Accessories Seidio 1600mAh extended life battery

[ukzen]

I used a usb mains adaptor that came with my old Rio mp3 player to charge up my Powerbee,took about 1/2 hr to top it up to max.
Charged my Desire from 38% to full in 1hr,charged Ipod touch,and Cowon S9 ,still got 2 bars left.
Really pleased with it ,cant imagine Pebble could be any better,unless Powerbee blows up or melts anytime soon.

 

[Inno]

Anyone who actually bought the Powerbee? I was willing to order the Pebbles, but if the Powerbee is just as good as the Pebbles, I will go for the Powerbee. So, any reviews/experiences?

Ordered it, awaiting on arrival. Anxiously!

So I ordered one late wednesday, about 9pm.
Order was despatched Thursday, and delivered Friday.
In total, with post and packing, it was about 22 pounds.

The item was in a carry pouch with all the adapters and charging adapter. You dont get a mains charger, it
appears to charge via usb. I haven't read the destruction manual, so I don't know if you can use a mains or in car adapter to charge it.

It shows, when turned on, to be fully charged. At least, all of the lights are on when it powers up.

I haven't tried to fully charge the phone yet, but when it was briefly plugged in it showed as charging usb.

I will try charging using it for a couple of days and see what happens in terms of number of charges. I'll then do it again once I've charged it myself to see if there is any difference.

The only criticism I have is the size of the pouch - It's quite big. But it does hold all of the adapters, so I'll forgive it that.
Amy questions, let me know. I'll try and add pictures in the near future...

Cool review, sounds promising!

 

[TimMatrix]

The output on it is a USB out which is covered at the top, when charging i recommend using the cable supplied with the pebble and not the HTC cable this is due to two factors, one being the cable supplied is shorter and the second is that when the phone is on charge using this one the phone says charging via AC where as the HTC cable will say USB. From what i have read into this charging via AC is a higher current so should be faster, please correct me if i am wrong.

Here are some photos of the pebble along side the desire:

On charge using supplied cable(phone states charging via AC).

On charge using HTC cable(phone states charging via USB).

Sorry if the review is rubbish its the first i have ever attempted

Photos are brilliant and greatly helps me in deciding whether I should go for this Pebble or the i-Walk 5400 (only 400mAh more?).

Has anyone verified your findings that AC charging is quicker than USB charging? That was a very valid point you have raised about the distinction of charging methods!

 

[TimMatrix]

Anyone who actually bought the Powerbee? I was willing to order the Pebbles, but if the Powerbee is just as good as the Pebbles, I will go for the Powerbee. So, any reviews/experiences?

Hold on, if you found this "Powerbee" portable charger from Amazon and this site says it's being made by Powerbee.

If that is the case, how come it isn't featured in the official Powerbee site (http://www.powerbee.co.uk/)?

I'm starting to think that the brand "Powerbee" is dubious on the Amazon site....

Maybe I should inform Powerbee of this Amazon item and see what they say?

 

[sandozer]

Would be interested how much the back cover changes the profile / feel of the device.

Any chance you could post pics when received please?

Have just received my one, the fit is superb, the feel is identical to the original. The phone can now sit unaided on its long side for video viewing.

As for the battery, evaluating it now and can instantly see its capacity is way in excess of original. I do like the feel of the thicker phone, looks a great buy at the price.

Will try and do some pics......

 

[marcjohnson]

Have just received my one, the fit is superb, the feel is identical to the original. The phone can now sit unaided on its long side for video viewing.

As for the battery, evaluating it now and can instantly see its capacity is way in excess of original. I do like the feel of the thicker phone, looks a great buy at the price.

Will try and do some pics......

How do you check the size of the battery as I'm not sure if this is legit?

I put it on charge at 1.30pm, took it off for an hour at 4pm then put it back on till 5.30am this morning, I have had it on since then and am now on 15% after using the net for under two hours.

Gonna give it a week but so far not noticed any difference.

 

[marcjohnson]

The fit is great now.

 

[doad13]

Photos are brilliant and greatly helps me in deciding whether I should go for this Pebble or the i-Walk 5400 (only 400mAh more?).

Has anyone verified your findings that AC charging is quicker than USB charging? That was a very valid point you have raised about the distinction of charging methods!

yes tim i can verified that the AC charging is quicker around half the time

 

[Tunga]

Hi all, just got a Desire and found this thread to be very useful, ordered a Powerbee after seeing it here so I thought I'd register to add some comments.

