There I was, hiking aimlessly through the Deschutes National Forest looking for a lake I found on a map but had no direct trail to it. I figured ‘no big deal, I’ll just use MyTracks and my phones GPS to keep from getting lost’. I set everything up on my phone and away I went with some food, some beer and the hope of finding this sandy beach I spotted on Google Maps. It only took me an hour to locate the lake and I sat down for some tunes and a little relaxation. Then everything went silent. My phone’s battery had died. “CRAP!” Now I have no tunes and no way to track my steps back to the car. Luckily I studied the maps enough to know which direction to head and eventually found the road and was about a mile up from the car. Needless to say I survived just fine.
That story may not seem like all that big of a deal, but there have been plenty of cases where my phone had died and I just didn’t have a resource available to charge it back up. That is where the goBAT II by Scosche can really step in and save the day, or just let you keep on keeping on.
The goBAT II has a 5000mAh Lithium polymer rechargeable battery packed inside which will provide close to 3 recharges to a dead Samsung Vibrant.  I based this off the fact that the Vibrant battery is a 1500 mAh battery. The math comes out to 3.33, but I round down for safety. Of course this number can change based on the type of device you are charging, battery size and if you are using it during charging.
It sports dual USB ports and a Micro USB port for charging the device up. The port on the right is rated at 5V-1A which is perfect for charging up pretty much any device you can connect to it with the exception of tablets. Hence why Scosche placed a second 5V-2.1A port on the left. This is used to charge your iPad or Galaxy Tab (adapter included). The user manual states “a fully charged goBAT II will charge a dead iPad to approximately 55%. Not being an iPad expert at all, but knowing the Galaxy Tab has a 4000mAh battery inside of it, I would assume you should get a lot closer to a full charge if not in use. Please correct me if I am wrong. I am also not an electronics engineer.
On the top of the goBAT II you will see a single button and 4 blue lights. The button is to turn the unit on and off with. The 4 blue lights help you identify the amount of charge that is still left in the unit for you. They go off in order ever 20% battery drain. In the final 20% of life the last light will flash to let you know it should be charged up again.
Additional built-in features include the 3 modes it is capable of. Sleep, Standby and Running. The goBAT II can not only save your battery and give you juice you need, but it is also super smart. When you plug your phone into the goBAT II it will switch from sleep to standby then to running and start charging for you. When you unplug your phone, it will wait 30 seconds and go back into sleep mode. This little feature will help ensure there is enough power available at all times.
As far as size is concerned, I couldn’t find any hard facts. I would break out the ruler but I know I would get laughed at. Since my life is usually easier comparing it my Vibrant, that’s what I’ll do. The goBAT II is roughly twice as thick as a Vibrant, slightly wider and roughly the same length. Over all weight is heavier than the Vibrant, closer to the weight of the HTC Inspire 4G. Take a look at the photos below for a visual comparison.
The final question you might have is overall battery time. How long will it stay charged? How long will it keep my phone going on 3G? I am sure you all have many more you can add to the mix. Since all the primary data provided from Scosche reflects around iPhones and iPads, I can’t honestly answer those questions for you. What I can provide is a screen shot of the times they provide.
All in all, if you have ever found yourself in a situation where there was no car charger or wall charger available, then I really suggest you get your hands on one of these and keep it handy. Mine stays in the glove box now and goes straight into my bag when hiking or camping. I can imagine this coming really handy on long flights or commutes via public transportation.
You can view the small video presentation that Scosche has put together on their YouTube channel below.
Head on over to Scosche for more information on this handy little unit as well as ordering information.
