There’s a couple different ways that portable devices are powered these days, standard batteries, or proprietary. I love the ability to just purchase relatively cheap AA batteries to re-fuel a device when it goes dark, but being able to just recharge a device has it’s own advantages. One disadvantage is that I often need to be near a power source and I have to wait for my device to recharge or at best, I have to stay plugged in to keep using the device. An alternative is to fork over the cash for a second battery and this was often the first thing I did when I bought a new cell phone. My iPhone, on the other hand, requires a different approach, a solution found, perhaps, in EcoSol’s Powerstick.

What is it?
Just as the name implies, it’s a stick with power. More specifically, it’s a rechargeable battery that has a USB connector on one end to charge it up with power and a female jack on the other, where you attach a device using one of the nine included connection cables. The device can be powered up by the Powerstick to make it last beyond the normal lifetime of its internal power supply. Of course, this only works with devices that can accept external power to run or charge, but those that don’t almost always run off regular AA or similar batteries, anyway.

Real world testing
Out of the box, the Powerstick had about a 50% charge, so I packed it in my laptop bag for my vacation to Detroit. At the airport, I charged it up on my laptop’s USB port while I worked on my Peek review.

It didn’t take long at all to finish charging up, but it was a little distracting because I kept excitedly watching the little bars load up, waiting for it to show all eight. Although it can be distracting, it’s useful to be able to have an idea of how far along it is charging before it has finished. When it was done charging up, I unplugged it and threw it in my pocket.

I also spent a lot of time on my phone checking and replying to email, so it wasn’t long before I had my phone looking like it could use some charging, so I pulled the Powerstick back out, found the iPhone connector in the ZipLoc bag I keep them in, and plugged it all in. It started charging right away and when I looked back just a minute or two later, I could see that my phone was just a little more charged. By time I had to pack up to board the plane, my iPhone was all charged up again and ready to go.

Conclusions
This review was unique in that I went out and bought this device. One was going to be sent out, but there wasn’t a lot of time between when I had gotten in touch with the PR company and when I was going on vacation and I wanted to really test it out on vacation. That said, the question isn’t about whether I would buy one or not at around $60. What I really needed to decide was if I would keep it or try to recover the money spent on it via ebay or other means. To be honest, the price did make it a little difficult. If it were a little cheaper, I would say no contest and it really boils down to how much use you’ll get out of it. With the variety of connectors, the usability increases greatly as long as you have the gadgets. I have the gadgets and will probably get enough use from the Powerstick, so I decided to keep it. If you find yourself running out of power for your devices a lot, grab one. Just remember to keep it with you when you do.

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