ChargeKey and ChargeCard review – always have a route to power

I am sure that all of us here are carting around a variety of portable bits of tech. The one thing that most will have found is that these can run out of charge during the day. What happens if you’ve forgotten to bring your usb cable?

At my day job I can almost guarantee that there will be a plaintive cry of “does anyone have a charge cable for a…?” at some point of the week.

Thankfully I am generally able to oblige and I have a stock of microUSB to USB leads at home as, being shoved in my bag or pocket, these eventually break in some form or another.

Nomad have seen these problems and have come up with a couple of canny products – ChargeCard and ChargeKey.

Right now I have a ChargeCard which is microUSB to USB and a ChargeKey, this particular version is sporting Lightning to USB for those rocking iPhone 5s and such.

ChargeKey

As you can see the ChargeKey is pretty small and sits nicely amongst my keys and, unless I don’t fancy getting back in my flat, there should be no reason for me to forget it.

The size of the ChargeKey could cause an issue depending on where your ports are and what you intend to charge, but charging an iPhone from a laptop was fine.

It’s also good to report that I’ve not uncovered any problems with pocket fluff, although I am a little concerned about how the connectors on the Lightning end will hold up to being constantly at battle with my keys. There is a microUSB version of the ChargeKey and I do think that would be more resilient.

ChargeCard

The second device is a credit card-sized product which easily nestles in your wallet or purse amongst your store and credit cards.

It’s about as deep as two or three cards but not too deep or heavy to worry your money carrier. It has a pop out cable in the middle which makes it a bit more flexible.

The ChargeCard has already saved me. As you can see in the picture I’ve used it at work to charge my headphones whilst my regular cable handled phone charging duties. Also, last Saturday, I went out on a friend’s birthday bash and ended up crashing on his floor. Usually, when I plan to stay out I’ll make sure I pocket a cable before leaving. On this instance I was without. Then I remembered the ChargeCard was in my wallet so, utilising his iPhone’s plug adapter, I was able to charge my phone.