Richard Solo iPhone 3G Battery Backup Review

By Gary Ng on September 23rd, 2008 82

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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  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • John

    I got one of these instead:
    http://www.amazon.com/Lenmar-Universal-Powerport-Power-Adapter/dp/B0015ZZZLS/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t/103-2198901-0137404

    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.

  • John

    I got one of these instead:
    http://www.amazon.com/Lenmar-Universal-Powerport-Power-Adapter/dp/B0015ZZZLS/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t/103-2198901-0137404

    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.

  • John

    I got one of these instead:
    http://www.amazon.com/Lenmar-Universal-Powerport-Power-Adapter/dp/B0015ZZZLS/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t/103-2198901-0137404

    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.

  • John

    I got one of these instead:
    http://www.amazon.com/Lenmar-Universal-Powerport-Power-Adapter/dp/B0015ZZZLS/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t/103-2198901-0137404

    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.

  • John

    I got one of these instead:
    http://www.amazon.com/Lenmar-Universal-Powerport-Power-Adapter/dp/B0015ZZZLS/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t/103-2198901-0137404

    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.

  • http://www.kkcalgary.com/ Tim Aucoin

    Okay, I’m a loser… I tried to order the scooter and they won’t ship to Canada :-(

  • http://www.kkcalgary.com/ Tim Aucoin

    Okay, I’m a loser… I tried to order the scooter and they won’t ship to Canada :-(

  • http://www.kkcalgary.com/ Tim Aucoin

    Okay, I’m a loser… I tried to order the scooter and they won’t ship to Canada :-(

  • http://www.kkcalgary.com Tim Aucoin

    Okay, I’m a loser… I tried to order the scooter and they won’t ship to Canada :-(

  • http://www.kkcalgary.com/ Tim Aucoin

    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!

  • http://www.kkcalgary.com Tim Aucoin

    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!

  • http://www.kkcalgary.com/ Tim Aucoin

    @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! :-)

  • http://www.kkcalgary.com Tim Aucoin

    @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! :-)

  • http://www.iphoneincanada.ca Gary

    Let me know how it goes for ya! Way to take advantage of the multiple buy discount!

  • http://www.iphoneincanada.ca iPhone Fan

    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

  • 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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Momin

    amazon.com doesnt ship to canada and amazon.ca doesnt have it.

  • Momin

    amazon.com doesnt ship to canada and amazon.ca doesnt have it.

  • Pingback: Brando iPhone Powerstation Battery Backup Review

  • jcpose

    Trent Fehr,

    Perhaps this suits the bill?

    http://www.boxwave.com/products/bundles/iphone-battery-adapter/iphone-charging-battery-pro-apple-iphone-3g_3184.htm

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

    R

  • jcpose

    Trent Fehr,

    Perhaps this suits the bill?

    http://www.boxwave.com/products/bundles/iphone-battery-adapter/iphone-charging-battery-pro-apple-iphone-3g_3184.htm

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

    R

  • 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

  • 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

  • http://www.kayobattery.com/ Mike

    High capacity(3000mAh) backup battery for iPhone 3G S

    Now there is a new backup battery for iPhone 3G/3GS, it is high capacity 3000mAh,slide iPhone 3G/3GS into iPa Sliding way to supply power to iPhone 3G/3GS, and there are three led indicators to indicate the situation.
    The price is just $25/pcs.

    If you are interesting in it, would you please contact with me by mike@kayobattery.com or skype: mike-sang

    Best rgds,
    Mike Sang
    ———————————————–
    KAYO Industrial Company Limited
    Kayo Battery ( Shenzhen ) Co.,Ltd.
    519#,Chaohui building, Baohua Road, Longhua town,
    Shenzhen City, Guangdong 518109, P.R. China.
    MP: 8613798920804
    Skype:mike-sang
    MSN:mikesang-111@hotmail.com
    Tel: 86-755-28117967
    Fax:86-755-28117957
    E-mail:mike@kayobattery.com
    Web: http://www.kayobattery.com

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