Hey gang, Valkor here. I’ve been waiting with a Zen-like patience for the company PNY and their products to enter the Val-Cave. Thankfully that opportunity arrived when I attended CE Week earlier this year with a closer look at their portable battery pack – the T2200. It’s a small yet simple charger, but one I can see is well sought after (though readily available). After attending the previous Pepcom, PNY are back with a new battery pack, one that’s not only functional, but also very stylish. Let’s take a look at the L8000.
The L8000, on the outset, has a shape similar to that of some current smartphone models; pic below very related, it’s the L8000 paired up with the Amazon Fire phone. Though the Fire phone has it in length, the width, the L8000 beats it in with – either way, it’s a slight difference. At the top is the LED indicator lights and PNY logo. And on the right side you have two USB ports, a MicroUSB port and power button. Housed within its confines is an 8000mAh battery that is powerful enough to charge up to two devices – either two smartphones, smartphones and a tablet or any USB powered device. If charging only a smartphone, you’ll go from zero to full in a little more than an hour and it’ll take longer if charging two devices, especially if one of them is a tablet.
Now, about the pack being stylish; The L8000 is wrapped on either side – top or bottom with faux leather and aluminum running along the sides. It certainly stands out amongst the crowd of battery packs on the market. And it provides the user with an option of picking a pack that simply looks good rather than something that would be considered basic. This is a definite plus for you iUsers, who would like their accessories to match (if its all white, it's all right). Though I haven’t seen one on their site or in the wild, I do hope there’s a black option, red or something of a darker shade. And I’ll give my reasons why in the TOV Breakdown.
The Bang:
Any battery pack over 5000mAh is usually one bulky sumbitch (and I’m looking at you Rosewill RCBR); but with PNY L8000, you’re given a slim battery pack that’s easily travel worthy and packs enough juice in its 8000mAh battery to help extend the life of your draining devices. Plus that faux leather sits well against whatever device you’re using, giving it that extra notch up in style. Charging up my device with the L8000 was quick and recharging the pack itself was a cinch. PNY definitely has another winner in its stable and the L8000 deserves all the shine it gets.
The Slack:
My only issue is that with the white faux leather, it easily shows any smudges or dirt accumulated on it. Of course you want to avoid leaving it in messy areas, but life happens. A darker color would easily hide such disorder.
The PNY L8000 is available now and if you’re looking for a battery pack that doesn’t just deliver on performance but also looks good in the process, then this is the one for you. You can click that logo to the right for this and more of what PNY has to offer. But as it stands, out of TOV 5 stars, the L8000 gets a 4.5 and it’s been Valkor tested, TOV Approved.
