Duracell myGrid Mobile Device Charging Pad

If you are the kind of person who is forever mislaying the charger for your mobile, or can never remember which of the various chargers you have is the one you need to grab in order to charge the particular gadget that's gone flat on you now, then you could well be tempted by Duracell's promise that the myGrid Mobile Device Charging Pad offers "charging made simple". If you own an Apple iPhone, an iPod Touch, Blackberry Pearl or Blackberry Curve 8300, then this claim may well be true: simply buy an appropriate Power Sleeve (sold separately from the Charging Pad), slip your phone into it, set up the Charging Pad in a permanent home (on a study desk, or hall table, say), plug it into the mains and whenever you want to charge the phone, simply place it on the Pad -- no wires, no fuss. The black rubber Power Sleeve is smart and durable enough to be left on the phone, where it doubles as a protective sleeve. If you have more than one of these devices, you'll probably want to buy sleeves for them all, because while it isn't too tricky to slip the sleeves on and off, having to do so rather defeats the object of having no bits to lose or confuse. The Pad can even charge up to four devices simultaneously, making it great for a family of iPhone users, or for people with a collection of devices; it is slimline and looks smart, and would not look out of place in just about any setting. Its sophisticated error detection and safety features make it safe to leave on and unattended, without fear of problems if you drop keys or other metal objects onto it, or place other things (like hands) on it too. So far, so good...

If your mobile device doesn't fit one of the available Power Sleeves (additional ones are promised for other models of Blackberry) Duracell also offer a range of Power Clips as an alternative way to make your phone capable of being charged from the Pad. Power Clip models are currently available for Nokia mobiles, as well as mobile devices that use Mini-USB and Micro-USB charging connectors. Power Clips consist of a small connector tip, which plugs into the charging socket on your device onto which a slim-line myGrid connector is then attached and permanently glued to the back of your phone. The Power Clips are elegantly and yet simply styled, using a cunningly designed, rotating and sliding set of gold plated magnetic contacts to provide sufficient flexibility of configuration to fit almost any shape and thickness of device whilst still maintaining a good electrical contact and adding only a small increase to the profile of your phone. Nevertheless, the Power Clip does add to the profile of your phone, so if you regularly keep your phone in a slip-sleeve, or clip it into a dashboard mounted hands-free unit, for instance, the Power Clip will almost certainly prevent this. More significantly, the Power Clip is designed to be a permanent addition to the power socket of your mobile. If you need to use the connector for anything else -- connecting your device to a computer to up- or download photographs and other media files, for instance -- you're now stuck. Literally! It is possible, with care, to unclip the connector tip, but doing this leaves the contacts on Power Clip protruding and exposed to potential knocks, whilst also leaving you with a crucial part of the device much more susceptible to damage and loss than your original charger ever was. On many phones, I suspect it also becomes impossible to change the battery, or access the SIM card too, without damaging the Power Clip.

The other problem, of course, is that with a Power Clip in place, you have now become almost entirely dependent on the Pad for your charging, so if you do a lot of travelling, say, which regularly requires you to charge your phone while away from home, then you'll need to get used to packing it and taking it with you, so don't let the rest of family get too used to it being around! And you can forget about charging the phone in the car. Add these potential problems to the price of the device -- almost £70 for the Pad and about £25 per Power Clip or Sleeve, there being none provided with the Pad itself -- and to my mind at least, this gadget quickly becomes a non-contender in the "essential functionality" stakes. In fact, it starts to move into the "distinct liability" bracket.

While Duracell's designers and engineers have done an excellent job in tackling the problem of coming up with a charging method that is both extremely simple to use and universal in its applicability (assuming that the promised additional solutions for other makes and models of devices are forthcoming) they seem to have totally failed to consider that people actually have their mobile devices for purposes other than recharging them. With new legislation forcing phone manufacturers to move towards a single common charging system, I suspect that Duracell will find that the myGrid is suddenly left high and dry with the problem of universality of charging solved in an entirely different manner.

On the other hand, there may just be a sufficient number of iPhone users out there who think that simple "drop and forget" charging fits perfectly into their life style (and are prepared to fork out £100 for the privilege) to make this one a winner. But I won't be amongst their number.

I thought this would be great - one charger for all of my portable devices.

First impression was not good, very poor instructions.

I then realized that our devices had to be fitted in a 'permanent' sleeve or adapters have to be glued to the backs of my units thus making them bulkier.

We have two Nokia phones with hands free car kits. It was immediately obvious that adding an adapter to a phone would make it impossible to use the car kits.

We have several MP3 players. Again, the adapters would make them much bulkier, no longer suitable for a shirt pocket.

Nice idea Duracell, now convince the phone / MP3 / Apple companies to build the contacts into their devices.

The unit has not been used, just stuffed into the wardrobe with other useless stuff.

I am grateful for opportunity to trial this device by Amazon Vine and Duracell. However, it is ultimately a disappointing product and certainly does not, in my view, reflect Duracell's position in the mobile power stakes. There are two elements to this product the "myGrid" e.g. the platform on which items to be charged are placed; secondly; there are the "Powersleeves" which need to be fitted to a mobile device to make it chargeable by placing it on the Grid.

The myGrid itself looks garrish, and, does not, in my opinion, look like a product costing around £70. The chrome strips attract fingermarks and the LED is distractingly bright. In terms of size the unit actually occupies a considerable footprint - ironically, larger than a number of mobile device chargers put together.

To make a device charge it has to be fitted with a Powersleeve which either takes the form of a complete rubber jacket e.g. in the case of the Iphone or Blackberry, or, an adhesive rubber strip with a small (charger type) plug that goes into the charging port of the device. There are a number of disadvantages to this approach;

1. Aesthetically, you are stuck with the Duracell Powersleeve design which makes the device bulkier, and, it only comes in black. When you've paid hundreds of pounds for an Iphone, for example, there is an irony in putting it in a bland black rubber holder which negates its looks and slim design.

2. Recognising that this method of charging is intended for mobile devices, unless you have access to a Duracell myGrid at each location you travel to, then you have to remove the Powersleeve/plug to charge it - this is ridiculous.

3. Powersleeves are only available for a limited number of devices and they are expensive too - even though there is supposedly a universal Powersleeve it won't fit my Samsung (Monte) phone properly - it looks absurd and prevents the use of its official case.

Overall, this is one of those products that I struggle to understand what need this product is actually designed to meet. It diminishes the looks, portability and overall practicality of every mobile device you are likely to use it with. My view is that given the move to a single universal charger format for all mobile phones this product will become a dinosaur in a very short time.

In summary, Duracell should come back to the market when they have invented a format of battery or charger that does not require the fitting of the impractical and ugly Powersleeves to mobile devices required by this myGrid product. Sorry, I can't be more positive than this - I really do appreciate the launch of this device does represent a considerable endeavour in terms of product development but it does not bear a commensurate level of "fruit" to users.