It is always useful to have an external battery just in case your iPhone or iPad is running low, but many external batteries are large and heavy. Sara Austin, an attorney in York, PA, recently told me about a small, $40 charger that she purchased called the Halo Pocket Charger 2200. It is only 4 inches long and 3/4 inch in diameter. It has a 2,200 mAh battery and comes with a USB charging cable, a carrying pouch, and three interchangeable adapter tips: 30-pin, mini USB, and micro USB. The 30-pin connector is designed to work with older iPhones and iPads. The Halo Pocket Charger 2200's cord doesn't come with a Lightning adapter tip so you cannot use the included cord with a newer iPhone or iPad, but there is a standard USB plug on the side of the Halo Pocket Charger so you can use the Lightning-to-USB cable that came with your device to charge. Or, this seems to me to be a perfect use for a tiny USB to Lightning cord such as the iBoltz XS that I reviewed yesterday.
Sara Austin (pictured at right) gave me permission to share here on iPhone J.D. what she wrote to me about the Halo Pocket Charger 2200 on so that others could learn about this compact charger. I appreciate her doing so because it sounds like a useful product, and but for her reaching out to me, I'm not sure that I would have known about it.
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I ordered the Halo Pocket Charger 2200 [from the manufacturer, Halo2Cloud.com]. Timely delivery. The site says it's smaller (or as small as) a tube of mascara. As you can see from the picture below, that is not really true. It is not as tall but definitely wider (which can make a difference if it needs to fit into a slim space).
The Halo Pocket Charger 2200 arrived fully charged with a double-tipped USB cord and several adapter plugs and a small carrying bag. It took my iPhone 5 about 1:20 to go from 28% to 84% and used about 1/2 the Halo charge. Pretty good! In another test, it charged my iPad 2 from 66% to 84% in 2:11 and took 1/2 the Halo's charge.
Then, with the Halo Pocket Charger 2200 plugged into my PC, it took about 5 hours to recharge the Halo Pocket Charger 2200 from 1/2 to full. Not bad, because someone will usually then be using the newly-recharged product while the Halo can recharge. The cord even allows the Halo to be recharging while another item (iPhone, iPad, etc) is also charging from the Halo, although you will need to use a 30 pin to Lightning adapter to do so with the latest models of the iPhone and iPad.
The product comes in black, silver, purple or pink leopard. I like the purple so I don't confuse it with anything else. [Jeff notes: here is a picture of the pink leopard version from the Halo website; I certainly wouldn't confuse that color with anything else in my briefcase.]
My verdict at this early stage: thumbs up. The Halo Pocket Charger 2200 will be handy and is a good value for the cost.
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Although Sara Austin purchased the Pocket Charger 2200, which costs $40, I see that the company also sells a Pocket Charger 2800 for $50. That model is the same physical size but includes a larger 2800 mAh batter to give you a little bit more power.
Thanks for sharing your review, Sara!
Click here to get the Halo Pocket Charger 2200 from the manufacturer ($40.00).
