Here at Androidguys, portable batteries are a dime a dozen. Most of us need extra juice from time to time as we rely on our smartphones for probably way too many things. Leave it to 1byone to send me a unique portable battery that can even jump start your car! When they offered me the opportunity to review this battery I just couldn’t say no.
In my lifetime, I have needed to get my car/truck jump started at least 10 times in my 19 years of driving. When I worked at an auto repair shop in my teens, jump starting tired batteries was a regular occurrence. Auto batteries simply die and you have no idea when it is going to happen. No car battery will last forever, as the power cells have a limited amount of charge cycles and factors such as weather can change the expected life expectancy of your battery. The only foolproof way to avoiding a dead battery is to have it replaced every 2-3 years before it has a chance to fail. For most people this is a waste of money, and many people either have some sort of roadside assistance like AAA or they carry jumper cables in hopes a good samaritan will give them a jump.
Being an avid fan of mobile technology I keep an external battery in my truck for rare occasions when I need portable power for my smartphone. Somedays I am out at the beach or at conferences where I won’t have an opportunity to charge up, and I hate conserving battery power. Given that I keep an external battery in my truck for my phone and I also keep jumper cables in the back, the 9000mAh 1byone Smart Portable Jump Starter seemed like the perfect companion to ride along with me everywhere I go.
Design
At 9000mAh, the 1byone portable jump starting battery can charge my Samsung Galaxy Note Edge 3 full times. Simply put, this portable battery had no issues charging my phone. Being that this battery is designed to jump start cars and other automobiles, you would expect it to be rugged. And rugged it is, as it comes with a solid matte plastic frame that feels quite sturdy. It comes in a durable plastic case with and inverter and battery clamps. It is definitely well designed and well built.
The 9000mAh battery is slightly larger than portable batteries designed solely for mobile products, but that is to be expected with the circuitry built-in to keep you safe when jump starting a vehicle. 1byone designed this battery to be safe and error-proof because jumpstarting a dead battery can be dangerous. Automotive batteries contain sulfuric acid which is also used to clean clogged drains, meaning if it explodes on you, you better get to a hospital ASAP. The 1byone battery has a power converter with well designed battery clamps, one in red for the positive terminal post, and one in black grounding to a bare piece of metal on your automobile. It also has a digital display on the front which shows the percentage of battery life remaining so you know when to recharge it.
The clamps are well designed so it is nearly impossible to create a spark by accidentally touching the two clamps together. In addition to the clamps, the battery also has a super bright LED built-in for dark situations or emergency events when you need an S.O.S. signal.
The circuitry within the battery also allows it to jump start your vehicle many times over as it draws the residual power from you automobile to recharge itself. This battery was not designed to jump start truly dead batteries, like ones that have been sitting unused in a field for 5 years. For those you need heavy duty battery chargers designed for that task. In addition, this battery cannot be charged with a simple USB plug, the circuitry requires the charger that ships with the device.
Specs
- 9000mAh Li-Ion 12V battery
- USB outlet for mobile devices
- 1 year limited warranty
- LED light with three illumination modes
- Works on gas powered vehicles with engines up to 4.7L
- Works on diesel powered engines up to 2.0L
Usage
For the sake of this article, I left the lights on my truck overnight until my battery was drained to the point of not being able to start. I actually didn’t like doing this because I did have to drive to work the next day, but I live within walking distance so if I killed my battery it wouldn’t be such a big deal.
Making sure the 1byone battery was fully charged up, I connected the adapter to the battery and purposely hooked up the clamps to the wrong terminals. I got an annoying alarm which told me I needed to reverse the clamps. That is a GREAT feature because believe it or not, many people don’t know how to jump start a dead battery. And I know quite a few of them.
My truck has a 3.5L V6, and after hooking up the 1byone portable battery, I got back in my truck and guess what? It started right up. I took the battery off, let my battery charge while idling while I packed the battery away back into the case, and was back on the road in no time. No need to ask a friend for help and angling the fronts of our vehicles in weird positions to get the batteries to line-up. There was also no need to wait an hour for AAA to give me a jump start: down here in Southern California AAA can have some long wait times.
Summary
Like any typical Li-ion portable battery, this 1byone pack charged up my Note with ease. I was actually skeptical of this battery jump starting my truck. In my 5 years in the auto repair shop I never would have guessed this would have worked. I’ve seen countless dead batteries and all of them needed to be charged with a rolling charger designed for automobiles, or jumper cables from another vehicle with a large auto battery.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the 1byone portable jump starter battery start my truck up after a night of leaving my headlights on. At $76.99 on Amazon.com this portable battery is a little more expensive than portable batteries designed for mobile devices, but if you can throw out your jumper cables which typically cost upwards of $40 for a decent set, this battery is quite the bargain. I will be buying a couple extra to give away as birthday gifts to my friends who have a habit of leaving their headlights on. 1byone makes high-quality accessories you can trust and they offer a 1 year warranty to back their products up.
