Portable battery chargers for your smartphone or tablet are nothing new. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and power allotments. We’ve tested a good 100 or so power supplies, chargers and combinations in a variety of form factors. Luckily, portable power chargers are getting lighter and lighter in weight.
We’ve seen solar chargers (mostly novelty) and we’ve seen power chargers in all kinds of shapes and sizes.
But at this year’s CES we saw one of the most amazing hybrid devices we’ve seen in over 10 years of reporting on technology.
The brilliant minds at Cobra, the folks behind CB radios and radar detectors, have found a way to cross breed a 7500mah portable battery charger with a car starting device. Yes, the Cobra JumPack can charge your iPhone, iPad and your car. They’ve also included a flashlight so if you find yourself with a dead car battery, and a dead phone battery you’ll have the safety of a flashlight.
The JumPack features a 200A starting current and gets up to a peak current of 400A, which is enough to give your car a couple of jumps. The best part though is it’s the size of your run of the mill portable charger, rather than a big bulky car battery starter.
Cobra’s Chris Kooistra told us in an interview that you can throw the JumPack in your backpack and not have to worry about your car or your phone. That’s definitely a keeper in our book.
The JumPack will be available this spring for just $129.