ansmann energy 8 plus battery charger

A couple of weeks ago, we posted an article about the Ansmann line of rechargeable batteries and chargers as a kind of introduction to the brand here in Australia. While you can get Ansmann products here, they certainly aren’t as easy to find as Sanyo Eneloop, Energizer, and other top brands. The more digging we’ve done into the Ansmann brand, the more we’re liking what we read and hear about them.

There’s no doubt that their line of rechargeable batteries appear to be really solid, and offer performance, quality, and features that are not unlike that of Sanyo Eneloop. But that is for a different article. What we really want to talk about in this article is the  Ansmann Energy 8-Plus battery charger which, from all accounts across the tech media spectrum, is just about the best battery charger you buy on the market today for its price point. Read all about what we — and others — have to say about it. Continue reading ‘Ansmann Battery Charger Review Round-up: Ansmann Energy 8′

When you’re out in the bush with no access to electricity, having plenty of rechargeable batteries on hand can be a matter of life and death. But a new crop of solar-powered consumer battery chargers are claiming to give campers and outdoorsmen the ability to recharge in the middle of nowhere. read about whether or not solar power can really give your batteries the boost they need.

There’s no doubt that solar power has been making its way into the rechargeable battery market for some time now. In response to the age-old problem of mobile phone batteries going dead at the worst times possible, many mobile phone battery companies have attempted manufacturing replacement batteries with solar panels of their backs, allowing users to leave their phone out in the sun to give it an emergency charge. While the reviews for these batteries are spotty at best, the idea in an of itself remains attractive to consumers, so much so that there have even been rumors that Apple’s iPhone could someday get the technology.

Now, however, we are beginning to see solar-powered battery chargers of consumer-based rechargeable batteries creep into the marketplace. Are these battery chargers any more reliable?

Continue reading ‘Do Solar-Powered Battery Chargers Really Work?’

Rechargeable battery users often have to choose between a value-priced battery charger with few features, or a feature-rich charger with a big price tag. But Vapex‘s new battery charger delivers on both.

The good thing about the rechargeable battery market is that most of the top manufacturers make it easy for people to get started on their battery collection by offering low-priced battery chargers. you’ve seen them before: those reasonably-priced starter packs, which usually include 4 AA rechargeable batteries and a very basic slow charger, usually with a simple LED indicator to let you know when the batteries are done charging. It’s a good business model for the big NiHM rechargeable battery companies like Sanyo Eneloop, Vapex, and Energizer: since the battery charger is the most expensive up-front investment, make a cheap one to onboard new users.

But it doesn’t take long before most users grow tired of the slow, uneven charges that some of these start battery chargers deliver.

Particularly if you depend on rechargeable batteries for serious photography, powering portable gear for outdoor activities, or other critical battery tasks, you quickly realize that having a high-performance battery charger is critical. These types of battery chargers — known as “smart chargers” or “battery conditioners” — offer a much higher eshelon of features and performance: they charge each battery individually, charge 8+ batteries at once, condition each battery, conduct discharges if needed, and give you an individual LED readout of each battery’s progress. In essence, these smart chargers are like 8 chargers in one — one for each battery.

The thing is, with more features and performance also comes price. Continue reading ‘New Vapex Battery Charger Delivers On Features & Value’