Home > Consumer Reviews > Dexim DCA103B Blue Pack Backup Battery for iPhone and iPod

There's nothing much to add to all the other positive reviews here, except to agree that it's a great 'lifesaving' product for anyone who doesn't bother to check their battery levels before leaving home!

It's portable, not too bulky, and even has a torch that doubles up as a battery-level indicator. I often forget to check my iPod Touch 2G battery levels, and having a gadget that can give it a boost when I'm out and about is really useful. Just make sure the charger is charged :)

The short mini cable is just the right length to be able to attach it to the bottom of the iPod. I just use a rubber band to keep them together and then use it while it's charging.

This is one of those things that you think you don't really need... until you start getting low on battery, and then you wonder how you ever lived without it. Thoroughly recommended.

The Dexim back up battery comes with a mains charger and leads for several types of phone, including iphone and blackberry. The instructions with the battery are fairly minimal but all the information is there. It is easy to use and takes about 2-2.5 hours to charge fully.

An LED light that can act as a torch is also included - actually quite a nice touch if you're struggling to get your phone recharged in the dark. The battery has 4 blue indicator lights on the side to give an idea of how much power is left in the battery.

I found that the back-up battery could charge my iphone twice (from the iphone's 20% remaining warning) and still have some power left.

This device has got me out of trouble twice - allowing me to recharge my iphone in situations where there was no mains power or a nearby PC available - Once on a bus, once whilst out and about - I charged the phone up whilst it was in my pocket.

Fantastic idea - great product but not quite 5 stars as the iphone charger lead could have been a little longer.

This is basically a high capacity Lithium-Ion battery in a stylish casing with a standard USB output that can be used to recharge any compatible USB device on the move. The most likely devices would be an iPod or mobile phone. In my experience, the 2600mAh Polymer Li-Ion battery has enough juice when fully charged to completely recharge an iPod Touch 2G or iPhone 3G roughly twice (from empty). It holds its charge very well for long periods so it can be charged, forgotten about for a while, and then used in an emergency without any problems.

It can be recharged from any standard USB port (either directly from a PC or via a mains USB adaptor plug). The supplied charging cable comes with two USB inputs so you can connect both at once (where available) to speed up the recharge. However, on one PC I tried to perform this rapid recharge with, it complained about a USB power surge and disabled the USB sockets.

It has 3 blue LEDs which illuminate at the push of a button to indicate how much charge currently remains in the unit. It also has a high power LED torch bulb built-in and makes a very useful emergency light. The styling is very nice - it is roughly the same size and shape as an iPod Touch/iPhone and looks quite sleek. It is supplied with a nice soft carry pouch which has room for the supplied cables and adaptors. The pouch is probably too big to carry round in a pocket with all the other cables in it, but you would be able to carry just the battery pack and the one adaptor you need around with you in a pocket.

This is a high quality device, officially licensed by Apple as an iPod accessory. It is clearly manufactured to a high standard and will probably last a long time and withstand some abuse. However, I feel it's a little too expensive for what it is, which is why it's only a 4* product. I have already been using the Philips SCE4430/05 - Power4Life Rechargeable PowerPack up to 5V + USB charger for a few months and it's just as effective, only a slightly smaller capacity, but is currently cheaper. You have to decide whether this is worth paying more for - I'd probably say no, but it's still a very nice battery pack.

I have used my one to charge both my 60Gb iPod and my new iPhone 3G 'S' and it works a treat charging them about as fast as the mains adapter seems to.

The unit comes with a fairly large mains adapter with a 13amp plug adapter clipped onto it (voltage range 100-240v 50/60Hz).

It has two USB outputs and comes with a dedicated 2 x USB to minijack lead which charges the battery pack (1.2 Metres long).

You can also of course charge the battery pack from a PC's USB output using either one or two USB ports depending upon spare ports you have and how fast you need to charge the battery.

It also comes with two leads so it can charge other devices that charge via USB (one lead has a standard mini USB and the other is slightly different with what looks like mini USB but is slightly wider (for use with some other brand phones).

The battery pack has a charge level combined with charging indicator made out of three blue LED lights.

It also has a single white LED for a torch wihich is turned on and off by pressing the charge level check button for 2 seconds or more.

The whole lot comes with a carry pouch.

Only one negative I have is the short length of the USB to iPod cable, about 10cm. However you can use the cable that comes with your iphone or ipod so it is not a big issue.

My one by the way was all black with black cables.

This is a very useful product, as journeys to and from work really eat in to the battery charge of my iphone, and having the back-up battery handy to extend the battery life has proved useful on several occasions already.

Its a decent size (not too bulky), & easy to use and set-up. It also works on iPods, so the whole family can use it (especially on long journeys or when you are away from your PC's USB connection).