Digital Innovations, the same company that brought us CleanDr (laser lens cleaner) and SkipDr (disc repair), have now brought unto us ChargeDR Pro - a USB charging booster for your smartphone or tablet. I remember using SkipDr years ago to fix CDs that had been in my car CD changer and that was the handiest thing in my day. Now that we’re in the digital age they’ve brought a device to improve our charge times and keep us on the go.
There are two versions ChargeDr and ChargeDr Pro, the latter is the one I’ll be testing. Though names differences are slight, the actual products do have one similarity in that both claim 4x faster charging on tablets/iPads and 2x faster on Phones. With the ChargeDr pro, you have a switch that turns on a blue indicator light to show high-speed charging is on or off. The ChargeDr Pro is so easy to setup and use that all of the instructions come on half a page. 1) Remove cap. 2) Plug into the USB port pc. 3) Use your own USB cable and attach to device. 4) Press button, toggle charging (and grab a beer).
From the moment I opened the package and just looked at it I thought this thing won’t work. It looked like something you’d get from QVC in the middle of the night. Anyone remember the sticker to improve your cell signal? To test out the ChargeDr Pro, I’ve used tried it on a number of products including the Kindle fire and HTC One M7. And during my testing process I’ve learned that it’s best not using this on a USB Hub that isn’t self-powered as it might burn out the port.
The Bang:
Though I had my doubts about the ChargeDr Pro, currently I am eating my words as the charger works and very well. It is a lot faster and better than just using straight USB, and it did well against one of my favorite test - charging and playing Netflix; if it maintains the battery level or manages to bring it up a little, it is a good charger and the ChargeDr Pro did just that. I had different findings when comparing it to wall adapters, while it was better than regular USB it wasn’t quite as fast as a wall unit. But it has come close. Ultimately, it’s small enough that it won’t crowd the port next to it and it works! ‘Nuff said
The Slack:
At first glance it looks like something I would find at the 99 cent store. The packaging and feel of the product itself made it feel cheap aesthetically. But once again – it works!
Now my first question was why use the ChargeDr Pro, especially in a world of portable batteries of many sizes, why bring this along? Well, it comes in handy when/if you’re looking to save your portable battery for emergencies or for whatever reason you would want to hang on to it. Also, the ChargeDr pro is really fast as where a short charge would only get you 3-5% you can get a boost of 10-12%, which for me has been a great improvement. And out of TOV 5 stars I give the ChargeDr Pro a TOV 4.