Choiix Power Fort C-2010-K1 portable battery charger

The Choiix Power Fort C-2010-K1 (made by Cooler Master) is a mobile battery charger can be used to charge USB devices while on-the-go. It has a 5V (1A) USB output and it's designed for people who perhaps don't have a car or who frequently travel and need to give their phone an extra shot of power before the end of the day.

The charger itself is a little bigger than a smartphone (110x64x12mm) and it weighs just over 100g. It uses a Lithium-polymer battery that takes up to four hours to fully charge. It's a unit that's very simple to operate: there is no need to use any software, simply plug in one cable to charge it and then another cable to charge your USB device.

Before you can use the Power Fort, you have to charge it. It's recommended that you charge it for eight hours on the first use. Typical recharging time after that is between three and four hours. There are four blue LEDs on the unit that flash as the charge continues. Once four lights are illuminated, it means the Power Fort is ready to use. You can leave the Power Fort plugged in without fear of damaging it: it has over-charging and overheating protection.

Once the Power Fort is fully charged, just chuck it into your bag and take it with you wherever you go. It can be a pain to carry an extra device like this, but the upside is that if your phone ever does run low on power at a crucial moment, then you will have a means to charge it without having to find a power outlet.

Mini-USB and micro-USB cables are supplied with the Power Fort; the mini-USB cable is for plugging the Power Fort into a computer to charge it and the micro-USB can be used to charge a phone. In our tests, it took just over two hours to fully recharge a typical Android-based phone. You can use the phone as it is being charged, but if you're making calls, then you'll have to hold the charger up (as well as the phone) while you talk. This recharge fully depleted the Power Fort's battery.

You can check on the Power Fort's own battery level by pressing the button on its body. Similar to when it's charging, the four blue LEDs indicate how much power is left: all four LEDs should light up if its battery is fully charged, three if it has 50-75 per cent charge left, two if it has 15-45 per cent, and one if it's less than 15 per cent charge.

In addition to phones, the Choiix is said to be able to charge other USB devices, such as iPods, GPS units and other MP3 players. We had no problems getting it to charge our Creative Zen MP3 player.

It's compatible with the iPhone and iPad, the Sony PSP, Blackberry devices, and Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, HTC and LG phones.

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