Jackery Fit Review: Fast Mobile Charging for Minimal Cost

These days, our world revolves around mobile devices, the smartphone in particular. Take a few calls, answer some text messages, watch a couple YouTube videos, play a few minutes of Tiny Death Star during a break, wander through the social wasteland that is Facebook–it all takes place on our smartphones. Of course, we need power to do all these things.

Anyone who uses their smartphone for work each day or travels with the device knows that keeping it charged is extremely important. Enter the Jackery Fit, a new portable battery with fast 2.1A charging. This is a new external battery in Jackery’s lineup of batteries and it’s positioned between the Jackery Giant and Jackery Bar in regards to power capacity. If you are unfamiliar with Jackery, one look at the stellar Amazon reviews of the company’s battery lineup will give you an idea of how well they make these devices.

Hardware

Only slightly taller than a deck of cards, the Jackery Fit is housed within an aluminum case with slick, white plastic caps on each end. On the front of the Fit, you will find three slim LED lights that provide a visual indication of the total power left in the battery. Those three blue lights also blink when the Fit is plugged in to indicate how much of a charge has been stored so far. To the right of the LED lights, the user will find a white power button. Pressing it once will activate the LED lights to check the power level.

Jackery has also included a white LED flashlight feature next to the charging ports on the Fit. This can be activated by tapping the power button twice. This could be useful during outdoor camping trips where power and lighting are scarce. The two ports on the Fit include a Micro USB input to charge the device as well as a 5V, 2.1A USB output (similar to the Apple iPad charger) to charge various mobile devices. The Fit also comes with a Micro USB to USB 2.0 cable, ideal for both charging the battery and charging other devices that use the same connection.

Regarding the battery, the power capacity is rated at 7800mAh. That’s nearly five times the capacity of the battery within the iPhone 5S and three times the capacity of the battery in the Samsung Galaxy S4. According to Jackery, the Fit should be able to charge the iPhone lineup of smartphones between three to four times fully or two to three times for the Galaxy S4. The battery will also hold a charge for up to six months and is rated for a minimum of 500 full charges.

Does It Work?

During testing, I was able to get four charging cycles for my iPhone 5 before the Fit was completely out of juice. I generally let my iPhone fall to about 10 percent before recharging it. I could really notice the difference in the charging speed when compared to the standard Apple charger that comes with the iPhone 5. It should be useful when I’m roaming the CES floors in Las Vegas during January and constantly draining my smartphone battery when posting updates.

I also tried testing it on a first generation Kindle Fire HD tablet and it performed moderately well. Charging time wasn’t as fast, but I could continue watching Netflix without draining the battery within the tablet. It’s pretty clear that the Fit would be ideal for long plane rides or extended car trips, especially when attempting to keep small children entertained.

Should I Buy It?

If you can’t get through the entire day without requiring a recharge, you should most definitely pick up the Jackery Fit. This type of portable battery is crucial for a road warrior or anyone who’s going to spend time traveling over the holidays. The Jackery Fit exceeded all my expectations and will be my primary device for mobile charging in the foreseeable future.

Regarding pricing, the MSRP for the device is around $60. However, you can currently find the silver Jackery Fit at a $40 price point on Amazon here. The orange version can be found at Jackery’s Store here.

Final Rating: Success Kid

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