After wasting time during a trip to Disney charging my phone at an outlet so I could take more pictures, I was determined to never do that again. Thus the search for a good portable phone charger began!
When I started looking for a portable charger it had to have:
- Dual USB ports – so I can charge my phone and my wife’s at the the same time
- Reasonable Size – something about the size of a cell phone, I didn’t want anything too big as I wanted to be able to charge my phone while in my pocket or walking around
- Recharge Power – I wanted to be able to fully recharge both phones once if not twice. When researching chargers you’ll see figures like “10000mAh” – that figure tells you how much “power” the charger can hold.
During my initial search on Amazon I found most dual port chargers were around $30, but with more research I found the OXA Juice Box S2 for under $20. This charger seemed to meet my expectations and had good reviews, so for under $20 it didn’t require much thought to buy it.
IN THE BOX
The charger comes with:
- Charger/adapter cord that works with an iPhone 4s and 5/6
- Carrying bag
- Instruction Manual
A CLOSER LOOK
The charger has a great digital readout, most chargers have a set of lights to let you know how much battery life is remaining.
THE PORTS
It has 2 USB charging ports, a 5V 2.1 A and the other is a 5V 1.0 A USB port. Both can be used at the same time, meaning you can charge 2 devices at once. For larger devices like tablets or phones that require more amps use the 2.1A side.
The middle port is a mini connection used for charging the battery pack. This port is the same as the one on my bluetooth speaker, its charged using the same type of cable so its not the end of the world if you lose the cable that comes with this unit.
THE CORD
The included cord has a USB end and iPhone 4S adapter, 5/6 adapter, mini usb plug for charging the OXA Juice Box.
PROS
From using this charger and bring it everywhere I’ve found many things I like about it:
- The size is perfect, fits in a pocket easily and room for a phone in my pocket at the same time so I can be charging all of the time
- The dual ports work great! When going out to eat or having an drink after skiing my wife and I always need to charge our phones, and we can do this at the same time
- Durable: I’ve dropped this unit 3 times on solid cement (I have 2 kids and am constantly trying to carry too much). The charger survived the fall, snapped apart a bit at the seams but a quick snap and it was back like new
- Simply plugging in my phone to this charger and it will automatically start charging, it couldn’t be simpler.
- Power: one full charge powers our 2 phones throughout the course of a brutally cold ski day in Vermont.
- The bonus flash light built into one end of the charger has come in handy on camping trips
CONS
- recharging the OXA Battery itself can take a long time, if its trained all the way to 0% it can take 5-6 hours to get it fully recharged, but that’s something I usually do at night so its never been an issue
CONCLUSION
The OXA Juice Box S2 has been great for me, so far I’ve bought 2 – one I can leave in each of our cars incase they are ever needed on a road trip or a dinner our.
WHERE TO BUY
I bought as recently as Jan 2015 on Amazon.com, where I did most of my research. Unfortunately this unit has been out of stocl for awhile so I assume its no longer in production.
UPDATE 5.24.16: I’ve purchased a Crave Travel Pro charger, which packs more power than the OXA Juice Box and has a slightly larger size. This charger works great and feels more solid than the OXA (which broke when I dropped it one too many times). It’s currently retailing for about $25 at Amazon.