Need Power? Powermonkey to the Rescue!


I’m pretty sure you’ve been there before: On the road with Friends, having an awesome day, nothing can stop you .. oh wait, your beloved Phone’s battery is dying. perfect, day ruined. I don’t know about you, but i hate not being able to reach anyone or getting reached. And with the heavy usage of my phones, i usually run out of power every evening. So what to do, driving home just to power your phone?  No way, says the almighty Powermonkey!!  The awesome Guys from the UK-based Company Powertraveller have kindly provided me with a Testing Unit of their eXplorer charging Kit and i’m gonna tell you how good it is right now!

Whats in the Box?

  • 1 x powermonkey-eXplorer portable charger
  • 1 x solarmonkey portable solar charger
  • 1 x universal mains charger which will work in over 150 countries and has interchangeable heads for UK, Europe, US & Australia
  • Tips for: Nokia and mini Nokia, Retractable USB cable, Micro USB, Mini USB, Samsung G600, iPod / iPhone tip, LG Chocolate, Sony Ericsson wide connector, Female USB, DC4.0 for Sony PSP
  • 1 x pouch for storage
  • 1 x User guide

What does it do?

Simple, the eXplorer Kit consists of 2 Parts: One is the powermonkey-eXplorer, which contains a 2.000 mAh Battery, ready to charge your Gadgets. It can be charged via either USB, Universal Main Charger or Solar Power. Once its done, I was able to charge either my HTC Desire or Nokia C6 fully once, with a bit of Juice left. The little Display on the eXplorer keeps you updated about the status of the Battery. It also turns off once your battery is fully charged. With all the Connectors in the Kit, you’ll never face any Problems finding your right Choice. I was able to charge all of my Phones and even my Car Sat Nav. Nice eh?

The bigger of the two Units, the Solarmonkey (isnt this a cool naming Scheme?)  does the same thing, but purely with the Power of the Sun. If you have a bit of sunshine left, charge your  Phones the economic Way. The awesome Thing about it is, that you can charge the eXplorer with it. With this, you basically get 2 chargers which is very nice.

Is it worth it?

Yes, absolutely. Mobile chargers are whats keeping me going through the day if the rubbish batteries of the Phones themselves dont last long enough. On longer trips, you can just strap the Solarmonkey on your bag or rucksack and charge your Devices on the go. The guys from powertraveller have established a network for countries from almost all over the world, you can even buy their goodies in India! As i reported above, the eXplorer charges your Devices once, and keeps a tiny bit of juice in it, for lets say an emergency call. On brighter days you can save the Power and go along with the Solarmonkey, which charges your Device with the power of the sun. You get a ton of connectors for all gadgets out there and with the rugged, rubber Body, you don’t need to fear rain on the camping trips!

I love my Powermonkey, and it will be of good use over at Nokia World next Week!

Enjoy my Picture Gallery below, as usual you can have a look at all the Pics in full resolution on my Flickr Page!

You can buy the PowerMonkey here for around 65 pounds.


Author: Michael Hell

Michael Hell, certified geek, mobile jedi, amateur photographer, music addict. Down to earth and always up for new challenges. Also blogging on www.michaelxhell.com, which is my private blog for things like Photography and personal things :) Feel free to add me on http://twitter.com/michaelxhell or http://www.facebook.com/michaelxhell