Motorola P793 Universal USB Portable Power Pack Review

Introduction and Design:

The Motorola P793 Universal Dual-Charging Portable Power Pack is really what you should expect of a mobile juicer – a slim device capable of delivering 1420mAh worth of extra charge to satiate the energy cravings of your cell phone. Its microUSB cable built into the package contributes to the compact feel of this portable charger. The Power Pack actually has a rather down-for-business determined look with its black body and simple shapes.  The device has a height of 3.94” (110mm) and weight of 2.16” (55mm) with a thin 0.39” (10mm) profile. It tipped the scales at 1.92 ounces, which makes it a lightweight pocketable gizmo that you can easily carry around.


On the front you have the power button, which unleashes the power pack's charging force, while just above it is a charging indicator consisting of four indicator lights. This is the only means of communication between you and the portable juicer, so a quick look at the four indicators will give you an idea of just how much charge you have left. When eventually you drain its battery, you'll have to plug it into a USB outlet. A flashing light then indicates that the Motorola Power Pack is charging and when you have all four indicators lit-up again, your charger should be ready to juice up gizmos at its full capacity.

Performance:

We loved the fact that this is a truly universal portable charger working with all brands of phones and gadgets, which use either USB or microUSB to charge. This of course includes recent Motorola phones, but is in no way limited to them – you can juice up your iPhone, BlackBerry, Nokia, Samsung... everything that supports the Universal Serial Bus. 

At the same time, you can plug in another device, so both charge simultaneously – one via the USB port and one with the microUSB cable tucked neatly around the Power Pack's body.

But looks are not the most important thing for a charger – its real capacity is what truly matters. We tested the Motorola Universal Portable Power Pack with one of the most common phones, the iPhone 4, which had its 1420mAh battery running out. One hour of charging brought it up by 35%.

Our next test included a fully drained iPhone 4 which relied solely on the Power Pack's juice. It took nearly two hours for the Power Pack to be drained completely and after that period, the iPhone 4's indicator showed a 67% charge of the battery. This showed some consistency of charging the iPhone at around 33% per hour. Probably not the best of achievements, given the lengthy recharging time of the Power Pack, but for a relatively compact, universal and affordable device we were content with the results. Spec-wise this should translate into five additional hours of talk time on your phone.

Conclusion:

For a current price of around $35 on Amazon, you can hardly go wrong with this charger – it's portable, lightweight and its compactly tucked microUSB cable contributes to the pleasing looks. The 1420mAh capacity is by no means impressive, but it suffices to get you through the day, even if your phone has little to no charge. We would abstain from using it to power something bigger like a tablet – we actually tried charging the iPad 2 with it, but the 500mA output current was low as the tablet requires at least two amps. For everything else – the Power Pack delivers.

Motorola P793 Universal USB Portable Power Pack Video Review: