Powergorilla: portable charger

Powergorilla: portable charger

I have been testing a Powergorilla portable charger for a few weeks now, mainly as a phone charger for extended trips rather than a laptop charger, and one thing sticks out –  this is not your average power block. The massive 21000mAh capacity battery pack for standard 5V USB devices is absolutely superb, and means you can keep all your gadgets charged on the move, without having to worry about finding a mains power socket at all.

I’ve successfully used it to keep my phone charged for 10 days with no hassle. The array of connectors is impressive, as is the flexibility of the power output options, from 5V up to 24V for heavy devices such as laptops or video cameras. It’s kind of like carrying around your own powerstation in a bag. It’s not lightweight at 700g, but worth the lug if you’re always finding yourself out of power when it counts.



The company also promotes the Solargorilla solar charger as an optional accessory to keep the Powergorilla charged up in the field, but when I tried I found the output of the solar unit so weak (it took an hour to add 10% juice to my phone) that I gave up almost instantly. I guess you need to be in Africa to get the most out of it, and really if you’re serious about solar you’ll need to carry around one of those hefty suitcase products to get the job done.

However, the powergorilla unit really shines as a power source on the run, and for £150.00 it’s not too heavy on the wallet. It’ll deliver around 2 to 3 hours of power for your laptop and the blurb says 20 hours for your phone from one recharge of the unit, which could be a lifesaver in extreme emergency.

 Then simply hook up your gadget and away you go! You can even daisy-chain, so whilst the powergorilla is charging your laptop, you can charge the powergorilla from the mains power supply. Or you can charge your laptop and your mobile phone simultaneously! One-touch button technology means the powergorilla charger for laptops is easy to use and its sleek, aluminium casing with shock resistant rubber protection strips makes it totally robust.