Customer Reviews

RichardSolo 1800 External Battery Pack for iPod Touch, Classic, Nano and iPhone 2G, 3G, 3GS, 4 and 4s - With a Built in Red laser pointer and LED white flashlight

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am completely addicted to my iPhone 3GS. Since I travel for work, I am constantly on the phone, using my wireless headphones: Altec Lansing 906/R US BackBeat Headphone with Dongle, which help drain the battery through bluetooth usage, playing games, listening to music, and surfing the web. My iPhone 3GS battery was lasting 5-7 hours on a good day, and with my travel scheduling requiring me to constantly be on the go, between airports, trains, rental cars, and customer meetings, I was continuously finding myself with a near dead battery and no way to recharge.

I ordered the Richard Solo 1800 from the Skymall magazine online (from my iPhone, no doubt) as I was boarding a flight a few weeks ago. If you order from Skymall within 48 hours of taking a flight, they will give you $30 off of a $100 order, so I basically added $30 worth of free stuff to my order in addition to the battery, and Richard Solo included a $25 hard case for the iPhone 3G and 3GS for free, that allows you to connect the 1800 without removing the case. Nice!

PROs
* Works as advertised. I can recharge my iPhone completely starting at 30-40% power to 100% full during the time that you have to turn your electronics off during take off and landing.
* Flashlight and laser pointer are nice, but as a traveling technical sales engineer, I already have an arsenal of presentation clickies in my bag, so I don't use them.
* Connector clip works well and provides sturdy support between iPhone and 1800 battery.
* My battery life went from 5-7 hours to almost 20 hours. I have yet to find myself in a situation where I can't recharge completely in 30 mins or less, and you can use the phone while it is charging from the battery.

CONs
* The thing is big. It's almost as big as the iPhone itself. It's hard to type or play games using the touch screen while the battery is connected.
* More cables to tote. However - you can charge the battery and the iPhone simultaneously using the microSD cable that comes with the battery. The iPhone will charge first, then the 1800 will charge when the iPhone is full. I usually plug both up at night, and they are both full in the morning.
* Expensive. There are tons of competitive products out there for half the cost. Brookstone has a battery for $30. The real key is the power. The iPhone itself has a 1400 mAh battery in it, so if you want a full charge out of a spare battery, it has to also be at least 1400 mAh. That justified the cost for me.

The only other battery that I found that had the same (actually more) level of power as the Richard Solo was the PhoneSuit MiLi Power Pack - External iPhone Battery Pack, 2000mAh for iPhone 3GS, 3G, 2G, but it had mixed performance reviews compared to the Richard Solo, which had top ratings everywhere I looked.

Overall I am very satisfied - I can now satisfy my iPhone addiction without suffering any nasty withdrawals from the battery dying!

I bought this for my mother-in-law for Christmas. See really likes it (as she tells me).

Pro:
+Works as advertised! Extends the phone a few hours, recharges it very quickly
+Comes with the chargers needed, including a cigarette lighter that drives a USB power cable
+Charges itself (and the iPhone) very quickly
+Compatible with 1, 2, and 3G iPhones and I think it should therefore also work with iPod too
+Pretty green... came packed in a tiny, mostly paper/cardboard, box, as did the accessories
+Much more powerful than older models

Con:
-Extra cables to lug around... wished the 1800 power supply used the iPhone/IPod connector! I think it could have
-It does hang out there pretty far when connected to (charging/powering) the iPhone

Bottom line: Highly recommended for the iPhone gamer/surfing addict, especially if you travel at all.

Richard Solo is very slick, light and handy external battery for iPhone. I'm very happy with it as I'm never worried about running out of iPhone battery anymore. I was also looking for a laser pointer so incidentally this serves that purpose too. I would hate to add bulk to my iPhone so opted for this one instead of the Mophie Juice pack.

The device is so light that you can actually talk on iPhone while its attached to your iPhone. This turns iPhone into a very long kind of phone set, but saves the battery and is very comfortable to to hold during the call. Even though I don't travel often, but whenever I do .. this device is always with me now. Highly recommended.

I had excellent customer service experience with the Richard Solo team. When I lost one of the plastic connectors and emailed them, got a reply within half an hour. They also sent me replacement covers by first class shipping absolutely free of cost. Amazing!

I purchased one of these straight from the Richard Solo website and I have to say that is has lived up to my expectations so far. The unit is bigger than I thought it would be, not much smaller than the iPhone itself, but it packs a huge charge. I periodically run my phone down and the Richard Solo 1800 will charge it to full from almost empty in almost the same amount of time as plugging it in. The best part is that I can leave it in my pocket and go wherever I need to go without worry. Talking on my iPhone while the pack is plugged in looks silly but it's functional and entirely possible. It also works with any iPod making it twice as nice of a value!

Purchase this via the Richard Solo sight to get a free hard-back protective case for your iPhone 3G.

I have just received this item so I haven't had a chance to thoroughly test it but, I charged the battery overnight and it is now charging my Iphone 4. The key is, it works just fine with an iPhone 4. The little braces that come with the battery do not fit an iPhone 4. The support brace for the iPhone 4 is sold on the Richard Solo site for a nominal price. I gave it a five because unlike the other backup battery I own, it will fully recharge the iPhone 4 if needed. Also occassional full discharges are not harmful to the battery. This item comes with a car charger (bonus I hadn't expected), an AC charger,a retractable cable that works for both chargers and braces for 2G and 3G iPhones.
Note, these are useful if you are not charging on a flat surface in order to protect the connector on the battery.

During my flight-I saw this product in a magazine. I have used it several times & because I carry it in my purse-my friend needed to charge her phone-wholla!!!!!!! Love it & will be purchasing one for my friend for Christmas!!

Our flight to Africa was 22 hours each way and we would then be staying in tents. The kids wanted to be have the ability to listen to their ipods, so I purchased this battery extender. It worked great! Judy

Great battery, I charge it every night and use it daily -- nice touch having the led flashlight and laser pointer on it as well. I even use my iphone sometimes while the external battery is plugged into it and it is fine to hold. More so I plug it in to charge when I have some downtime from my phone, to keep it near fully charged most of the day.
Well worth the money, and no more having to try and find a plug to plug my phone into throughout the day. Hopefully the next gen of iphones will have a much longer battery life?!

I bought this product for my wife, a Realtor. She uses her iPhone while in the car -- no-hands via Bluetooth over the car's speakers. She reported that this Bluetooth use of the iPhone depletes its battery fairly quickly. The Richard Solo device solves the problem by recharging the battery on the go. The phone continues to operate while plugged in on the seat beside her. The instructions make it easy to set up. It works as advertised.

This does work. It has saved the day on many occasions. However, the connection with the I-phone is quite touchy and this does make it difficult at times to maintain the connection. I.e. you can't plug this to the I-phone then stick the combination in your pocket (even a breast pocket in a suit jacket) and expect that it will be charging away.