Patriot Fuel+ Mobile Rechargeable Battery (3000mAh) Review

When Samsung announced the Galaxy Mega; a 6.3-inch smartphone, I knew there’s going to be a demand for portable USB chargers. A smartphone with such a large display (as well as a powerful dual-core processor) will definitely require a lot of power, and a large capacity re-chargeable battery is the only answer.

Last month we reviewed the Kingston MobileLite Wireless. It’s a portable USB charger for mobile devices that doubles as a wireless USB and SD card reader. ItWe thought it was an OK product, but offered a low charging capacity of only 1800mAh, which to be honest, isn’t really enough for today’s smartphone demands.

Take for example, the Samsung Galaxy Mega I mentioned above. It comes with a standard li-ion rechargeable battery with a capacity of 3200mAh. So if you were to use the Kingston MobileLite Wireless (which is rated at only 1800mAh), to re-charge your Samsung Galaxy Mega … not only would it take longer to re-charge, but also the “charged result” wouldn’t be what you would expect. I’d say it will probably charge your phone to 40-50% capacity only.

So how do I solve this issue of a lacklusture charging performance from a portable charger? Well, it’s quite simple. Just make sure you get yourself a portable USB charger that can offer a higher re-charge capacity of 3000mAh or more. There are quite a few companies that make  portable USB chargers that offer higher capacity, but one word of advice when it comes to these type of products … get one from a brand you can trust. Dangers of exploding and overheating batteries from cheap unknown brands are very real! OK Now let’s move on …

Thanks to Patriot (formerly Patriot Memory), we will be taking a look at their Fuel+ Mobile Rechargeable Battery (PCPB30001). It’s a portable USB charger for mobile devices (but Patriot likes to call it a “Mobile Rechargeable Battery”), and offers a charging capacity of 3000mAh. It should be sufficient to charge a host of mobile devices including high-end smartphones and phablets (a acronym for smartphone+tablet).

Here’s a little about Patriot taken from their website …

The Patriot FUEL+ Mobile Rechargeable Battery (PCPB30001) comes with a special power button and when pushed, you can easily check your FUEL+ battery’s charge status. The LED indicator shows how much charge is available for devices. According to Patriot, their FUEL+ batteries have built-in protection against over charge, over current, over temperature, under discharge, and short circuit to ensure efficient and safe charge cycles.

Sound pretty impresssive right? … OK, time for some specifications …

Features and Specifications

A Closer Look

The Patriot Fuel+ Mobile Rechargeable Battery comes with some decent packaging, a short but good quality USB cable, and of course the usual instruction/manual in leaflet form.

The overall build quality is good, but the design has a bit of an 80’s feel to it. The rechargeable battery itself is compact and light-weight. At one end of the battery, you’ll find a mirco USB port which for charging the battery. You connect this to your computer or mains charger (with a USB port). On the other end is the standard size USB port. Connect this to your mobile devices or any smartphone you want to re-charge. There’s also a special power button and when pushed, you can easily check your FUEL+ battery’s charge status. The LED indicator shows how much charge is available for devices … 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%.

Verdict and Conclusion

After using the Patriot Fuel+ Mobile Rechargeable Battery for a few days, I am pleased with its performance and usability. It takes roughly 2-3 hours to fully charge the unit using the USB port on my latop, which is expected becasue of the lower output. It’s quicker if you use a mains charger with a USB port, like the ones that’s included with your smartphone.

As far as charging performance is concerned, it takes less than 60 minutes to discharge its full capacity. During our tests, I used my friend’s Samsung Galaxy Note II to see how much it can re-charge from 0% battery. To my surprise, the Patriot Fuel+ Mobile Rechargeable Battery was able to re-charge upto 60% of its capacity, which is pretty good and about what I expected.

There are some negatives. During discharge, the Patriot Fuel+ Mobile Rechargeable Battery produced some heat, which was fairly noticeable in your hands. This excess heat is an expected by-product of charging your mobile devices, especially if it is a high-end smartphone that has a high capacity rechargable battery.

As I said before, the overall build quality and design of the Patriot Fuel+ Mobile Rechargeable Battery is good.The rechargeable battery itself is compact and light-weight, and really comes in handy when you’re travelling and on the move. So not complaints there.

Searching on Amazon, the Patriot FUEL+ Mobile Rechargeable Battery will cost you around USD $35.00 (Euro 26.00), which I think is an OK price for a 3000mAh capacity. If you don’t like the 80’s styling of the Patriot Fuel+ … then shop around. There’s plenty of choice out there for about the same price with cooler and more stylish designs.

Pros

• Small, light-weight and compact
• LED Charge/Battery level indicator
• Large charging capacity of 3000mAh
• 2 year warranty

Cons

• Noticeable excess heat during discharge

Final words.

All-in-all, I think the Patriot FUEL+ Mobile Rechargeable Battery is a decent product. It offers a large capacity of 3000mAh, which is good enough for most high-end smartphones, while the LED Charge/Battery level indicator is a nice added feature. The unit itself is small, light-weight and compact … it’s perfect for any user who’s always on the move that requirea a portable charger for their mobile devices.

SCORE

8/10