Sony CycleEnergy CP-ELS

Sony’s ‘CycleEnergy’ portable power supply is designed for the sort of weary traveller who is always wandering around the airport looking for a spare power point. It’s roughly the size of an electric toothbrush with the head removed, and can replenish the battery life of any gadgets that you can charge from the USB port of a PC.

The CP-ELS is a perfect size to fit in your bag or pocket, and has a USB port at each end – one regular USB 2.0, one micro USB. The device itself charges from a PC or mains adapter the same way a smartphone would.

The difference is that because the CP-ELS is a dedicated Lithium-ion battery and literally does nothing else, it can hold a lot more power than many smartphones can. We got two and a half charges out of its 2,000mAh battery when we used three different smartphones, although obviously devices with larger batteries, such as the Samsung Galaxy S III, will use more of the CP-ELS’s charge.

The CP-ELS doesn’t come without its restrictions, though. Any devices you have that can’t charge from your PC ain’t going to charge here, either. We tested it with the iPad 2, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and the PlayStation Vita, and none of those devices charged even a little bit. If you’re looking for a device to charge your tablet on the go, the CP-ELS isn’t it.

For those who just can’t bear to be away from their smartphones for even a minute, or business-folk like myself who travel a lot but need constant internet access for work, the CP-ELS is a great device. Just don’t forget to bring a wall plug for those bigger mobile devices.