Full Review

25 March 2008 - Ever had to ask the office if anyone has got a phone charger for your make of phone? Or perhaps been travelling and run out of juice on your PSP? Then Philips thinks it has the answer with the Philips rechargeable power pack SCE4430, but has it? We take a closer look.

The Philips rechargeable power pack SCE4430 is part of the company's Power2Charge range that was announced at IFA in 2007.

The device is roughly the size of a pack of cards and promises to be able to charge any device as long as you can charge it via USB.

Simple in its design there is a USB in socket to charge devices and a miniUSB socket so you can charge it via a computer or the included plug adapter.

Ready to go out of the box there is a four-bar power meter on the outside that can be checked via the push of the only button on the unit and this also offers you information about charging.

The SCE4430 caters for devices up to 5V, so your average digital camera, portable games console such as the DS and PSP, Bluetooth headsets, as well as most mobile phones and smartphones on the market.

Appealing to the mobile phone market user beyond any other device in particular, the device comes with six connector tips to connect and charge your mobile phone and if you're a Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, Motorola or mini USB user then you are definitely in luck.

Using that USB socket, the tips connect to a retractable USB cable included in the box (although there is nothing special about the cable) and it's as simple as that.

Other features of note are that the unit is charged and ready to go out of the box promising up to 30 hours of juice on the go from a couple of hours charge and a pouch to keep everything in.

In practice and it's incredibly simple with the charger performing as stated on the box.

VERDICT
There isn't much to say about the Philips rechargeable power pack SCE4430 as it just gets on and charges your devices.

The selling point here is that it will work with any device that can be charged via USB rather than just a Nokia handset for example.

So why wouldn't you just use your laptop to charge your phone when you're away on business?

Well there is nothing stopping you, but this option means you don't have to get our your computer to get charging on the go, the only catch we have found, is that unlike your laptop you can only charge one device at a time.