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Richard Solo iPhone 3G Battery Backup Review

by Gary on September 23rd, 2008

The iPhone offers one of the best multimedia and Internet experiences on a cellphone today–hands down. However, there is one weakness that makes the almighty iPhone crumble mercilessly to its competitors: battery life.

You know what I’m talking about right? If you’ve ever started your day early then you’ve probably experienced your iPhone’s battery hitting 10% near the early evening after a day of heavy 3G Internet use, talking on the phone, surfing the net and checking emails. I must say it’s incredibly frustrating to run out of battery when you need it the most.

What’s the solution? You could carry your iPhone charger with you where ever you go, but that’s not very practical. The next best answer is a battery backup solution from RichardSolo.com!

Introducing the Richard Solo iPhone 3G Smart Backup Battery Pack

Richard Solo is the proprietor of the gadget chain, The Sharper Image. They’ve come up with an awesome backup battery pack that plugs into the bottom of your iPhone 3G. The pack can charge a dead iPhone battery back to 70-80% which will still enable you maximize your 6GB data plan with Rogers all day and night.

Examining the Battery Pack…what’s included?

There are 3 LED’s on the front of the pack: blue shows the current charge level, green illuminates once the iPhone/iPod is fully charged, and red will flash when the battery pack has less than 10% charge available. Included in the box is a 110-240v AC adapter wall charger (will work internationally), retractable USB charging cable, plus a protective cap for the battery pack. The pack itself is very compact, about the size of a large matchbox.

The cool thing about this setup is that you can charge your iPhone 3G and Richard Solo battery pack at the same time! Just plug the battery pack into the bottom of the iPhone, then plug the USB cable into the battery pack. The iPhone 3G’s battery will charge first, and afterwards the battery pack will charge (a full charge takes 3.5 hours). By the time you wake up, you’ll have so much power that you’ll be able to surf on 3G all day without worrying about your battery dying! You can also charge and use your iPhone at the same time.

I tested out the Richard Solo backup battery pack and I must say it’s an amazing little charger. It managed to charge my iPhone 3G up from 20% to a full charge in about an hour or so. The 1200mAh polymer lithium ion battery pack won’t give you a full charge from 10%, but it can revive your fully drained iPhone 3G and bring back from the dead.

The important thing whenever it comes to these backup battery solutions is that you should find one that is Apple Certified for iPhone. The Richard Solo battery pack has been certified by Apple to work with the iPhone, so you can rest assured it won’t brick your precious iPhone! Remember those uncertified and cheap iPhone car chargers??

Free Shipping to Canada!

Previously only US orders received free shipping, but now all Canadians can celebrate as RichardSolo.com is offering free shipping to Canada! The unit costs $49.95, which is fairly reasonable considering it’s almost like having a portable battery for your iPhone 3G. If you are a power iPhone user than you will love this battery back up! If you travel a lot, this battery pack will also do wonders for you!

Click here to visit RichardSolo.com

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Posted under: Reviews, iPhone 3G, iPhone Accessories

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  • stefi
    Hello. I unlocked my iphone 3G with this website, http://www.iphoneunlockfast.com . Now i want to update my iphone 2G to iphone 3G version...is this possible?? ps: sorry for my English
  • jcpose
    Trent Fehr,

    Perhaps this suits the bill?

    http://www.boxwave.com/products/bundles/iphone-...

    Unfortunately it doesn't appear apple certified, but being able to recharge the iphone with AAs is a huge win for me.

