New Portable Battery Chargers from Powerocks, Just Mobile, and Lepow — Nemo Memo ComparisonÂ
Lepow Moonstone 6000 (comes in several attractive colors)
$70
Just Mobile Gum++ (comes in black, white, and silver)
$90
Powerocks Stone 3 (white only)
$100
Portable USB battery chargers are getting smaller, smarter, and better looking. Everyone needs at least one when you are away from AC or USB power sources, and when the power grid in inaccessible.
Lepow’s 6000mAh Moonstone is gorgeous, priced to sell, and has both a standard and a quick charge output port. Just Mobile’s 6000mAh Gum++ is tiny, with one output. Powerocks’ 7800mAh Stone 3 has a very clever power status indicator, plus two ports each capable of sending power to an iPad. Which one should you buy, and why?
Moonstone 6000 is available in brilliant red, yellow, and lime green colors. The physical case is stylish, curvaceous, and smooth to the touch. Its only disadvantages are inadequate LED indication when the unit is fully charged from AC power, and no LED illumination during discharge to an external USB device. Power status is shown by pressing a small status button to indicate up to four units of full capacity. Because there is no on/off switch, Moonstone shuts itself off when disconnected from an iPhone or other piece of equipment.
Gum++ continues the trend of excellent and ultra-compact external charging equipment from the designers at Just Mobile. A small on/off button powers up the unit and displays up to five minuscule glowing LEDs when being charged or discharging. Gum++ cleverly shuts itself off when it’s not being used. The case is fully rounded, with six ridges on the upper and lower surfaces.
Stone 3 is the largest and squarest of these three power supplies. In addition to its two power-out ports, there is a helpful inclusion of both USB micro and mini input ports. Nicely done, Powerocks. A large, surface-mounted on/off switch illuminates the letters POWEROCKS in glowing blue, except for a red first letter O. The letters lose their LED color as the unit gradually discharges, and regain them as power is returned to Stone 3.
Recommendations:
If you are ultra-stylish, on a limited budget, require two USB ports, and don’t need always-on LED status lights, Lepow’s Moonstone 6000 is the one for you.
Users who want a diminutive and techie-minimalist single-output external battery source will be pleased with Just Mobile’s Gum++.
For maximum ease of use and visual display, Powerocks’ Stone 3 is the best, largest, and most expensive of these three chargers. It also has the highest capacity battery, at 7800mAh versus 6000mAh for the other two. Stone 3’s maximum-power port is the only one that charges my legacy original iPod Classic, as a point of interest.
Neither 6000 nor 7800mAh is sufficient to power a full size iPad from zero to full charge, but they will suffice for iPad top-ups and multiple complete charge cycles for an iPhone and iPod. All three chargers maintain stable battery power during days or weeks of unused storage.
Our style committee chose Moonstone as clear winner, liked the reduced size but disliked the tiny on/off button on Gum++, and considered Stone 3’s illuminated-letters a plus and its boxy shape and size a minus.
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