Last year I was sent through the TravelCard portable charger for review. It’s a super slim battery pack designed to fit in your wallet and give your mobile device that all important boost when you need it. I loved the TravelCard charger and it sits happily in my wallet with me everyday. GoDesign got in touch with me to say they had made some improvements to the previous version now named the TravelCard Plus, and sent me a review sample through.
Features.
The Travelcard Charger.
- Dimensions: 3.58 x 2.44 x .16 inches (9.1 x 6.2 x .4 cm).
- Weight: 1.5 ounces (42.5 grams).
- Connector: Built in USB cable for charging.
- Built-in cable for output to either iPhone/Micro USB.
- Capacity: 1500 mAh.
Design.
The Travelcard charger is a credit card sized battery pack, ( well a little bit bigger than your average credit card ) made from aluminium, its designed to fit in your wallet or purse, It comes in a variety of colours: black, silver, red and blue.
On the top edge of the Travelcard is a single on/off button and a multi-colour LED. On the top left is the built-in USB charging cable and on the right the charging cable. The review unit I was sent through had Apple’s lightning connector, but a microUSB version is also available
In Use.
So how much juice can a small battery like this provide for your smartphone? According to the TravelCard folks, it will charge an iPhone 5s up to about 51 percent and about 44% for your Android phone. OK, that’s not a full charge, but can give you the added power you may need in an emergency at the end of the day, ensuring you can get those important calls and texts get through.
I already carry the previous TravelCard with me everywhere, for that emergency power, but I’m going to replace it with this new and improved version, as now I can top it up without the need to carry a USB charging cable. Just plug it right into a USB port.
Conclusion.
Easily carried in a wallet, the TravelCard is very compact. The enclosed cables are MFi-certified and it has enough capacity to get you through an emergency. On the negative side, the Travelcard is on the more premium side of pricing (currently $39, which equates to £24) and there are a number of not-as-compact external battery packs that are half the price of the TravelCard.
It’s up to you as to whether or not the extra portability of this battery pack is what you want, but my own opinion is that it’s worth the premium price. I carry mine all the time in my wallet and is completely forgotten about until that moment I need it.
Source TravelCard Charger