I’ve got another portable battery for review. This time it’s the Lumsig Grand Series A1 Plus charger. This costs £18.99 from Amazon or $23.99 on Amazon US. It’s available in this silver shade along with black and gold.
Inside is a rather chunky 13,400mAh battery. I say chunky in terms of capacity, because at 10.4 x 11.4 x 3 cm and 299 g it’s not exactly bulbous.
Even if you’re not that techy, a 13,400mAh battery is a good thing. This particular charger is way better than those free chargers you might get given at trade shows or by your network. This one will completely charge an average smartphone battery (I’m assuming 3000mAh as an average) four-and-a-bit times. That means that the charger can stay in your bag or pocket without you having to worry about topping it up too often, and this particular one has two USB outputs so – if you want – you can charge two devices up at once. Even a power-sapping iPad.
Let’s not forget that for most of the time you’re not going to be charging a completely flat device. You’ll be charging a device which might be just a bit low on charge, and therefore this charger will probably stil have charge left in it when you pick it up.
This particular model has some Lumsing “Smart Charging” technology which ensures that your device gets the right amount of current for optimum, speedy and safe charging. It can do up to 2.4 amps per port or 3 amps overall. Inside are, according to Lumsing, “LG Grade-A cells” for safety, reliability and safety.
The unit is constructed from one tough but stylish and smooth piece of aluminium, and there’s a double-layer of construction to ensure that you don’t end up with battery damage if you drop the thing.
Out of the box you’re advised to charge it for 8 hours and there’s four LED’s up at the top which tell you how much charge is in there – each LED shows 25%. There’s a microUSB cable included for either charging the battery from the mains (or your car charger / USB hub whatever) and, if you turn it around the other way, it’ll charge your devices. I’ve used it to plug into my iPhone here with the help of a little blue converter I’ve got.
On the side of the device is a blue button. This has a couple of uses – you can tap it to see how much power is remaining (25% of charge is represented from each LED as mentioned earlier) or, if you hold it, a small LED torch will light up. It’s ideal for those moments when you need to… y’know, see in the dark. I used it whilst walking the dog and, although it’s not super-bright, it was enough for me to be seen and for me to find the right key to open a door – plus I wasn’t using the flash on my phone as a torch.
Plugging the microUSB cable (or Apple Lightning cable, or miniUSB cable, whatever you have) will start the charge automatically and those LED’s will illuminate as it’s happening just to show the remaining charge. Once your phone or tablet is full, the charger will shut down itself to ensure that there’s no “run over”.
To be honest that’s about it. It’s a charger that’s so far removed from those free ones dished out at events – this is a quality charger with the intelligence to shut down and power up when needed. It also charges your device optimally, so no trickle charging or overheating. Moreover, it’s got the capacity needed for keeping you going for longer – no continual rushing back to a power socket to charge the thing back up again. Nice.
I like the design and the style of it too. Top marks from me.
Update – The guys from Lumsing have provided us with a coupon code for readers who want to buy the product. Head here to get it on Amazon and then, to get a massive 20% off, just use …
Code: LUMSING4
Expiry time: 23:59 30/09 BST