Lepow U-Stone – The Battery Style 12000 mAh
An emergency battery 12000 mAh, capable of almost completely recharge an iPad Air. Style and refined materials in an original package. But that is how it goes and what it costs? In our almost daily looking for products that can stand for quality, originality and functions to be put at the service of your digital life, a few days ago we came across the U-battery Stone Lepow, a Hong Kong company that has in its DNA a touch unconventionality and intelligence in design.
This is the case also of this accessory that stands out from all that you have seen in the current segment of the accumulators.
The Lepow U-Stone soon as you take in your hands brings to mind a number of things, but among these, the last is a battery, since this packaging. Inside the massive cardboard box (recycled), we find a kind of cocoon or a river pebble (also recycled cardboard) wrapped in an elastic band.
Inside the cocoon, we find a kind of skeleton, more recycled material, which acts as a shell extension. Finally at the end of this long process of discovery here is the battery itself which in our case was more or less the color of the entire package, ” sustainable “, a beige-brown.
The battery is a tapered object, certainly not small (17 x 8 x 2.5 cm), which refers to the shape and size even in a glasses case a little plus marked by a wrap in plastic entirely different from classical shells for emergency batteries. It is in rough plastic, reminiscent even a surface covered with sand and that appears to the touch of high quality. To break the monotony of the color, there is a sunken bottom in electric blue electric blue as is the double cable (USB and MicroUSB) for charging. No buttons, no switches.
Only a row of five blue LEDs barely visible that travel the longest part of this simple object, linear, between vintage and futuristic. In practice, it is understood that Lepow, a company that has received numerous design awards (including a Red Dot Award for its Lepow U-Stone), has not pointed to savings in producing the accessory, nor stinted in fantasy.
The capacity of the battery is not to save. It is a 12,000 mAh. We are not facing the top (in the market are different from 14000 mAh battery and also from 16,000 mAh), but the amount of energy is nominally sufficient to almost fully recharge an iPad Air from 8,820 mAh and a good point to bring iPad 3 or 4 (battery 11,560 mAh).
Although the output is suitable for charging an iPad: the single USB port is 2.1 Amps for 5 volts, the same energy that was provided by the previous power supply for iPad (the new one has 2.5 Amp to 5.1 V ).
Technologically, the Lepow U-Stone is a product not entirely discounted. As mentioned we have no switches of any kind. The battery light comes on when something is connected to the USB port or the MicroUSB port. To understand at what point is the charge, we must shake the battery. LEDs will light up and remain lit after a few moments we will see only those that indicate the remaining charge (since they are five, each LED represents a 20% charge).
The system is also adopted by many other manufacturers, but the original is not particularly efficient; if the battery is connected to a device, shake it (apart from the rest you must do so with a certain energy) is inconvenient.
Fortunately, the LED will also light tapping definitely the battery with the tip of the finger, but a switch, even if it could tarnish the purity of the accessory line, he might have made it easier to check on the charge. It should also be noted that the USB cable plate (full-size size connector on one side and the other Micro USB) is placed in the recess and when it is connected limits the natural discharge of the battery.
A 1200 mAh battery is not designed to accompany a mobile. To charge an iPhone or an Android phone or from 2,400 up to 3,000 mAh, it might be wiser to buy a battery 4,000 mAh or 6,000 mAh battery that weighs less and is certainly smaller than the Lepow U-Stone. Lepow with the U-Stone aims to support, as demonstrated by the single USB port is available. We have tested the with iPad Air from 8,820 mAh.
The charging time from empty U-Stone with a power-supply iPad lasted about 6 hours, a little less than indicated by Lepow U-Stone talking about 7 hours (but with a power supply from 2.1 mAh, while we used a 2.5 mAh). The iPad, once connected to the battery, has been increased from zero to 94% in just over 4.5 hours before the battery is completely extinguished.
This means, assuming that the battery indicator iPad is accurate, that the battery arrived 8290 mHz which is about 70% of the rated capacity of the battery, a little less the efficiency of ” over 75% ” declared by Lepow. In any case, in practical terms, taking us behind the Lepow U-Stone, will double the autonomy of the iPad bringing from ten hours to twenty hours without needing a power outlet.
As mentioned we have not tested the Lepow U-Stone with an iPhone, but if we consider that distributes about 8,300 mAh battery, can charge about five times a cell phone from 1,400 or 1,500 mAh.
Lepow U-Stone – Conclusions
The Lepow U-Stone is a very original product from the point of view of industrial design, made with quality materials, assembled with care and attention to the smallest detail. Also good capacity 12,000 mAh, enough to recharge almost entirely an iPad Air and several other high-energy demand, and also good performance with the output port equal to that of an old power supply iPad.
From this point of view it is probably one of the best accessories of this type on the market. But, unfortunately, it also has some flaws: lepow pointing to the form and style, has left some details on the second floor starting from size.
Despite the tapered shape making it easy to transport in a pocket of a backpack and the weight is not an exaggeration (about a pound), the U-Store if not the biggest battery on the market, it is certainly one of the biggest batteries in rapport to its capacity and is convenient only if you have a bag that. The system shaking for the verification of the charge is counter intuitive and also impractical, especially when it is charging a device, since the cable is rather short.
Our Opinion
PROS : Industrial design original and attractive, Quality materials, Good ability to charge.
CONS : Important dimensions, Verification System office uncomfortable, Significant Cost.
- Overall
