Just Mobile Gum Plus 4400 mAh External Battery Review

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I just picked up a Gum Plus for my Evo. Have not had any issues with the OEM Evo battery, but I saw a video review of one, and it got my interest for long international flights. It commonly takes me 20-28 hours to get back home from a trip, and I like the idea of knowing I won't have to baby the phones battery, any more.

Neat part of this is that it can likely work with any phone or USB powered device you own. They include a USB to mini-USB cable in the box, but I just used the USB to micro-USB that came with the Evo. It also includes an ipod cable or something, but I have no use for that.

The Gum Plus does not include an AC charger, but can be charged by your PC via the included USB cable.

Luckily, I have an AC to mini-USB charger, from my retired HTC Tilt. Worked fine, and took about two hours to charge it, from the half full state it was delivered in. From an empty state, it takes about 5 hours to charge completely. Once fully charged, 5 tiny LEDs turn on. These indicate charge state when in use.

From a completely dead Evo phone (turned off during charge), it took 2 hours and 45 minutes to go to full charge (green light on phone).

I completed 2 full charges in this manner (phone battery fails boot, to full green light), and 1 partial charge where the battery was taken from 45% to 72% (phone was off while charging). For the partial charge, I waited for the phone to indicate it was not being charged (orange light to no light). This partial charge took 39 minutes.

Regarding the weight of the unit, I used a kitchen scale to measure it out to .125 kilograms. This equals 4.4 ounces. If you are like me, 4.4 ounces has no real world meaning, so I stacked US quarter coins on the scale, until it hit the exact same spot. I stacked 22 quarters ($5.50) before it hit the same weight. It so happens that 22*0.200003364 (weight in ounces of a modern quarter) equals 4.4 ounces, so it looks like the scale is properly calibrated. In short, want to know how heavy it is? Put 22 quarters in your hand. I find it very light, especially as it will be going in my back pack.

This costs $10 more than its cousin, the Gum Pro, but the Gum Pro seems to suffer from a wonky switch that likes to turn itself on when kicking around in a bag (according to a bunch of reviews on Amazon). I really don't think this unit can have that issue, as the power switch is slightly recessed.

So far, I rate this a 5 out of 5. Does exactly what I expected, and I hope to get a few years out of it. I really like that when I upgrade my phone next year, the Gum Plus will continue to add value.

Here is the product page:
http://www.xtand.net/products/show/productid/9

I picked one up here:
http://www.mygearstore.com/Products/...Devices-Silver

Lists for $70 + free fedex ground shipping. By using "buymeaniphone" as a coupon code, they knocked $7 off, for a total of $63. That is just 3 bucks more than the wonky Gum Pro.

I hope someone finds this product as useful as I have.

Thanks for the initial impressions. Please continue to update this if you make any further findings. Also, any comments on the weight of the external battery? Heavier or lighter than you expected?

Originally Posted by Berner

Thanks for the initial impressions. Please continue to update this if you make any further findings. Also, any comments on the weight of the external battery? Heavier or lighter than you expected?

Berner, added final info on number of total charges, and the weight of the unit. Funny, but when I was looking for information prior to my purchase, I could not find any weight info for it (only the Gum Pro). Thanks to the "quarter" test, I can strongly say the Gum Plus is 4.4 ounces.

I think I might be interested in one of these things. Can you take a few pictures of it next to your Evo?

Originally Posted by ShadoX

I think I might be interested in one of these things. Can you take a few pictures of it next to your Evo?

My camera is in the car. I will post some pictures by noon, on Tuesday.

Can't find the link right now but theres an 8800 mah one for about the same price...not sure about the size cuz i have no idea how big this one here is to compare

Photos added.

Originally Posted by GumboChief

I just picked up a Gum Plus for my Evo. Have not had any issues with the OEM Evo battery, but I saw a video review of one, and it got my interest for long international flights. It commonly takes me 20-28 hours to get back home from a trip, and I like the idea of knowing I won't have to baby the phones battery, any more.

Neat part of this is that it can likely work with any phone or USB powered device you own. They include a USB to mini-USB cable in the box, but I just used the USB to micro-USB that came with the Evo. It also includes an ipod cable or something, but I have no use for that.

The Gum Plus does not include an AC charger, but can be charged by your PC via the included USB cable.

Luckily, I have an AC to mini-USB charger, from my retired HTC Tilt. Worked fine, and took about two hours to charge it, from the half full state it was delivered in. From an empty state, it takes about 5 hours to charge completely. Once fully charged, 5 tiny LEDs turn on. These indicate charge state when in use.

From a completely dead Evo phone (turned off during charge), it took 2 hours and 45 minutes to go to full charge (green light on phone).

I completed 2 full charges in this manner (phone battery fails boot, to full green light), and 1 partial charge where the battery was taken from 45% to 72% (phone was off while charging). For the partial charge, I waited for the phone to indicate it was not being charged (orange light to no light). This partial charge took 39 minutes.

Regarding the weight of the unit, I used a kitchen scale to measure it out to .125 kilograms. This equals 4.4 ounces. If you are like me, 4.4 ounces has no real world meaning, so I stacked US quarter coins on the scale, until it hit the exact same spot. I stacked 22 quarters ($5.50) before it hit the same weight. It so happens that 22*0.200003364 (weight in ounces of a modern quarter) equals 4.4 ounces, so it looks like the scale is properly calibrated. In short, want to know how heavy it is? Put 22 quarters in your hand. I find it very light, especially as it will be going in my back pack.

This costs $10 more than its cousin, the Gum Pro, but the Gum Pro seems to suffer from a wonky switch that likes to turn itself on when kicking around in a bag (according to a bunch of reviews on Amazon). I really don't think this unit can have that issue, as the power switch is slightly recessed.

So far, I rate this a 5 out of 5. Does exactly what I expected, and I hope to get a few years out of it. I really like that when I upgrade my phone next year, the Gum Plus will continue to add value.

Here is the product page:
http://www.xtand.net/products/show/productid/9

I picked one up here:
http://www.mygearstore.com/Products/...Devices-Silver

Lists for $70 + free fedex ground shipping. By using "buymeaniphone" as a coupon code, they knocked $7 off, for a total of $63. That is just 3 bucks more than the wonky Gum Pro.

I hope someone finds this product as useful as I have.

Just check the site and there's now a 6000 mAH version of the Gum Pro... 79.99

http://www.usbfever.com/index_eprodu...oducts_id=2607

Originally Posted by faslane

Just check the site and there's now a 6000 mAH version of the Gum Pro... 79.99

http://www.usbfever.com/index_eprodu...oducts_id=2607

Probably because that was 2 years ago .... gravedigger There's also some 10k mAH for around the same price from other places.