Life often moves with a certain regularity. Your phone is charged each night while you sleep, or perhaps each day, at your desk. When you need to look up directions to get un-lost or look up the address of a place you found on Yelp — your phone is there for you. These things go out the door when you travel.
If you're traveling last-minute or on a tight schedule, you might not know where or when you'll be sleeping. The work day might be spent in unfamiliar conference rooms (or, well, on the beach if you're traveling for pleasure). Can you depend on your phone, and any other gadgets you have in tow, to hold their battery power? Probably not. That's why manufacturers are beginning to build battery power into bags. Whether it's a clutch you'll take on a night out or a backpack built for a week-long camping trip — these tech-savvy satchels might save you from a dead device.
Everpurse sells stylish leather bags. If you're animal friendly or cost conscious you might prefer the fabric ones. If you want a cross body strap, it is an extra $40. The company says that overnight, the bag collects enough charge to refill your iPhone or Samsung Galaxy twice.
The cooler thing about this concept is that you don't plug in the phone or the purse — no cords. The purse sits on a charging pad to get charged, and the phone fits into a pocket that will charge it cordlessly. The purse is small enough that it will fit inside another bag, so instead of digging for your phone, perhaps you can more easily locate the brightly colored purse that's filling your phone with battery power. Prices range $189 to $319.
2. Phorce
What started as a Kickstarter[1] grew into something bigger. The original idea was essentially a (well-designed) bag with a battery inside and various cords to charge various devices. Since the makers beat their goal by nearly $50,000, they've added to the vision.
The final product will allow a person to "roam free for up to two weeks without plugging into the wall," a representative says. The bag itself will also be high quality — durable, water resistant and stylish.
Phorce will eventually be sold on phorce.com, but the site is not launched yet. A company representative says they plan to launch in November. Price will be $349 for Phorce for USB and $449 for Phorce for Mac.
Think of those times when you're traveling and after a certain number of hours en route — everything is dead. Your Kindle, your smartphone and your laptop — so you can't even plug the smartphone into the laptop to get just enough power to find yourself directions to your next destination. Powerbag will charge up to four devices at one time and has enough power to give a smartphone double the power.
You'll charge the bag by plugging it in, then turn the bag on and devices will plug into the bag. A light on the side of the bag lets you know when it's low on battery. Various models cost $139-$179.
Similar to Powerbag, the Energi+ backpack from Tylt holds a rechargeable battery that will charge various devices. It holds enough charge to refill a smartphone four times and can charge up to three devices at once. It charges devices via cords, but you can re-configure which pocket you'd like to keep which device in. The backpack is $199.
Hustle is a fashion-forward bag that will power your phone up to four times. The bag will alert you when it needs to be recharged and much like Everpurse, the bag charges on a charging pad.
Hustle can be used as a clutch, comes with a cross-body strap or can be placed inside a larger bag. The company raised more than double its goal on Indiegogo[2] . Prices range from $199 to $249, and notably, one of the products offered is a leather wallet, created with men in mind.
Much like other backpacks on this list, Birksun will charge various devices. Unlike other bags, you might not need to plug Birksun into a wall — if you're going to be out in the sun. The backpack has solar panels on it, which will charge the battery inside, which then can be used to charge your various devices. It comes with a collection of cords and is probably compatible with any device you have. On cloudy days, charging the bag up at an outlet is also an option.
One hour of sunlight translates into 18.75% of your smartphone charge — not bad if you're out on a hike or camping. The sturdy bag also has a padded laptop sleeve. It costs $150.
Do you have a device-charging bag that we missed? Tell us about it in the comments.
Image: Flickr, punctuated[3]
References
- ^ Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com)
- ^ Indiegogo (www.indiegogo.com)
- ^ punctuated (www.flickr.com)
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