Must Have Accessory: Battery Only Charging Cradle

Posted by CraftLass in Accessories, For Beginners on Mar 25th, 2010 | 3 responses

One downfall to smartphones, including the Droid, is battery life. There’s just no way around it, with the intense use I subject this thing to a battery will only last so long.

It took me about 3 days to buy a spare. The problem became remembering to switch out batteries to charge both before heading out for a long day (or, more usually, night, when having a charge is a must for safety). Enter the other best piece of Droid gear I own – the external charger or “Battery Only Charging Cradle” (an inelegant name but handiest of tools).

Charger with battery

Motorola sells a universal external charger only and, in keeping with their “EcoMoto” theme, it uses the same micro USB/charging cable that comes with the Droid (and also has a mini USB port). The small size makes it great not just for travel but for slipping right into a purse or pocket.

The one con is that it takes a long time to charge the battery. I drained my original battery (about 4 months old now) until my phone powered off before timing the charge to full on both as precisely as I could, using the AC adapter plugged into a power strip. The internal charging came in at a blazing 2 hours and 3 minutes while the external limped along at almost half the pace, ending up taking 3 hours and 59 minutes.

That said, the convenience of charging a battery without having to have my Droid plugged in is more than worth the price tag ($19.99 through Verizon Wireless or available packaged with a spare battery at Amazon for $45.99, all prices as of this writing). Every time I leave the house now I have a full battery waiting in the wings and the peace of mind that comes with knowing my constant companion will be fully functional until I am home again.