Dexim DCA103B Blue Pack Backup Battery for iPhone and iPod

I have always wondered how the phones on the TV series Prison Break never ran flat and never seemed to need charging - the brothers must have had pockets full of these packs from Dexim!

This DCA103B backup battery from Dexim could prove to be a really useful product. At the time of writing it is nearly time for Glastonbury once again and I bet there will be many people there who will wish they had one of these packs with them by the end of the festival! There will be many other occasions and eventualities when a product like this could be a life-saver; great for entertainment and great to be able to keep on talking.

Dexim's product is officially licensed and very well made; the pack includes all you need, from the international power adaptor, connecting cables, battery and even a soft carrying case to keep everything tidy. The battery is a stand-alone power supply; it doesn't replace the existing battery at all. Although designed for Apple products it will also work with any device with a mini USB power input.

This is a life-style product and will suit some people much more than others. If you travel a lot, or spend time in the Great Outdoors then this will be for you; if you're always near a power supply you probably won't need it, although it would provided backup in the event of a power cut!

This is a well thought out and very well made device which will suit the right user very well. At around £60 it is not cheap, but it is good value for what you get. I don't have an iPhone yet, just an iPod Classic and it works very well with that. Amazon's Product Description provides details of what you can expect from it and also what Dexim's philosophy is! Recommended.

The Dexim back up battery comes with a mains charger and leads for several types of phone, including iphone and blackberry. The instructions with the battery are fairly minimal but all the information is there. It is easy to use and takes about 2-2.5 hours to charge fully.

An LED light that can act as a torch is also included - actually quite a nice touch if you're struggling to get your phone recharged in the dark. The battery has 4 blue indicator lights on the side to give an idea of how much power is left in the battery.

I found that the back-up battery could charge my iphone twice (from the iphone's 20% remaining warning) and still have some power left.

This device has got me out of trouble twice - allowing me to recharge my iphone in situations where there was no mains power or a nearby PC available - Once on a bus, once whilst out and about - I charged the phone up whilst it was in my pocket.

Fantastic idea - great product but not quite 5 stars as the iphone charger lead could have been a little longer.

This is basically a high capacity Lithium-Ion battery in a stylish casing with a standard USB output that can be used to recharge any compatible USB device on the move. The most likely devices would be an iPod or mobile phone. In my experience, the 2600mAh Polymer Li-Ion battery has enough juice when fully charged to completely recharge an iPod Touch 2G or iPhone 3G roughly twice (from empty). It holds its charge very well for long periods so it can be charged, forgotten about for a while, and then used in an emergency without any problems.

It can be recharged from any standard USB port (either directly from a PC or via a mains USB adaptor plug). The supplied charging cable comes with two USB inputs so you can connect both at once (where available) to speed up the recharge. However, on one PC I tried to perform this rapid recharge with, it complained about a USB power surge and disabled the USB sockets.

It has 3 blue LEDs which illuminate at the push of a button to indicate how much charge currently remains in the unit. It also has a high power LED torch bulb built-in and makes a very useful emergency light. The styling is very nice - it is roughly the same size and shape as an iPod Touch/iPhone and looks quite sleek. It is supplied with a nice soft carry pouch which has room for the supplied cables and adaptors. The pouch is probably too big to carry round in a pocket with all the other cables in it, but you would be able to carry just the battery pack and the one adaptor you need around with you in a pocket.

This is a high quality device, officially licensed by Apple as an iPod accessory. It is clearly manufactured to a high standard and will probably last a long time and withstand some abuse. However, I feel it's a little too expensive for what it is, which is why it's only a 4* product. I have already been using the Philips SCE4430/05 - Power4Life Rechargeable PowerPack up to 5V + USB charger for a few months and it's just as effective, only a slightly smaller capacity, but is currently cheaper. You have to decide whether this is worth paying more for - I'd probably say no, but it's still a very nice battery pack.

UPDATE May 2010 - the power cable that connects the battery pack to the USB charger has picked up a dry joint, which means I have to fiddle about bending the cable until I get a good connection and it starts recharging. But that's actually not a real problem any more, because the whole battery pack is faulty! The built-in torch has now switched itself on and either refuses to be turned off or turns off just for a few seconds and then turns itself back on again. After a couple of days running the torch, the battery ends up completely flat. I have contacted Dexim support (based in China) but after an initially promising email, they have now completely stopped responding to me. This is both a quality control and customer service fail which is extremely disappointing. I've downgraded my rating from 4 stars to just 1 star, as it's totally broken within the 1 year warranty period and Dexim don't want to know. Oh dear.