Review: Charge Key and Charge Card

I’ve had these for a wee while now.  It’s about time to let you know how I found them.

The CHARGEKEY and CHARGECARD were sent for us to try out by NOMAD.

The key part fits onto my keyring and means that as long as I can get access to a USB port of a USB plug, I can charge anywhere without tangled cables.  The CHARGECARD fits perfectly into a credit card sized slot in a wallet or purse.     They are chargers and not battery packs, so they do need access to an electricity supply, whether it is charging direct to a computer, through a USB plug, or from a back up battery.

I have the lightning charge key that works with my iPhone and the mini iPad.  I have a regular mini usb port on my iPhone 5, as I use a Mophie battery case, so in reflection, a mini usb charge key would probably have been better for me.

It’s quite deceiving actually as it really IS very little.  I have it on my keyring as if I desperately need charge in someones else’s house, I can actually get it without too much hassle.  The USB end is a lot than you expect a cable that plugs into a USB charger to be.  It’s about half the thickness of the regular USB cable end that you’d expect.

The cables are VERY short, so are not practical on my PC, although they’d be fine for a low lying laptop.  It’s unlikely that gadgets would be much use when plugged in to charge.  It’s not impossible, but the cable part is so very short.  Using it would be quite uncomfortable with the inability to turn devices around.

The cables are very very bendy.  I was wary of them snapping, but they seem solid enough and have stood up to my kids testing them out.

The short version of a review is:  they work perfectly.

I find them easiest for using in the car or our motor home as fabulous chargers that take up little space, with no cables to get tangled.  They’ve pretty much proved themselves very handy for that indeed and I keep the lightning connector on my keyring – just in case, as in desperation, I could remove the Mophie base to charge up a dying phone.

Note:  My older kids haven’t broken them, but I’m not sure how they’d stand up to a toddler.  I’d look after these chargers in the same was as you do the regular sized cable chargers and keep them away from children and pets.