Anker 2nd Gen Astro E7 Charger Review

Hi there!

I know this is a music blog, but sometimes I run into products that I really like, and just have to give them a quick plug. The Anker Astro E7 charger is one of those products, and besides, it would be a handy thing to have for a gig in case your phone or iPad battery is going dead.

A few months back I picked up the 2nd generation Anker Astro E7 charger, and I always have it in my briefcase or backpack. I picked this model because it had very good reviews and the best specifications of any of the hundreds of different power banks on the market. It is rated at 25,600mAh and the marketing materials state that it will charge an iPad air twice with no problems. This is not just hype - it can actually do it!

Physically, this charger is a bit bigger and heavier than the vape-sized power banks that you often see people using in coffee shops. It measures 6 ½ x 3 ¼ x ¾ inches, and it weighs in at a bit more than a pound. It has 3 USB output ports and a single mini USB port that is used to charge the unit, as well as a built-in flashlight.

A wall charger is not included with the E7, just a mini USB cable that can be plugged into the power source of your choice. And you should choose this power source wisely. The complaints I see are from people who try to use their laptop or an iPhone wall wart to charge this thing up. That will make the process really slow, and depending on the internal protection circuitry of your computer, it might not charge at all. I have good luck using my 12 Watt iPad wall wart, and it takes about 12 hours to fully charge if it was totally dead to start with. If you do not have one of these, Anker sells the same thing for around 10 bucks.

This charger is easy to use, there is no ON/OFF switch and it will turn ON automatically when something is plugged into one of the USB ports. The 3 ports are not just for show, either as it is fully capable of charging more than one thing at a time, up to 4 Amps total output. Any single port is capable of putting out a maximum of 3 Amps, which is right in the wheelhouse for charging a dead iPad Air in a bit over 3 hours. There are 4 LEDs on the top that show the Anker’s state of charge.

This all sounds good, and all of it actually works. There is rarely an open or convenient wall outlet in airports, bars, restaurants, or coffee shops, making the Anker Astro E7 a godsend. It holds a charge seemingly forever, and when it is needed it delivers the goods. On a recent trip, my son and I used it to fully charge both of our dead iPhones, and to recharge my iPad Air 2, all on a single charge. It is heavy and big, but I will not leave home without it.

The 2nd gen Anker Astro E7 is not the cheapest charger on the market, but I think it is the best. It has a list price of $200 (really?), but they sell all day long on Amazon for $60, which includes the aforementioned charging cable as well as a small carry sack. Plus, this price includes an 18-month warranty from the manufacturer, and from what I have heard their customer service is very good. If you are looking for a portable charging solution, this one is my recommendation!

Mahalo!

Droid iTunes Substitute: Doubletwist

Howdy!

I love my iPod Touch, and am pretty ok with iTunes. But, I use a Droid phone (which I like), that I cannot put iTunes on. I searched around a bit and decided to try out Doubletwist, a free program that would let me put my iTunes music library on my Motorola Droid. Sort of.

I must say that I was not overly enthusiastic about having to download a new program and figure out how to transfer the files over. Steve Jobs should learn how to get along with everybody else, and I would happily buy songs through iTunes if they would let me put it on my Droid.

I had no trouble installing Doubletwist onto my Droid, as I just went to the marketplace and downloaded it. Installing it on my Windows-based computer was not much more difficult. I just went to http://www.doubletwist.com/dt/Download/DownloadWindows.dt and followed the usual bunch of prompts. The program automatically scanned my drive for media, and transferred everything over – both music and videos.

Any fears I had about learning a new computer interface were unfounded. The Doubletwist main page is a pretty effective rip-off of the iTunes layout, so it did not take me long to figure out how to use it. As on iTunes, there is the usual bunch of choices, such as the store, the libraries (music, video, photo) and playlists.

After that, it was just a matter of connecting my Droid to the PC with a micro USB cable, and it was all ”check the boxes” stuff after that. Doubletwist recognized my phone and wanted to know what I wanted to put on it. I had to choose wisely, as my memory card is limited, so I only picked a few of my playlists and videos. After that, I hit the sync icon and it was all good.

One cool feature is that it is easy to set any song in your library as a ringtone. Try it out.

The only downside is that iTunes would not let me export all of the music I bought from them unless I paid an upcharge for each song. WTF, Steve Jobs? How many times do I have to pay for the same music? Anyway, this is an iTunes problem, not a Doubletwist problem.

So, I am impressed with Doubletwist. If you have a Droid phone, go to the trouble of adding the app and downloading the software. It is a nice way to move your media library to your phone. BTW, I believe this program will also work on the Blackberry and Zune.

Mahalo!