Portronics MOJO Charger - The Convenient, Portable Charger

In a day like today we are overloaded with gadgets and gizmos whether it is mobile phones or PMPs. Many people have more than one gadget on them at any given time. I, for one, on a daily basis carry two mobile phones, an iPod as well as an iPad. The most frustrating part of being on the move a lot is when the batteries on the respective devices die out in the middle of a call, movie, etc. Portronics have come out with a very interesting portable charger that can also double up as a flash light.

Seven adapters to fit into almost all mobile devices

Design and build quality

The torch is made up of a nice rubberized plastic finish with a powerful LED flash. It is approximately 5 inches in length and is slightly less than an inch thick. It weights 90g making it easy to be carried around in a pocket. The back of the torch houses the 2200 mAh battery, the battery cover is neatly designed and looks part of the body and not like a separate panel. On the front of the charger is a power indicator and below it is the power on button to charge other devices. On the left of the torch is a mini USB port which charges this portable charger and above the battery cover at the back is the USB slot. This USB out slot connects and charges various devices. Further to this the torch also has four modes of flashing – normal, strong, flash and SOS.

Along with the torch is a USB tether spindle that connects and charges other devices. This is a tethered spindle has a retractable function and can be stretched to approximately two feet in length. The USB cable comes along with seven adapters for various mobile phones including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, BlackBerry and even Apple. These adapters are compact in design and can be attached easily to the connector.

The build quality of both the torch and the tether cable is sturdy however it would be much better if the length of the retractable wire was at least a foot longer.

Performance fluctuates while charging the iPhone

Performance
Before the testing of the device began, it was discharged completely and charged fully. The 2200 mAh battery in the Portronics Mojo charger was kept to charge for four hours and was fully charged befor the testing began. The power of the LED torch really impressed us a lot. In a well lit area the illumination that the torch threw was as far as 25 feet. The charger was tested on three devices, an iPod Nano 5th Generation, an iPhone 4 and a Dell Venue Pro. The battery of the iPod Nano and Dell Venue were drained completely. The iPod Nano charged from zero battery to full in an hour and 50 minutes. Immediately after that the Dell Venue was kept for charging but it did not seem to power it on at all. The iPhone 4 battery was kept to charge at 70 percent, however it was noticed that after every five minutes or so the charging would stop on its own and had to be restarted again. This became quite frustrating after half an hour of trying to charge the phone since the phone and charger had to be monitored continuously. After trying to charge the iPhone for an hour the battery had charged just 7 percent more. This was quite disappointing as the iPod Nano had charged seamlessly. Once again the Dell Venue Pro was kept to charge with the Portronics Mojo charger and it charged perfectly.

iPod charged without any interruption

Verdict
Portronics has come out with a gem of a charger with the Mojo portable charger. The seven different adaptors that go into the connector are very useful for a variety of mobile phones and PMPs. Priced at Rs. 1,200, this portable charger cum torch offers fairly good value for money. People who are always carrying a lot of devices with them can find this charger comes in very handy. Though I was not so pleased with the charging of the iPhone 4, I was very impressed with the way it charged the iPod and Dell Venue Pro. From a zero battery state to a full battery in approximately the same time it would take to charge the same devices through a PC. The fluctuation in performance with respect to charging the iPhone was a letdown to a device that can be very useful in everyday situations. While there may be no alternative for a standard wall charger, this can be really useful for those who want to charge your device on the road, train or for that matter in the middle of nowhere.