These days, whenever I am browsing products that require power (mostly everything I own?), one of my main requirements to even consider purchasing the item is, “Does it have a built-in battery and not require me to to buy batteries?” I hate buying batteries. Why? By doing so, I feel like I am paying to use a product. What about rechargeable batteries? I used to have a set of rechargeable batteries. While these work well, the main issue comes with charging them. You have to have a bulky battery charger with you. So I have gone for many years without buying a product that requires AA/AAA batteries (Except for those pesky TV remotes that always require AAA batteries..)
So when I got sent a set of the “World’s 1st Micro-USB Rechargeable Battery”, I honestly did not know what I would even use them for. For the purposes of this review, I had to dig deep into my archive for a product that I used to need AA batteries for, my CD Disk Player!
I grabbed the batteries and I was really excited to see if the CD player would actually turn on…
To be honest, I thought this would be a very short test. My CD Player was replaced many many years ago when I got an iPod (Yes I did once use an Apple product). So I really didn’t expect for it to turn on. At first, it would not turn on, well, I actually forgot how to switch it on. And then something miraculous happened. I was pushing a few buttons and… well, you can see it here:
I found this weird circle spaceship like machine in my cupboard 🤣#21daysLockdown #21daysLockdownSA #stayhomechallenge #StayAtHomeChallenge #CoronaVirusSA #StayHomeSA #SouthAfricaLockdown pic.twitter.com/TMsz87YjAx
— Cape Town Guy (@TheCapeTownGuy) March 27, 2020
So now that I have a product that I would have used back in the day, I can tell you more about the “World’s 1st Micro-USB Rechargeable Battery” made by Charged Power.
Packaging:
The batteries come neatly packaged in a see-through plastic container that sits in a cardboard box that has all the info you need to know:
Charging:
The rechargeable batteries are easily charged with a MicroUSB cable. It is that simple. You simply plug in the cable into the MicroUSB port on the battery and the other end into your USB port on your laptop, power bank or wall charger. Straight out the box, the batteries come ready charged and good to go. With their dark blue colour, they are the best looking batteries I have seen!
You only need to charge the first time after they are flat. Each battery has a capacity of 1000mAh. Charging takes 8,5 hours, so I suggest having a spare set so you can charge while you use your spares.
The provided charging cable can charge two batteries at a time.
If you do have a MicroUSB cable lying around (who doesn’t?), you can grab it and give the batteries some juice.
Each battery has an LED light which indicates if the battery is charging (RED) or fully charged (Blue).
Cost:
The batteries can be used up to 500 times. At R199 for a pack of 2 or R299 for 4 (on sale) this would work out to roughly R0.19 or R0.14 peruse for 500 uses. The batteries are best suited to for use with mice, keyboards, remotes, toys, flashlights and games. Wait, I should have just said household items.
Verdict:
On that note, let me end of this review by telling you that I am really happy with the batteries. They are easy to charge and they look great too! Going rechargeable is also better for the environment!
Get a pair or two at chargedpower.co.za
