Customer Reviews

Tunejuice Universal USB Charger for iPod/iPhone

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

So, after reading some dismal reviews. I did some basic math.

Stick with me people.

Your USB device needs a solid, 5 volts of DC power to charge. Its also needs enough current to feed the device its trying to charge up.

I got this TuneJuice for a long plane flight. I wanted to be able to recharge my iPhone 4 while watching some rented itunes movies.

A AA battery has about 1.5 volts, when THREE of them are wired in series - this equals 4.5 volts. Remember how your USB device needs 5 volts? Yea, that's a problem. 4.5 volts does not equal enough "juice" for 5 volts.

So, first and foremost - don't expect the cheap no-name batteries that came with the TuneJuice to do much of anything. They are below, or just at 1.5 volts each.

What you NEED TO MAKE THIS WORK is a FULLY CHARGED set of NiMh batteries Sanyo Eneloop Ni-MH Charger and 8 Rechargeable AA and 4 Rechargeable AAA Batteries, the higher the AH (amp hour) rating the better - OR if you want this to work as an "emergency backup" use a set of disposable lithium batteries Energizer Ultimate L91BP-4 Lithium AA Battery 4 Pack.

Once you have them installed, your going to get about ONE full charge out of a set of batteries. This for me, was just fine. It gave my iPhone just enough "push" to equal about 8 hours of on time. It was able to recharge, and then fully power my phone from a 20% charge state to 100% charged. It then was able to maintain the 100% charge for another hour before the light went out, and then the phone was back on its own power again.

So, the 4 star review is because the batteries they give are junk.

I have used the Tunejuice to charge my iPhone 3gs. A set of 3 AA alkaline batteries will not give a full charge. I have tried 3 sets of such batteries from different manufacturers, and I only get about half a charge before batteries will not charge phone. I have measured remaining charge in alkaline batteries, and they are still three quarters good. I tried 3 Lithium AA batteries, and I received two full charges. In short, I find the charger is ineffective with alkaline batteries, and to use lithium batteries is too expensive. I am returning the Tunejuice to Amazon.

Wanted a simple way to recharge my iphone at the hospital when baby was being born in case I was not allowed to use a wall outlet. The nurses usually say yes but you need their permission regardless. However, the unit failed to work in the hospital (no lights, no charge). When I got home, I tried the batteries that shipped with the unit. No lights, no charge. However, the case suddenly became very hot. In fact, one of the batteries got over 130F to the touch (even after a couple of minutes out of the charger) when using an infrared thermometer. I've had ok luck with Griffin products, but this scares the hell out of me - can you imagine setting fire to a hospital ward filled with newborn babies and their families? To be honest, don't know if I will ever use a Griffin product of any complexity again. Edit: have uploaded an image of the hot battery in the customer photos section.

It's difficult to review this product. My friend and I each bought one of these for our backpacking trips (we use our phones for GPS), and have very different experiences.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S, and this product never brought my phone past 50% from being near dead. I believe the fault lies with my phone however. The phone is horribly designed and eats more power than the world uses oil. I brought three sets of batteries with me on a 3 day backpacking trip, and had to turn my phone off before the second night because I had already chewed through all of them.

On the flip side, my friend has an iphone, and this product works great for him. It will charge his phone to around 80% on a single set of batteries.


I think the fault lies with Samsung for making a bad phone. All I can say for certain is, do not get this if you want to use it for a samsung phone.

Excellent product, great to have in case of AC power failure or just to extend talk time. Quality of product is very good.

The batteries that came with the TuneJuice would not charge my iPhone 4 at all. A set of 3 Kirkland alkaline AA batteries took my iPhone 4 from 20% charged to 55%. At the end of the charge, the light on the unit started to flash slowly, and the iPhone rebooted itself. The batteries felt a little warm.
A set of 3 rechargeable batteries (2400mAh) charged my iPhone 4 from 7% to 98%. At the end of the charge, the light on the TuneJuice simply went out. This solution will do nicely in a pinch.