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Exogear's Exovolt Plus: The stackable external battery pack arrives
There are a ton of external battery packs for iPhones and iPads. I remember the good old days when it seemed like the only packs available were little blobs that you'd plug into the bottom of an iPhone to keep it going for a few more hours. Now everybody and their brother-in-law has an external battery pack in their line, so it's nice to see one that's completely different from the rest of the pack. It's the Exogear Exovolt Plus, which has the distinction of being a stackable battery pack. Read on -- we're going to give away some goodies to one lucky TUAW reader. Design and Functionality The Exovolt Plus comes in two models: the main battery (US$89.95) and sub batteries (US$49.95 each). To power your iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad, you need at least one main battery. It has a micro-USB port for charging and a full-sized USB port to charge up your devices. There's also a power button and four white LEDs that give you the relative charge level of the stack of batteries. The sub batteries are slightly thinner, don't have the ports, but do have a small socket on one top corner that contacts a male connector on the bottom of the main battery. The sub batteries also have one of those male connectors on the bottom, so you can stack as many of them as you want to to create a tower of power. %Gallery-162741% The Exovolt units are white, about 3-3/4" square, and have rounded corners. The bottom sides are blue, and there are small latches on the sub batteries to insure a solid connection to the main battery or other sub batteries. To make sure that your stack 'o power is safe to be around, Exogear built in double circuit protection, overheat protection, short-circuit protection, and an automatic input/output control. The main battery package comes with a carry pouch, micro-USB and Dock Connector cables, and a simple user manual. How much capacity do these things have? Each Exovolt Plus battery has a capacity of 5,200 mAh, and stacking ten of them would give you an astounding 52,000 mAh of energy for keeping your iPad going when the zombie apocalypse starts. Of course, that would put you back a whopping $539.50, but you'd have bragging rights... In fact, nowhere on the Exogear website or in the limited documentation that comes with the Exovolt Plus did I see anything about a limit on how many of these things you can stack. Doing a little math and knowing that the main battery is 1.5 cm thick and the sub batteries are 1.2 cm thick (and assuming that the plastic would stand the weight of a huge column of batteries, which it wouldn't), you could equal the height of the Burj Khalifa (829.84 meters or 82984 cm) by stacking approximately 69,153 of these things at a cost of around $3,454,282. That thin tower would supply 359,595,600 mAh for your iPad movie watching marathon. In all seriousness, though, the Exovolt batteries are well-built and a stack of these guys would get you through a lot. Conclusion The Exovolt Plus battery pack system is a unique, but pricey, way to make sure that you have power to spare for your electronic devices. The ability to stack the batteries for extra capacity is brilliant. Pros Nicely designed and built Stackable design expands capacity as you need it Cons Expensive; by comparison, Satechi's 5,200 mAh battery pack is only $39.99, and their 10,000 mAh model is only $59.99 Who is it for? Someone who needs a lot of power to go, and has the bucks to buy a lot of these stackable packs Giveaway We're giving away a pair of Exovolt Plus battery packs -- one main battery, one sub battery -- and a sweet Tabu tablet pouch to one lucky TUAW reader. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before August 21, 2012 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected and will receive one Exogear Exovolt Plus main battery valued at $89.95, one Exogear Exovolt Plus sub battery valued at $49.95, and a Tabu tablet pouch valued at $39.95. Click here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
Exogear's Exovolt Plus 'stackable' battery pack claims to be the first of its kind
We've seen (and tested) a fair share of interesting power packs during our time, and Exogear's hoping to make a mark of its own in this very juicy department with what the outfit's calling "the world's first" stackable battery pack. The newly minted Exovolt Plus consists of a main 5,200 mAh kit, which can then be paired -- or, in this particular case, stacked -- alongside a "Sub Battery" unit to create the ultimate portable charging station. One thing worth noting, though, is that each extra stack will be sold separately for nearly $50, while the essential Exovolt Plus is set to run at about $90 minus some change. Given its universal capabilities (30-pin, USB and micro-USB), something tells us the Exovolt Plus won't have trouble landing any suitors despite its somewhat hefty price tag. Still, you'll have to wait a little while before you can snag one of these, as it's currently listed as "coming soon," and its creator's yet to reveal when we can expect it to go on sale.
Exolife Exogear iPhone 4 battery case review
You asked for it now here it is, part two of our iPhone 4 battery case review featuring fan-fave Exolife from Exogear. Like the Mophie Juice Pack Air and Mili PowerSpring 4 battery packs we already reviewed, the Exolife case promises to "virtually double" the life of your iPhone 4 -- something neither the Mophie nor Mili could quite pull off. Exogear's claim is even more bold given its additional boast about being the "world's thinnest and lightest battery case" for the iPhone 4. Can it possibly compete and knock the Mophie Juice Pack Air out of its title position? Click through to find out.%Gallery-104545%
TUAW review and giveaway: Exolife battery case for iPhone 4
With earlier iPhone models, external battery packs and battery cases like the Mophie Juice Pack Air became very popular, due to the original iPhone's shorter battery life. With the iPhone 4, we're not seeing quite the battery life issues that we did with the earlier models, but for those who need to be away from a recharging power source for a while, battery cases are still an excellent solution. Exogear has recently released the Exolife rechargeable battery case for iPhone 4 ($89.95), with a built-in 1500 mAh Lithium-Ion Polymer battery that's sure to keep your iPhone 4 running for a long time. Read on for a complete review of the Exolife case, and a chance to win one from TUAW. %Gallery-102803%
First look: Exogear ExoLife battery case for iPhone 4
One of the more eagerly anticipated accessories for just about any new phone is an extended-life battery case. One of the first out of the gate for the new iPhone 4 is the Exogear ExoLife rechargeable battery case (US$89.95). It's only available for pre-order at this time, but is expected to start shipping on July 30. The ExoLife has several features that should make iPhone 4 owners clamor for it -- a 1500-mAh Lithium-ion polymer battery that should be able to recharge the phone once, a hard polycarbonate shell to keep your baby from getting scratched and dented, a regular USB 2.0 to micro-USB cable for charging and syncing, and something called ExoClear technology to help you avoid the dreaded Grip of Death. The ExoLife also has a feature to turn off the battery when it's not being used, as well as a thin blue LED battery meter on the back. As you can see in the photo above, the case is relatively sleek as battery cases go, and looks pretty nice to me, although your personal preference may vary, of course. Exogear plans on having the black model seen above shipping by July 30th, and a white model will follow by September 30th. The ExoLife will be perfect for running TrailGuru on my iPhone 4 when I'm doing long hikes or bike rides, so I'll be anxious to see one soon.
