If you regularly find your smartphone running on empty, Sony’s CP-ELS offers a welcome power boost. About the length of a chocolate bar, and weighing a pocketable 86g, the CP-ELS packs in a 2000mAh lithium ion battery.
At one end, a micro-USB input charges the internal battery: it takes around six hours for a full charge and Sony claims it’s good for 500 recharge cycles. At the other end, a full-sized USB socket outputs power to any device that can draw charge via USB.
Connect a device to the CP-ELS, and hidden LEDs flash in sequence to show remaining capacity and indicate whether the connected device is successfully drawing charge.
Our HTC Wildfire S phone recognised the CP-ELS and charged fully in 1hr 31mins, draining the Sony in the process.
Buying a spare battery may be a cheaper option in some instances – a second battery for the Wildfire S costs around $35. However, the Sony’s ability to charge other USB devices is enough to justify the price.
