Review: PowerStar Go

A mobile charger is a must-have for any discerning smartphone user. Just drop it in the bottom of your bag or case and rest assured that you’ll never have to suffer the annoyance of a drained battery again. PowerStar Go is the latest in a growing range of products in this class. It’s small but chunky, and houses a 4800mAh battery – enough to charge a typical smartphone battery three or four times, or to keep your iPod running for weeks on end.

The package is a touch conflicted. The charger itself is pocketable, but it’s in a case that’s almost lunchbox size. It comes with connectors for all common handheld devices, but since you won’t need them all on the road, you’d probably want to travel light and use a small bag to keep only the ones you need. We’d have no concerns about keeping the charger uncased in the bottom of a bag. The build quality is excellent, though the fashionable rubberised finish might get scuffed in time.

To recharge PowerStar Go chargers for mains, in-car and USB are provided. Unfortunately, the port at the charger end is proprietary, so you can’t simply plug in any USB cable you’ve attached to your PC. When being charged, a small green LED displays the status (it takes up to six hours from empty), although when charging there are no such indicators. If you’re using it with a device that similarly has no obvious indicators, it’s not always clear whether it is working or not.

Minor complaints aside, the PowerStar GO does impress. At nearly £50 it’s not as cheap as similar products we’ve seen, but with the larger capacity it does provide longer life. We’d have liked a smaller carrying case to improve portability, but the device does its job well and will almost certainly prove its worth to anyone who opts to use it.

Price: £47
Web: www.powersuppliesonline.co.uk
Verdict: 8

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