Mine has only just arrived, the lights showed that it was "full" but it is happily charging off of USB right now so I guess it still has some space to fill. I'll try to get some photos up later, and some comments once I try it out.

Really pleased with it ,cant imagine Pebble could be any better,unless Powerbee blows up or melts anytime soon.

The instruction manual for my Powerbee refers to it as an "Power Pack i5000". Looks like these are made in China and branded by Powerbee, Pebble, etc. Here's a wholesale (I think?) listing for it, for example. You'll find other examples if you Google that product name.

The Pebble that had pictures posted of it appears to be a matte finish, my Powerbee is glossy black with blue trim, I guess they make them in a few different finished.

Hold on, if you found this "Powerbee" portable charger from Amazon and this site says it's being made by Powerbee.

If that is the case, how come it isn't featured in the official Powerbee site (http://www.powerbee.co.uk/)?

I'm starting to think that the brand "Powerbee" is dubious on the Amazon site....

Maybe I should inform Powerbee of this Amazon item and see what they say?

I thought this as well but decided I'd take a punt. It came with a Powerbee business card in the box, with the proper Powerbee logo, website, and contact details on, so I'm happy that it is genuine. It looks like they mostly focus on solar powered tech on their website, these probably sell a lot better through Amazon.

 

[Tunga]

Apologies in advance for the double post, managed to sneak a few photos of it during lunch so here they are for you all.

Full resolution images can be found by clicking on the thumbnails here.

It is quite shiny so I had to take these at a bit of an angle to avoid massive reflection from the lights!

Front of device:



The three red LEDs you can see are Low/Med/High charge, the third one flashes when it is charging. I assume there is a fourth light to the left which will be lit when it is discharging to a device, not tried that yet. The cable there is the USB charger, it looks like a standard round-style AC connector (maybe 2.5mm or 3.5mm) but whether a similar fitting AC adapter would work I don't know. The manual (which is written in typically broken English) indicates that it can be used with "the" AC plug by connecting the USB cable to "the" plug. I use quotes because this plug is not actually included. Anyway, a diagram shows that this works the same as for the Desire AC plug so I would think that the one from the Desire will work fine with this.

Back of device:



Made in China and general DO NOT THROW IN FIRE type warnings. Note the fingerprints already!

Device with case:



Again, apologies for the fingerprints! The case is a little bulky but that's because it has all of the adapters in it as well (you can see the square front section there). Could easy carry it in pocket without a case anyway. The case has a slightly leathery look but it's just plastic really, seems to be of reasonable quality though.

Device in case:



The focus is a little off here but hopefully you get the idea, this is with all adapters and the Bee packed away. The case closes with a decent size piece of velcro and I was able to get all aapters including the USB charger cable in there without any trouble. It would be a bit fat to put in your pocket like this but to throw in a bag it's ideal.

Adapters:



I don't know what all of these are but from left to right:

1. ???
2. Samsung (?)
3. Nokia small
4. iPhone / iPod
5. Nintendo DS (thanks to Inno for the ident)
6. ???
7. Nokia large
8. USB Micro B (Desire, N1, etc.)
9. Sony Ericsson
10. USB Mini B
11. USB Mini B (These two appear to be identical.)

Behind them is a USB A Male to USB A Female, no idea what this could possibly be used be!

Can anyone identify the others? Click for full resolution.

Hope this has been helpful for some people, let me know if you have any questions .

 

[Inno]

Mine arrived today, very securely packaged, and as mentioned with a charge. Currently using it to charge up my Nintendo DS. Impressed with it so far. As mentioned, the manual is in broken English but understandable; all the adapters seem to be really solidly made and the device itself has nice look and feel to it.

Quite pleased with the purchase from first impressions!

:: EDIT ::

From the picture above, adapter 5 is for Nintendo DS

 

[gmarkj]

So. Just completed the first charge using it.
Started off with battery showing as 11% at 8.58am.
Charged til lunch, at which point it was showing 87% (12.25)
Put back on charge after lunch at 75%.
It just showed full at 3pm, so about 6 hours.
Given it shows as usb charging I think that's about right.
The powerbee now shows the low and mid lights, so It's lost some charge.

I'll update as it goes through a couple of charges, but for

 

[Tunga]

The lead that the adapters plug into is actually the charging lead as well. I has thought the adapter with the yellow tip would be the charger, but apparently not!

Yeah I noticed that, it's quite a neat solution as it means only one cable is required.

