Product Review:

Limefuel LP200X

The 20,000mAh Dual USB Battery Pack

Random chance worked in my favor recently.   A friend shared a link with me for this particular item.   Not only did he give good testimonials to his experiences with it, but he expressed how the sale price was dramatically lower than what he had paid for his not long beforehand.   This wasn't enough to make me plunge on an impulse item, of course, I had to do a bit more reading and asking a few questions before I placed my order.

One of my concerns is running out of juice when I am away from home/the office.  My commuting doesn't always lend itself to a car charger or wall outlet.  To that end, I have phones, tablets and such that are underutilized, so as to conserve battery.   

There are plenty of battery packs out there, certainly.  I will freely admit that I have not tried many of the ones out there.  I also have not had the full chance to run the Limefuel through a lot of tests.  If need be, down the road, I will revisit this with a supplemental review.  

My criteria in choosing the Limefuel were the features, the capacity, the word-of-mouth, and the price.   This is a device that has a digital display, to inform you of how much power is left to charge your devices.  It has two USB outputs for charging two devices simultaneously.  It charges via a micro-SB cable (included) which has a USB jack.  The 20,000 mAh translates to (in very simple English) "It can give your phone several full charges on its internal battery".  

So, I followed the link given to me, read a bit more, and pulled the trigger on it.   I paid $34.99 (current sale) and got free shipping.  I placed the order on the 23rd, and it arrived on the 27th.   Holidays aside, it could have been here faster.    (this after seeing that shipping could take some time because of popular demand).   

Now for the fun part!  It arrived today in the mail.   AI only had some brief time to open and check it out as I was on a deadline.   As soon as I finished up, I was able to devote my complete and undivided attention to it.   As previously noted, it has two output USB ports with a LED flashlight in the center.   On one side is a microUSB charging port, and directly opposite is a button.  On the top center, there is a screen which will light up over an LCD display that informs the user as to the remaining power of the charger.   Pressing the button once will activate the display.  Pressing it twice quickly will turn on / off the flashlight.  

When it arrived, it had 59% battery power remaining.   I found that it charged failry quickly in the wall socket.   I have since tested it on a Motorola Photon Q phone, a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3, and a Sony Walkman mp3 player.  I do not have any Apple devices to test this on.  However, per the site, several iProducts are listed (iPad, iPhone...)Based on my experiences so far, I will accept their claim despite not being able to personally verify it.

If I were to list initial pros & cons for this guy, here's how I would go:

Pro:

• Cost (especially the sale) was more than competitive vs lower power models
• Battery capacity is more than sufficient for even some of the heavier users
• Two USB ports allows for simultaneous device charging
• USB allows for a variety of devices to connect
• Shipping time (for me) was very fast
• Good charging time on internal battery.

COns:

• Size:  The Limefuel is about 6" long, so it is (understandably) big
• Weight:  This thing's got some weight behind it.   
• Instructions:It's rather intuitive (to me) but came in a brown box with a cord only.   Might be useful to some to get an idea of estimated life, with certain usage

For me, the pros have so far outweighed the cons.  I see advantages on using it on the road, as it offers a more consistent voltage than the DC in a car's cigarette lighter.   This may have a better effect on the longevity of some batteries.   I can see this being good for road trips, golf courses, field trips, off-site work (at a client's, commuting, etc) or on recreational activities, like camping.   The size and weight of it may affect some carrying it For the price though, I found that the you can get about the most bang for the buck with this one.