I don’t generally do accessory reviews around these parts, but I’m thinking about changing that and I’m starting with something I’ve grown to love over the past few weeks, the myCharge Peak 6000. As a Floridian, power, battery life and more power and battery life are always something I think about when summer rolls around. It’s been six years since we’ve had a major hurricane, but I’ve learned my lesson and even this year, when we had our first “scare” at the beginning of the season with a category one storm, I had every battery in every phone in my house charged and ready. It was back during Hurricane Wilma that my brother and I went almost 15 days without power, and while we were able to charge our phones through generators and car chargers and the local wireless stores, this time around I’m much more prepared.
It’s with this reasoning in mind that I reached out to the folks at myCharge and asked to review the myCharge Peak 6000 , a battery backup I’ll likely never let out of my sight again. myCharge did a radical turnaround from their early generation of battery backup units, which originally looked a lot like the offerings from Mophie. With the release of the Peak 6000, myCharge came up with a design that is very different from the block-like look of Mophie.
The Peak 6000 is a 6000 mAh battery, allowing the average cell phone to charge to full about 4 times. There’s an additional Apple 30-pin connector for charging your iPhone or iPad, a microUSB plug and an extra USB port for powering other devices of your choice. With the addition of the iPhone 5, the 30-pin connector works with Apple’s lightning cable adapter or you can use the lightning cable in the USB plug. The Peak 6000 claims up to 27 hours of extra talk time, with the ability to charge up to 3 devices at once.
The only hiccup is iPad charging which the Peak 6000 is good for (and made for) but it’s limited in the sense that the new iPad has an 11,000mAh battery, and the Peak 6000 only has 6000mAh. All in all, the unit should get your new iPad to around half full before dying out. When it comes to Android tablets, the Peak 6000 will definitely fare better. For instance, the Galaxy Tab 2 features a 7000mAh battery, which should allow for a 85% charge. No matter your tablet preference, if you need some juice, the Peak 6000 will help you get through a complete day without worrying about a dead tablet. If we consider T-Mobile’s best selling phone of all time, the Galaxy S III contains a battery of 2100mAh, allowing for at least 3 complete charges.
The only real downside to the Peak 6000, and I’d hardly call it a downside, is its own size. It’s a beefy unit, weighing in at around 8.5 ounces. In other words, you won’t fit this in your pocket, but if you’re carrying a backpack, messenger bag, briefcase or luggage, the size and weight of the Peak 6000 won’t slow you down.
An added bonus from the first generation unit is the addition of a built-in speaker, as a female voice will tell you when the unit is charging upon plugging the Peak 6000 into the wall. The voice also alerts you when you are charging a device as well as when you press the button to see how much battery life the unit itself has left. The voice can be changed to English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
myCharge says the Peak 6000 is good for well over 100 different devices including just about every other smartphone you can find, mp3 players, Nintendo 3DS, Playstation Vita, and more.
At a price tag of around $100, cheaper if you can find it elsewhere, it’s not a cheap battery unit, but the value proposition here is clear. Even if powering up all your devices while battening down during a storm isn’t something you have to worry about, having an extra battery backup is perfect for traveling or for the road-warrior, the college kid and just about everyone in-between.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the myCharge Peak 6000 Power Bank and if you’ve been looking for a battery backup solution for your constantly dying smartphone, this unit should be at the top of your list.