By a wide margin, Sanho’s HyperJuice Plug 15,600mAh ($160) is the highest capacity external battery pack we’ve ever received for review. The closest comparable options have been in the 10,000-12,000mAh range. It’s a straightforward, yet well-designed, brick of an option that comes without cables. Instead, you must provide your own Dock Connector or Lightning cords to power up your devices, up to two at a time. It’s really for someone who might be traveling frequently and away from any sort of reliable power source.
Not surprisingly, HyperJuice Plug is physically pretty huge: 6.1 x 3.4 x 0.78 inches, and weighing in at a little over a pound. The casing is mostly metal, in your choice of black, blue, gold, green, pink, or silver, with white plastic caps at either end. It feels sturdy, and very dense. Rather than the standard Micro-USB cable to recharge the battery, Sanho built in slide-out prongs that fit directly into a power outlet. Because of the sheer weight, we recommend either letting the battery hang down from the lower outlet on a wall, or using a power strip on the ground.
The unit is capable of putting out 2.1 Amps per each of its ports. This number will drop to 1.5A if you have two iPads plugged in, but can support an iPad and iPhone or iPod at the same time. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go up to 2.4A, so third- and fourth-generation iPads will charge a little more slowly then what they’re capable of. In our testing, a fourth-generation iPad received a 103% charge in five hours and 39 minutes. The time is right for 2.1A charging based on prior tests, and the charge is actually about 15% higher than past results would suggest. It’s the only battery pack we’ve come across that can actually fully charge an iPad, and would be able to provide multiple recharges to a iPhones and iPods.
HyperJuice Plug isn’t cheap, but it does exactly what it’s supposed to do—and more than we expected. It’s a good option and if it’s what you need, we suggest picking it up. For most people though, the super high capacity will be overkill, especially coupled with the size and weight. Ultimately, it earns our general recommendation on its design and functionality; we’d prefer if at least one cable was included for the price, though.
Our Rating
Company and Price
Company: Sanho
Website: www.hypershop.com
Model: HyperJuice Plug 15,600mAh
Price: $160
Compatible: All iPads, iPhones + iPods