Sony CP-A2LS USB Portable Charger with 4,000 mAh Li-Ion Battery

I've had other battery chargers in the past and this one is really cool with the plug clip so you can plug it in and then remove it easily. With the dual usbs I was excited to be able to charge two devices at the same time. Unfortunately, it barely charged those two devices even once (two iphone 5s) before losing charge. Other units I have had in the past would provide charging power for one device periodically over several days and would help to charge my iPhone several times. This week I tested it with one device, charging it every day on my drive home from work...it worked twice, and on the third day (yesterday), it was already dead.I tend to use these devices in two different ways. One is if I'm at hotel conference and am going to be walking around but not stationary and near a plug. If i'm notetaking or using the phone it's not going to last the whole day. So, I bring this with me so I can keep it charged. This works for that, but it's more of a one time charge and then recharge...so good for use if you are out during the day, but not so good if you were to be away from power for more than one day.The second way I use these is if I'm camping and am not going to be in proximity to a power plug for several days. I don't use my phone that much in those situations, just checking email once or twice a day, etc. This will not work for that...it will lose charge within two days from my experience.

Everyone has a smart phone now, and it's integral to the lives of a large portion of those who own one. But guess what's a huge, gaping issue with smart phones?Battery life.Holy crap, what kind of sick joke is it that we have these amazing devices, but can't devise a battery that will make it last longer than 8 hours?That's where this Sony portable charger comes into play. It has the plug conveniently built into the unit that you flip outward, easy to charge and provides me about 2.5ish full charges for my iPhone 4. It's bulky and looks kind of weird, I guess? People look at it and wonder what mysterious new tech I might have.Nope, just a battery. This is how well we're doing with energy science: we need a white brick to keep our now-essential-sidekicks operational.Pretty high-tech stuff.Still, this thing is worth it for the situation we're stuck with for now. Has saved my phone from dying in multiple situations where I needed to have it. Excellent for trips/traveling.One day our phones (or glasses) will be solar powered. For now, this is a helpful solution.

I've had several iPhone battery backup chargers, but this Sony one has 4000mA of portable power. The wall plug folds flat and can be removed from the battery if needed. I use the Sony battery in my Timbuktu bag and recharge my iPhone and iPad as needed. It is so nice to have a battery that can recharge my devices back to 100%. The battery has a simple on/off switch to turn on the battery. A set of amber colored lights indicate how full the battery is. Battery came 80% charged. Battery fully charges after a few hours in the slot. I teamed this up with the Innergie 3 way USB to USB micro/mini/apple connector cable to make the battery truly portable. The battery has 2 USB slots. I'm not sure if they share the same battery or if there is 2 separate batteries, but I haven't had any problems recharging a drained iPhone back to full health.Link to the Innergie cable that goes will with this battery (cuts down cord clutter while giving you 3 output types for most Apple, Android, Kindle devices)  Innergie Magic Cable 3-in-1 with Micro USB, Mini USB and 30-pin iPod/iPhone Connectors - 7.8' / 20cm

This review is about the P-A2LS device, which consists of two parts that click together: an AC wall adapter and a 4000mah Li-Ion battery. Amazon sometimes thinks that it's interchangeable with a smaller USB-charged device, which is silly.In short, I'm disappointed.I was hoping that this could be my *only* travel charger, but it can't do that because it can only do one of these things at a time:- charge its internal 4000mah battery- power USB portsIf you've got a dead phone and a dead battery in this thing, you're screwed.I'll probably hang onto it because it's not altogether useless, but it's not what I needed.The holy grail for me is a wall-charged battery pack with > 3000mah that can be my *only* travel charger, and which maintains its charge for weeks of non-use.The devices I'm aware of in this category are:- This sony CP-A2LS- Zagg Sparq 2.0 (seems to break easily and self-discharge according to various reviews)- New Zagg Sparq (in three sizes now, but not widely available yet, they claim to have solved the self-discharge problem)- iGo green "charge anywhere" that I picked up from radio shack for $15. 1800mah, only had it for 1 day.So, I'm still looking.

Sony CP-A2LS USB charger is a good extended battery for mobile devices with some caveat.Pros: It comes with a handy charger that attached to an extended battery unit. There is a plug that can be folded into the charger so that you don't need any power cable to charge it. The battery capacity is 4000mAh, not huge, but enough to charge most of cellphone devices. Also, it could be only on my package though, I got a 'APP CASH' code attached on the box which would give you $5 amazon gift certificate. That was unexpected present:)Cons: Even though it has two usb ports, each only provides 5V/500mA. So if you're going to charge smartphone devices it would take a long time or may not be able to charge. Probably most of tablets may not either. Can't tell from amazon product photos, but this unit is not slim rather than thick - more than one inch.So if you have mobile devices that only require 5V/500mA power, this is a good external battery though latest smartphones don't feel enough to get charged.