If you’re ever stranded on the side of the road with a dead battery, you’ll be glad to know that there’s now a portable USB charger that can also jump start your car. The battery pack, which is about the size of a deck of cards and comes in at just under two pounds, can give your car enough juice to get you back on the road. The charger is made by Mophie and is available now for $79.99. It has a capacity of 2,000mAh and can provide up to five full charges for an iPhone or an iPad. The company says that it’s also compatible with other devices that use USB charging ports, like Android phones and tablets. The Mophie battery pack is one of several new products that are designed to help people stay connected while they’re away from home or work. Others include a portable Wi-Fi hotspot called the Nomad Base Station and a solar-powered phone charger called the SunPower+. ..
The other day we wrote a guide to help people choose a battery pack for recharging their mobile devices, but we never considered that some people might want to also use it as a jump starter for their car. Well, we came across one that can do just that.
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The PowerAll PBJS12000R Rosso Red/Black Portable Power Bank and Car Jump Starter not only has the longest name for a product ever, it also works as 3 different products: a 12,000 mAh battery charger for your phone or tablet, a LED flash light, and a jump starter for your car. It’s compact and lightweight, so you could easily carry it around with you, or just stick it in the glove compartment while traveling.
You’d think that it would require a really large battery pack to jump start your car, but according to the manufacturer, this thing can be used for jump starting purposes up to 20 times if fully charged. You just hook up the two jumper cable clamps — red for positive and black for negative, of course, and then attempt to start the car. And yes, it comes with the jumper cables.
If you have to jump your car at night, you’ll be glad to know that it comes with a built-in LED flashlight, strobe light, and SOS signal flash that lasts for 120 hours for when you get really lost on an island or something. It’s got both AC and DC chargers, a big set of adapters for every device you can imagine, and dual USB ports to plug a standard USB charger into.
Yeah, we realize that this isn’t actually a new product, but it’s probably one that you’ve never heard of (we certainly hadn’t). Thanks to PopSci for pointing it out.
