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April 26, 2010
Powering up
Energizer Mini Charger
Product Category:
rechargeable battery charger
Available at:
department stores nationwide
Tester:
Patricia Valerio, writer
With everything being so fast-paced nowadays, I have to admit that I have very little patience for slow battery chargers. So when I recently found out that faster battery chargers, which have shorter charging times, actually contribute to reduced battery life, I knew I had to someday put this to the test.
Being asked to test the Energizer Mini Charger was then a timely opportunity for me to determine whether chargers that have longer charging times are indeed better than those that charge faster but actually deplete the battery's life in the long run. I thought of it as a fun and exciting experiment that I had to conduct.
I was pleased to find that the Energizer charger comes in a compact and lightweight design. As someone who is always rushing to go to work very early in the morning, I need something that makes for fuss-free storage and maintenance—something I can just stuff inside my bag without having to worry about it afterward.
The Energizer Mini Charger can charge two AA or AAA batteries at a time, and although some may consider this the main downside of portable chargers, it was enough for me as I don't really own a lot of battery-powered gadgets. The biggest strength of the charger, for me, is actually its simplicity: the LED lights turn on once you use it, and as a protection against overcharging, they automatically turn off when the safety timer of 18 hours expires.
While I found the charger so easy to use that I didn't even read the manual, the pamphlet that comes with it is still worth reading as it details the operating instructions and necessary cautionary measures. The pamphlet, which has directions in languages including English, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin, and Arabic, is handy enough to store in my purse as a quick reference.
I have been using the charger for the AA batteries of my tape recorder and milk frother for almost three weeks now, and I have to say that the performance level is much better than when I use the older but faster charger to charge the batteries—so much better that it seems almost optimal. This holds true even when I don't wait for 18 hours before I remove the batteries from the charger.
The Energizer Mini Charger works simply because it doesn't try to do too much. Equipped with a back-to-basics and no-nonsense approach to battery charging, the charger is not bogged down by too many features that only detract from the main purpose of the charger itself and is perfect for busy, on-the-go women like me.
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