    R
  • Trent Fehr
    This sort of thing sounds promising, and I'll likely eventually pick one up if I can't find anything else, but what I'm really after is a charger that takes AA batteries. I tend to forget to charge my iPhone (and so would likely forget to charge this charger) and I'd love to be able to just grab a fresh set of batteries on the go somewhere.
  • @Peacock I actually only paid $42.46 each for the 4 I ordered. They have a price-break from 2 - 99 and 100+. If I had 100+ customers that I knew for sure used iPhones & iPods, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to order 100 of these as give-away gifts for the upcoming Christmas season. Of course I would need my company logo imprinted and that doesn't seem to be an option in this case.
    Cheers! :-)
  • Let me know how it goes for ya! Way to take advantage of the multiple buy discount!
  • miguel
    what can i say about this product? its cheaper than others, very compact, lightweight and best of all apple certified and satisfaction guarantee or return it for 30 days
  • You know, I think it's great that there are so many options out there to satisfy all of us! :-) I completely respect everyone's decision and reasoning for what they like and dislike about these accessories. That's why I like this site so much, we are free to express our opinions and we can all learn from each other based on REAL hands on experience. Thank you everybody for that!
  • John
    I got one of these instead:
    http://www.amazon.com/Lenmar-Universal-Powerpor...

    It comes with an AC charger, a car charger (which you can use to charge the iPod directly), as well as several attachments for popular devices. It is about the size of the iPhone, and claims to be able to provide two full charges. I did one full one without issue, but haven't had it long enough to verify.
  • Momin
    amazon.com doesnt ship to canada and amazon.ca doesnt have it.
  • coop
    Poor industrial design. The iphone is now twice as long as it was before, and all the weight and potential torquing motion is concentrated at that little connector.

    Looks like a flip phone now. Wait till someone tries to fold it. Ouch.

    It should be a sled that the iPhone slips into, with the connector at the bottom. That would give it some strength. But it would have taken longer to get it to market.

    Just a quick kludge to take advantage of a market opportunity caused by the fact that the iPhone battery i: sucks ii: can't be replaced in the field by the user (the nominal owner).

    Let's see if they come put with a sled, then it might be safe to use.

    coop
  • As Peacock mentioned, Mophie's juice pack is exactly what you are looking for. However it is double the cost. You could buy TWO RS battery packs for the price of one and triple your battery power!

    The Mophie pack is great, but I don't like the bulk. There's no way I would carry the juice pack in my pocket--it's way too big. But with this Richard Solo pack, I can keep it in my pocket as it's fairly small and light.

    Who's going to try folding the battery when it's charging the iPhone?! :)
  • coop
    Fold it, or pick it up by the end, move it, whatever.

    It's bad design from a mechanical point of view. I suppose if you're willing to risk damage to the phone to save money (and I'll admit, it's a fair piece of change) then it's a good deal.

    ;-)

    coop
  • Peacock
    They already have @coop. I pre-ordered one. It's called the mophie juice pack. Shipment will commence October 15. But it's like a Bajillion dollars ($99 before tax and shipping, so ~$150)
    After reading other reviews on the internet, I really wanted to buy the richard solo battery pack. For $50 that's half the price of the mophie juice pack. However at the time, they did not ship to Canada. Now that they do, I think it would be great investment to buy especially if you're traveling or watching movies at work, school, etc...


    @Tim, you have the right idea buying a bunch. Yay! Price break at 100 units! LOL
  • It'll be great for traveling! Hey, when I ordered the chargers, I noticed these guys also sell a pretty cool scooter! What an idea with the gas prices these days! Rolling along on the scooter with iPhone in hand (and a charger to boot)!! :-D Okay sorry, it's a bit off topic!!!
  • Order the scooter TIM! You know you want it!
  • Okay, I'm a loser... I tried to order the scooter and they won't ship to Canada :-(
  • Guest
    Hmmmm, ok. I guess it does come in handy though if u really need it.... I always just charge mine since I have wall plugin chargers, USB chargers, AC Car charger, no need to carry another piece of device lol
  • I'm ordering 4 of these babies! Great, great Christmas/Birthday gifts! :-)
  • I must admit this back up battery pack is one of my favorite accessories right now...
  • Nitar
    pricey... I won't get it yet, I'll wait for something cheaper and less bulky. But a good idea still!
  • I have an upcoming review of a similar solution, but cheaper. Watch for it. :)
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