"Power Pack" ?

[Puddy Tat]

The back on my old Huawei was simple to remove, replace the battery, and replace the back. On my new one it has little "hooks" that hold it in place. It is scary every time I open it. Makes me think it is going to break. With this in mind, I was thinking about a battery pack or a power pack(whatever you call them)to use for extra power when battery goes down instead of buying a second battery.
Has anyone used on of these and do they charge the battery in a short time or over many, many minutes? Can you use the phone when one is connected?
.
PT

 

[twister6]

The back on my old Huawei was simple to remove, replace the battery, and replace the back. On my new one it has little "hooks" that hold it in place. It is scary every time I open it. Makes me think it is going to break. With this in mind, I was thinking about a battery pack or a power pack(whatever you call them)to use for extra power when battery goes down instead of buying a second battery.
Has anyone used on of these and do they charge the battery in a short time or over many, many minutes? Can you use the phone when one is connected?
.
PT

What I think you refer to is External Battery. It's a must have for any smart phone user Those typically range in capacity 10000 mAh and higher (anything less only makes sense if its a slim package), and offer at least 2 usb outputs with 1A and/or 2A. I'm not familiar with your Huawei phone, but it sounds like an old model which probably has a charging speed of no greater then 1A. Using one of these external batteries you will charge your phone as fast as from wall outlet.

I have reviewed a lot of these external batteries: http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-note-2/708384-twister-reviews-accessories-gadgets.html and would highly recommend the one from Anker, especially their latest Astro 3 (2nd gen) 12000 mAh battery.

 

[Puddy Tat]

What I think you refer to is External Battery. It's a must have for any smart phone user ....... I'm not familiar with your Huawei phone, but it sounds like an old model which probably has a charging speed of no greater then 1A. Using one of these external batteries you will charge your phone as fast as from wall outlet......

I did not know exactly what they were called.
My phone was released last March, so I guess by now it can be called old.
The idea of having one was if I was ever away from any AC power and needed a battery charge.
I will check out your review.
Thanks.
.
PT

 

[twister6]

I did not know exactly what they were called.
My phone was released last March, so I guess by now it can be called old.
The idea of having one was if I was ever away from any AC power and needed a battery charge.
I will check out your review.
Thanks.
.
PT

It will work as fast as using AC outlet wall charger or car charger. The spec you should be looking for is a total capacity in mAh (and compare it to the capacity of your battery to see how many times you will be able to charge your phone), and also A output of the charging port. So for example, and I will make up numbers to make an easier math, if you have a phone with 2000 mAh battery and it chargers at full speed with 1A (1000 mA) of current it will take you 2000 mAh / 1000 mA = 2h to charge it up from 0%.

So, for example if you get 6000 mAh external battery, you have to realize this is a total capacity of battery inside of the external battery case. To get to your phone it will have to be converted through 5V usb interface and back from micro-usb charging port of your phone to your internal batery. During that process you roughly loose about 30% (it's normal and all batteries do that). So you have only actually 4000 mAh capacity. Using such battery with 1A port will mean that you will be able to charge your phone like from a regular wall charger in 2h, and you can do it 2 times if you charging it from 0%.

I have reviewed a ton of different accessories here on AF, including probably close to a dozen of external power banks (batteries). That latest Astro 3 (2nd gen) uses a very efficient circuit where you lose only 20%, and you also get LED indicator (activated by shaking the battery) which gives you battery capacity in 10% increments (versus other batteries that only have 4 LED indicators for 25% increments).

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask!