FUSE Chicken Universal All in One Travel Charger and Shield Stainless Steel Chainmail Lightning Cable REVIEW

Because I’m constantly on the go, I’m always draining the battery in my mobile devices. I always carry my iPhone on me and I use an iPad quite frequently and when I run low on power, I struggle a bit to find a source to recharge. I really like utilizing portable batteries when possible but finding one battery that can charge both my iPhone and iPad while being easy to recharge itself and easy to carry. Fuse Chicken, an accessory company that is famous for creating durable devices, has released a Universal All-in-One Travel Charger that is powerful enough to charge multiple mobile devices and small enough to travel well. A good companion to the charger is the Shield: Stainless Steel Chainmail Lightning cable.

DETAILS

The Universal All-in-One Travel Charger is a power bank that comes with world travel adapters so that you can use it anywhere you go. It’s compatible with USB-A, USB Type-C, and wireless charging. The power bank has a moderate capacity of 6,700 mAh and provides fast charging through a Qi wireless connection. It provides 18W output charging.

The Shield: Stainless Steel Chainmail Lightning cable is a tough option for charging your mobile devices wherever you go. It’s made with of 10,000 stainless steel chainmail links to protect electrons as they flow to devices. It’s lightweight, rugged and stylish. The cable is MFi certified Lightning to USB-A cable. It is 1-meter in length and backed by a limited lifetime warranty.

USER EXPERIENCE

The first thing I noticed about the Universal All-in-One Travel Charger was how much it looked like an Apple laptop charger. The design is nearly identical with the exception of there being black on the Fuse Chicken charger. Because I do whatever I can to limit the use of cables and since the travel charger has a built-in wall adapter to charge itself, the Universal All-in-One Travel Charger already gets a bit plus in my book.

I love that Fuse Chicken thought to build in wireless charging into this device. I found it to be a very capable wireless charger with my iPhone XS plus. I also really like the fact that there are so many different ways to charge devices using this universal charger. Because it has an output of up to 18 W it will charge the new iPad Pro however it will not provide a charge to an Apple laptop. This is one of the only areas where I could see the universal charger needing improvement. In order for it to be a true all-in-one device, I believe an option for charging laptop as well as mobile devices should be incorporated.

I completed several different types of testing using the Universal All-in-One Travel Charger. I charged an iPhone using the wireless option and an iPad Pro (2017 model) using the USB-A port. In that instance, I also paired the Shield Lightning Cable with the travel charger. While I was charging the iPhone XS Plus, the charger automatically shut off two separate times before the iPhone was finished charging. After 2 hours and 27 minutes, the phone gained 42%. This is the equivalent to 0.28% per minute. This average is quite a bit lower than some of the wireless chargers I’ve used, which usually average around 0.5% per minute. Now, this percentage from the travel charger does include the automatic shutoff times, which could have affected the timing quite a bit.

As far as the iPad goes, the Universal All-in-One Travel Charger provided 28% after about 50 minutes. Now, in this case, the charger was actually depleted to 0%. I noticed in the 50 minutes that the iPad Pro was charging on the All-in-One charger that it drained the battery very quickly. It was at 64% when I started charging it and in less than an hour, it was at 0%. In the 2.5 hours that the iPhone XS Max was charging, the battery only lost around 30%. This is pretty indicative of the difference between the two devices batteries.

When devices were charging on the battery I never noticed the battery retaining any heat. I did, however, notice the charger warming up quite a bit when it was recharging itself. After about 40 minutes of charging, the travel charger had gained 25% battery life and was measuring 117º F in some places. After another hour, it was at 64% and still measuring 117º. I’ve found that 140º is typically the threshold for most devices and since the charger never got about 117º, I feel pretty confident that it’s still a safe option for charging devices.

CONCLUSION

I really enjoy Fuse Chicken gear. I think it’s heavier weight than most accessories and now, their products are built tougher but are more flexible than they have been in the past. I am really digging this Shield Lightning Cable because I know it’s not going to ravel or break due to its chainmail exterior and the travel charger is perfect for being on the go. As I mentioned, it would be PERFECT if it were able to charge even smaller Apple laptops, but I really like it for what it is.

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Originally published at macsources.com on February 22, 2019.