OutPower Device Review
MontrealRacing.com reported two weeks ago that Canadian company OutPower just released a hand-held portable jump starter device that fits in the palm of your hand. Its intriguing compact design piqued my interest so I asked Outpower if they’d be willing to lend me one for a few weeks to see how it worked, and they were very happy to oblige.
OutPower comes in a decent-sized box and contains several cables:
- Charging cord for the OutPower device including connectors for both a wall outlet and a cigarette-lighter adaptor.
- USB charger with iPhone 4, iPhone 5 (lightning) and Android type connectors.
- Jumper cables for a vehicle's battery.
Upon opening the box, OutPower’s similarity to an actual iPhone is quite striking. It’s about the same weight (impressive for a device that packs this much power) and feels like my phone albeit roughly two times as thick. If I put it to my ear and started talking, nobody would even notice the difference.
The first thing I did was plug in my iPhone 5s to see how quickly the thing would charge. My battery was at 75% and after only ten minutes I had gained nine percent! It took another 20 minutes or so to get to 95% but all in all it was very quick to charge my phone.
One thing that bothered me initially was the fact that I couldn’t remove the other charging cables as they are all connected to the same USB outlet. Then I realized that I didn’t need to use this adaptor because my iPhone’s own USB charger plugs right in!
Since my car battery wasn’t dead I decided to take it to the local garage to test OutPower’s boosting capability and get the opinions of the mechanics who worked there. Our friends at ABD Autosport were very interested in the device as they had never seen one so small. Unfortunately no cars needed a boost at the time so they drained the battery of a vehicle overnight in order to be able to test the device the next morning.
The next morning at ABD we connected the OutPower device to a car which had been sitting with the lights, ignition and radio on all night (it was thoroughly dead). The car boosted right away! “Holy crap, it started,” was the mechanic’s exact reaction. I suppose after years of using huge, bulky machines, it would surprise anyone that so much power could be contained in such a small device.
When told how much the OutPower device retails for, they were somewhat tempered in their reaction but still thought it was a great product. Keep in mind, OutPower is giving MontrealRacing members a discount upon checkout, bringing the price down to $169 down from $199.
The next day I decided to lend the device to my wife who took it to her office and showed it around to various level of fanfare. It was a hit with almost everyone she showed it to, especially the sales people who are on the road a large portion of the time.
The OutPower device has proven highly functional as advertised and was a hit with anyone we showed it to. I’ve been using it daily to top up my iPhone battery when needed and am very pleased. If you are in the market for one, I highly recommend taking a look.
You can purchase one directly via the OutPower website at www.outpower.ca
