Sigh, load shedding from Eskom is just such a pain now, isn’t it? Of course, working from home means I need to have a few things up and running for those 2 hour stretches without electricity, which then essentially boils down to me doing all of my work on a laptop, using mobile data via my Afrihost-branded Huawei wireless modem, and now supported by… a power bank.
Well, technically I don’t NEED a power bank, but every now and then I do forget – or don’t have the chance – to either charge my phone or my wireless modem, thereby rendering them useless when they inevitably run out of power halfway through a load shed period.
Wanting something portable and which would be useful for extended journeys say on a plane, train or long walk in the mountains, I started looking at power banks – and found a pretty well priced one via Takealot (I paid R301 for it).
The ROMOSS sailing 3 forms part of ROMOSS’ sailing series of tablet and phone charging power banks. Using built-in Samsung battery cells, these power banks provide good, reliable and longer battery life – and come with a host of nifty little tricks and features up their sleeve!
My sailing 3 sits more or less in the middle of the series, weighing in with a decent 7800mAh battery – enough for MORE than just a couple charges of my Huawei Ascend P6 and other USB-charged battery devices!
The device is extremely well built – alloy plastic body (PC+ABS) – solid, rugged, and heavy, but at the same time is a thing of beauty, sleek, beautiful lines with almost invisible seams. I genuinely do like it.
Plus, it is packed with some pretty nifty features.
So apart from its very good 7800mAh charge, it also features quite a wide compatibility list in terms of USB-charged devices, thanks to ROMOSS’ so-called Fitcharge Technology that automatically detects the input current demand of different devices to thus try and match their charging needs. It also appears to enjoy a particularly efficient power conversion rate, and its clever design allows for sync charge – essentially you can charge the power bank even whilst it in turn is busy charging your device!
Oh, and did I mention that it has two USB outputs which means dual output – i.e. you can charges two devices at once! (Note though, the two outputs are rated at different strengths. Usually you’ll just stick to the stronger, fast charge 2.1A port in practice. Nevertheless, still a useful feature to have!)
It self charges pretty quickly as well, thanks to its built-in 2.1A input, and because of its multi-protective circuit design and engineering, it offers quite a bit of protection to itself and your charging devices:
- Overcharge protection
- Overdischarge protection
- Overvoltage protection
- Overcurrent protection
- Temperature protection
- Short-circuit protection
- Reset ability
Oh, and it is even clever enough to quickly turn itself off when it detects that it isn’t being used – thus automatically saving its own charge!
Four orange LED indicator lights gives you an indication of charge status of the device itself, whilst it also comes with yet another nifty feature tacked on the side: an emergency LED torch!
Seriously?!? How awesome is that? :)
So, works well, solidly built (though maybe a little too heavy/chunky for your pants’ pocket), looks great, available at a particularly reasonable price – I have to say I’m pretty happy with my purchase!
From what I can figure out, ROMOSS is a Chinese company, with a rather global distribution channel network – not unusual for Chinese manufacturing companies mind you. From their website:
“ROMOSS is a global technology-orientated and reliable provider of charging solutions, specializing in power banks, car chargers and power adapters for all mobile devices. With continuous innovation and application of cutting-edge charging technologies, high-quality products and excellent service, we have achieved strong reputation and established distribution channels in more than 40 countries worldwide.”
I’m not entirely sure as to whom this picture is meant to appeal to. Unless of course there is some magic face massaging function on my power bank that I’ve somehow gone and missed…