UNU Exera Duo Battery Charging Dock Review
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What's the point of having a flashy iPhone that you filled to the brim with apps, music and videos but have it laying there dead without any battery left? The folks over at UNU specialize in keeping your iPhone alive for as long as possible. Hence why they came out with the UNU Exera Battery Case that we reviewed earlier, but apparently, that wasn't enough. One battery just isn't going to cut it for them. We take a look at their new UNU Exera Duo Charging Dock that can charge two battery cells at one time. Talk about maximum battery life. Head on past the break for the full breakdown.
It doesn't get much simpler and idiot-proof than this. The whole point of this charging dock is to supplement the UNU Exera Battery Case, and for that, it does a fantastic job.
This accessory is small and minimal so you can feel free to place it wherever on your desk as it does have a small footprint. There is even a anti-slip rubber grip on the bottom to prevent it from sliding around.
The base is a heavier material to create a sturdy platform so it doesn't tip over while charging. The top is a glossy plastic that is, unfortunately, very easily scratched. If you are not spot on with putting the battery into the slot, you'll leave a scratch. After just a few occasions, the charging dock looks like it's been used for months.
To charge your batteries, just simply connect it via micro-USB to a USB connection on your computer or you could use your iPhone wall charger as well. If you have a micro-USB wall charger, the UNU charging dock can also be used through a USB connection, this becomes useful since you're able to charge your UNU Exera Battery Case at the same time.
The UNU battery cells are 1700 mAh Li-ion batteries that should pump around 80% battery life into your iPhone. So with two from the Charging Dock, one from the Exera Battery case, and the built-in iPhone battery… you can do the math. Depending on your charging method, to charge both batteries up will take around 2-4 hours.
There are individual LEDS for each battery cell and each will glow a vibrant red LED that tells you it's charging, and a green LED that tells you it's full and ready. However, when you place the cells in to charge, they are placed in a slanted position that has no useful purpose.
As well, you don't hear any satisfying clicks to tell you that it's secure, you just have to see whenever the LED starts glowing. In fact, the cells are not as secure in its dock than I would like. They wiggle around a lot just by touching it and is simply more of an annoyance than anything.
The UNU Exera Duo Battery Charging Dock has one mission and it accomplishes it with a satisfying A. Despite the seemingly cheap plastic and the wobbly cell movement, everything performs like you'd expect it to. For a low $39.99, it comes with the dock, two 1700 mAh batteries, and a USB connector. For everything that is included and that it actually works, we highly recommend giving this a look, especially if you already own the UNU Exera Battery Charging case.
Update: It was brought to my attention that I may have missed a clear film that was on top of the charging dock and I didn't take it off, which caused me to think that the top cover was poorly constructed.
I retract what I said before as I didn't realize there was a film. The top cover is actually highly scratch resistant and has a slight rubbery feel to its glossy appearance, which is something that I actually prefer over a plastic-y enclosure. Though in my defense and for anyone else who might have not noticed the protective film on the dock, there wasn't any tabs that suggested there was a removable film nor any tell-tale signs that there was something on top.
