Choiix Power Fort 5.5W Rechargeable Power Backup Battery Pack

Final Thoughts
Somewhat unconventionally to test the Power Fort I took a trip to the Middle East and drove in to the desert (I kid you not!). Okay, so I didn’t specifically plan the trip with the Power Fort in mind but still, it gave me the opportunity to test it in a real life situation. On the aircraft it allowed me to play an extra couple of hours of Angry Birds and once in the desert, away from the 3G masts and Wifi connections I was confident I had power available to make and receive calls when the signal bars on my trusty HTC Legend flickered in to life.

The Power Fort’s listed capacity is 1500mAh which is slightly more than that of the Legend at 1300mAh. In practice it seemed as if the capacities reversed – the Choiix device never quite managing to fill the Legend’s reserves. The Power Fort was able to charge the phone from 3-4% battery to approximately 80%. Of course the phone is consuming power as the recharge is taking place but 20% loss during the 90mins to recharge seems a little too high. Even so I was perfectly happy with the performance, almost doubling the life of the phone in a device which easily slipped into one of the pockets of my laptop bag.

While not strictly a part of the “testing” I wanted to make a comment about the build quality of the Power Fort. While all the materials used look and feel high quality and the bundled accessories are to a similar standard, the device itself has a hollowness that makes it feel a little fragile. Its the opposite of the feeling you get when you hold an iPhone or classic iPod. That weight and solidity that gives the impression of being built to last. I don’t doubt that Choiix have built a durable product with the Power Fort but if the swooping plastic exterior had been shrunk onto the battery and electronics inside the hollowness might have been overcome. A smaller physical shape would seem more in keeping with the 60g weight.

As we lead more and more “connected” lifestyles, being disconnected can be costly and being offline due to a flat battery is down right embarrassing. The Power Fort is attractive, highly portable and fit for purpose. Unfortunately the build quality does let it down slightly. Personally I’d have preferred to see a greater capacity in the same form factor or shrink the existing design.

The Power Fort 5.5W isn’t readily available in UK at the time of writing so it’s difficult to comment on value for money. Its bigger brother, the Power Fort 10W, retails around £25. If the 5.5W came in under £15 I think it would be reasonable. You might think that a little steep given the widespread availability of USB ports to charge your phone in the home and office. But it’ll seem like money well spent the day you’re in the desert and your battery indicator turns red!