Hands-On with the Richard Solo 1800
Submitted by Chris on November 17, 2008 - 3:46pm
Since the iPhone 2.1 update, my iPhone's battery life has been doing much better than before. However, if you are always on the go, you simply cannot risk relying solely on the built-in battery. And since the iPhone does not sport a removable battery, it is wise to get yourself a battery pack. Today, we look at Richard Solo's 1800 (RS001) battery pack for the iPhone 3G. We brought our review unit on a 3 day intense work-out and it passed with flying colors.
Let me first say that the RS001 is super light; you can easily carry it around in your briefcase, your handbag or even your pockets without knowing it's there. As a bonus, the battery pack also doubles as a pocket flash-light and a laser pointer. The RS001 has many advantages that it's competitors lack. With a 1800mAh polymerized lithium-ion battery, you'll have enough power to fully recharge your iPhone with some extra to spare.
The battery pack extends from the bottom of your iPhone which provides a lot of advantages. If you have both iPods or older generation iPhones, don’t worry. You can use it both with the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G. Also, since the RS001 is also certified "Made for the iPod", you can use it to pump up your iPods also (except the shuffle). You also don't have to remove your iPhone's case to charge and it won't interfere with your signal reception. Finally, there is a brace and a latch that securely latches the battery pack to the bottom of your iPhone and prevents it from falling off accidentally.
The RS001 ships conveniently with both a wall and car charger (with a retractable cord for tangle-free storage), so you can juice up at anytime. You can charge both your RS001 battery pack and your iPhone at the same time. So just plug them in over night and grab them both as you leave in the mornings. There are 3 LEDs (blue, green and red) that will allow you to quickly tell the charging status or alert you of any abnormalities.
The Richard Solo 1800 is definitely one of the best options on the market for back-up charging of your iPhone and iPods. For more details about it, check out the instruction manual. The RS001 is reasonably priced at $69.95 and is available at Richard Solo. Check out the gallery below to see some hands-on pics of our review unit.
Now you can actually play some of your favorite games during the days without worrying about conserving battery-life :)
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Comments
May 24, 2009 - 5:53pm
#2
This product is junk. I am in the process of returning it, for which I have to pay the UPS charges, even though it is defective. The laser pointer does not work, the flashlight beam is off center and the circuit board inside is obviously mounted off center. The case is cheap plastic from China and is nowhere near the quality of the iPhone case. Very disappointed with RichardSolo.com product.
August 24, 2009 - 12:56pm
#3
I have bought the Richard Solo 1800 with cable 2 weeks ago and I have had to use it to recharge my phone twice and I am very happy with it. For me, the flashlight and lasers are just extras taht I might use someday but they had nothing to do in my decision to buy the product. I also use it as a car charger and am happy with it. I would recommend it to anyone.
November 4, 2009 - 4:15pm
#4
I travel a lot with my business and when I listen to the IPod on my IPhone during a flight... I would always land with very little battery left. I purchased a Richard Solo 1800 charger and and have been extremely happy with it. In fact, I just returned last week from an east coast trip and I left it on the last leg of my flight. I am now looking for a new one to replace the lost one. I love it and would highly recommend it. The flashlight and laser pointer are nice extras but I only really used them a few times. but, they worked great!
I purchased one iPWR from www.wirelessinput.com with $59.95, it also has 1800mAh of capacity. I think RichardSolo is OK, just too big for using with iPhone, iPWR has very very small size, probably only half size of RichardSolo 1800.
The web is: www.wirelessinput.com