So for charging you have: PC --> USB end--> cable --> tip end--> Bee
And for discharging: Bee --> USB end --> cable --> tip end --> appropriate adapter --> device.

 

[Inno]

Hadn't noticed that about the cable, good find! Quite impressed with it so far.

 

[ukzen]

Particularly impressed with the inclusion of male/female usb lead ,means that virtually any device can be charged using usb leads that come with any device.

 

[Crankyhorse]

I can confirm that my Powerbee works too. Charged my Desire in about 3 hours from flat and still has all three lights on.

 

[ukzen]

Just finished charging my P3,thats 3 devices,2 bars left

 

[Tunga]

Particularly impressed with the inclusion of male/female usb lead ,means that virtually any device can be charged using usb leads that come with any device.

Maybe I'm being dumb but can you explain how this cable is useful? It is USB A Male to USB A Female. So at the first end you connect a USB A Female device/cable and at the other end you connect a USB A Male device/cable. But those two could have just connected together in the first place. How does this help?

My phone jsut hit 4% battery so I'm charging from my Bee now, will report back if there is anything interesting to say .

Edit: It took a little over three hours to charge, screen was off for all of that except I checked the percentage about five times and I quickly checked e-mail two or three times. I forgot about it and actually left it plugged in for an extra hour and the discharge light on the Bee was still flashing, I don't know if it was actually still giving out power but it's something to be aware of. The power lights still indicate that it has "high" power, whatever that means.

 

[lorrebreaker]

Have just received my one, the fit is superb, the feel is identical to the original. The phone can now sit unaided on its long side for video viewing.

As for the battery, evaluating it now and can instantly see its capacity is way in excess of original. I do like the feel of the thicker phone, looks a great buy at the price.

Will try and do some pics......

Now that you've been using this for 24 hours what are your impressions of it?
Is it out performing the normal battery?

 

[sandozer]

Now that you've been using this for 24 hours what are your impressions of it?
Is it out performing the normal battery?

Initial impression is that the capacity will increase with cycling. I did do a drain test yesterday on its second full charge. Had the phone screen timeout at 30 minutes, auto brilliance and did 3 concurrent discharge runs.

Cameron Sino Technology CS-HT8181XL Battery (rated at 2400ma/h)

Battery 100% V4.197,

30 mins later, 96% V 4.128

30 mins later, 88% V 4.094

30 mins later 81% V4.060

What I need to do now is do a similar run with the original battery. These tests had all services off, ie bluetooth, wifi etc.

The thicker case gives a brick like feel, but solid.!

 

[sandozer]

Pictures taken with my trusty N95


New battery case pictures.

 

[lorrebreaker]

Thanks for the update sandozer, seriously considering getting one of those.

 

[Wlliam.]

I recieved my 2 pebbles chargers. Overall very well built and nice looking. but one of the cables were damaged and it would short and reboot my pc when connected. I threw it away. I used another USB>DC cable i had.

They showed all 3 led when i got them, but after chargin for 5 hours they still display the same and seems like wont stop charging.. it is supossed to turn off or stop flashing led when it is full, but 3rd led wont stop flashing!

edit: Ok its been almost 6 hours and one unit finished its charge.

 

[Angry Bear]

Thanks doad13! That was very helpful. I'll wait til amazon has stock again and see what happens to the price but I'll probably get that one, it looks pretty good

Your review was fine, the pics were all the angles I'd want and stuff.

Does putting the pebble in a jeans pocket feel uncomfortable when you sit down or walk in any way? I'd likely not actually do that (much) but it would be nice to know

I look forward to your charging rate test thanks again

Thanks for a very useful review. I ended up buying one of these, but the Pebble doesn't seem to power off when I'm charging it, i.e. the lights keep flashing from low to full, but this has been like this for approximately 10 hours! It is being charged via the mains with a USB adapter. Do you know if this is faulty? I've had three of these now and they all seem to suffer from the same problem!

 

[Angry Bear]

yes tim i can verified that the AC charging is quicker around half the time

doad13...my Pebble seems to be charging forever, i.e. the flashing charge indicator won't stop even though it has been charged via the AC for 9 hours! Do you know if you have to drain the Pebble fully before you can charge it, or can you charge it when the capacity shows the Pebble at medium, which is what I have tried to do because I am going away and was hoping for a fully-charged Pebble to survive the weekend? I'm hoing that you have the answers as you seem to have had the Pebble for a while now.