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Palm Discovery would like to extend a BIG THANKS to Thomas of USB Fever for providing the product for this review.

The idea of a mobile charger isn’t new. The idea of a rechargeable battery powered charger isn’t new either, so why am I doing a review of something that isn’t a new concept? Well, first of all, Thomas of USB Fever has requested my help in reviewing their USB AAA Battery Charger with Torch and second, it does offer something a bit different than other battery powered chargers.

What’s different about this, you ask? Well, the main feature that I think is different is that this AAA Battery powered charger actually has an automatic circuit shutoff, unlike many others that don’t. This is very important in my view, because previous battery powered chargers that I’ve reviewed would get quite warm after a while. Actually, one got to a point that it was quite hot to the touch! At the time, I left it charging without thinking and only after a few hours when I checked on it that I realized how hot the charger and the individual batteries had become. Needless to say, I was a bit worried. With this AAA Battery Charger, I am happy to say that I did not experience this and the charger and batteries remained cool throughout the charging session, even hours after it’s plugged in and charging.

The other feature that makes this battery charger stand out is that this charger has successfully charged my Treo 650 from a battery level of 68% up to 99% (my Treo never really gets to 100% except if I plug into the wall for a while). With other battery chargers, I was only able to attain a battery level of 70-80% maximum regardless of how long I leave it charging.

For those who want to skip over all the detailed review and just want a summary, you can jump to the review summary

Click on the thumbnail images for a bigger picture

Video of USB AAA Battery Charger with Torch

Video at YouTube

Here are my observations: I like the idea that this USB AAA Battery Charger with Torch is small, portable (and pocketable) and ideally using rechargeable batteries. But my experience with rechargeable batteries is that most of them are normally not in as higher capacity as regular alkaline batteries. And, since this charger requires 4 AAA batteries, your costs may be somewhat higher than you originally expected. Most of us know how much regular alkaline AAA batteries cost. Now factor in the more expensive (and likely less powerful) rechargeable AAA batteries so you can understand what I mean.

The good thing however, is that you can use it as a charger for the rechargeable AAA batteries, sparing you from spending more money on a battery charger. Another good feature is that you can also trickle charge your rechargeable AAA batteries via a USB port via the supplied USB cable. But, considering we are talking trickle charge, it may take a while to charge these batteries. Also take into consideration that you will need a USB port from a hub or computer to supply the power. Or, you can opt to get the AC to USB charger adapter that I’ve previously reviewed to enable to you to plug this into the wall for a somewhat faster charge. Here’s the link to the review.

I like the nice glow of the light that turns on around the USB connector of this charger when it’s plugged into a power source for charging the rechargeable AAA batteries. It is a nice surprise with a bright, pleasant color.

The other thing I really like about this battery powered charger is that there is an internal circuit shut off mechanism that will prevent overcharging. If you recall, my previous reviews of battery powered emergency chargers will tend to get very warm after a few hours of charging and that it won’t fully charge up my Palm or portable device. The USB AAA Battery charger with torch, on the other hand, was capable of charging my device fully and it did not overheat. Surprising, yes, since I was expecting that to happen and that I thought all battery powered chargers would not have that capability to have an internal circuit shut off nor be able to fully charge the portable device.

I have discovered that the sliding door to the battery compartment can be a bit hard to open or slide out, thus why in my video review, I left it open. Once it’s closed, I tend to struggle a bit to open it back up again. Keep in mind that this may be due to the specific product I received and may not apply to the entire batch.

The torch, or flashlight feature of this device, to me, is of limited value. I guess, when we are stuck somewhere dark and require a flashlight, this can be a handy device to have. But if we are purchasing this product, I hope we aren’t buying it for the flashlight feature when we can purchase disposable flashlights or the keychain watch battery LED flashlights which provide some light. But after saying that, the light is quite bright and I guess, it does provide that use. It’s strange that a lot of these mobile charger devices always put in that flashlight capability in it though. Just my observation. It works fine as a flashlight or torch, as it’s labeled in Asia.

One last observation is that this could be an even better product if it offered the simultaneous capability to charge the AAA batteries and supply power to the portable device. That would obviously mean that it would have two USB connectors, one for receiving the power from an external source and another for sending the power to an external target. Or perhaps, provide a Y type splitter charging cable with two ends. This could be quite interesting if it can be done. Again, these are my personal suggestions. So keep that in mind when reading my review.

Review Summary

The USB AAA Battery Charger with Torch is an interesting product. It can provide much needed backup power for your portable devices with 4 AAA batteries. Simply connect the USB charging cable for your device to it, and you are charging it. As well, if using rechargeable AAA batteries, you can connect the supplied USB charging cable to a USB port or hub and top up or charge your rechargeable AAA batteries. Please keep in mind that you should only be using rechargeable batteries if you are planning to charge up the batteries as attempting to charge alkaline batteries may damage both the batteries as well as the charger and also may pose potential hazards.

Unlike many other battery powered chargers that I have previously reviewed, this particular charger has an internal power shut off mechanism to prevent overheating, which does happen to some battery powered emergency chargers. This was a concern for me when I was doing this review. The USB AAA Battery Charger with Torch was surprisingly cool to the touch the entire time.

As well, unlike other battery powered chargers, this charger was also able to fully charge my Treo rather than only up to 70-80% as I have previously experienced with various emergency battery (AA and 9V) chargers.

Although this charger does support alkaline AAA batteries, I believe that it is more suited for use with rechargeable AAA batteries as it does come supplied with a USB charging cable to charge up the batteries. As such, this can be a good solution for those who are environmentally conscious as you are re-using the rechargeable batteries rather than disposable alkaline ones. As mentioned previously, I think a much better enhancement for the device would be to enable or allow the simultaneous charging and supply of power. Then, you can opt to either charge or top up the rechargeable batteries or simply draw the power from the USB port to supply the necessary power for your portable device.

Palm Discovery again wishes to give a BIG THANKS to USB Fever for providing the product for this review. Check out USB AAA Battery Charger with Torch here.

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