trinigotbread -
99 dollars to have the ability to charge 4 times isn’t too expensive. How much would 4 batteries cost? Then of course you have to switch them out to charge each one individually or even if you have a battery docking station(which would cost even more money), can only charge two at a time.
@Pandaman –
I don’t see what the issue is with recharging the unit for 9 hours…after depleting it, plug it in overnight and then you’re good to go.
hopefully this one isnt nearly as big of a flop as the first
Dont buy an effen iPad lol. So many slatePC’s coming out that will be better. For instance you can get a new slate from Kmart they are releasing it for back to school. It has android OS on it and has a snappy processor and good amount of ram. It also has SD slot for more memory. $150. While this isn’t the best slate to come out, for the features etc its the cheapest.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/07/27/augen.gentouch78.takes.on.apple.through.price/
For the car I have an inverter that I use to plug a drop lamp for camping, it laso has a usb port on it. They also sell little button usb converters that snuggly fit in the cigarette lighter……
I just bought me one for 50$ total with a 50% off discount code
haha… very useful marketing.
Personally I use the energizer xp8000 which retails for the same price but its 8000 mah versus 6000 mah on the zagg and both units are about the same size. I bought mines for $50 and it works great, expecially for those long flights I take every month for the job.
For anyone concerned about the price just apply for the weekly ipad contest and get an email with a discount code. Got mine half off!!! WOOT!