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Champ Alreja from HitPlay ,who we met at the recent QuirkShop event in Mumbai, has sent in this handy mobile accessory for those on the move for long periods of time.

If you are frustrated with poor battery life and don’t want your mobile phone, iPad or tablet dying on you during a road trip, the SmartFish Portable Power Plant 5600 mAh is definitely worth considering. The USB connector on this power plant can be plugged into just about every device you own.

This  portable battery pack has a capacity of 5200 mAh and an input and output voltage of DC 5V/1000mA. It comes with a Micro USB, a Mini USB, USB cable and adapter to charge the power plant itself. The charging lines that come with the pack are compatible with Nokia, Samsung Blackberry and HTC devices. We tested this claim on the Blackberry Curve 8520, Blackberry Bold 9650, Samsung Galaxy Ace, Samsung Galaxy Y Duos and sure enough, it works.

Portable battery charger

We have to say though, the Apple charging line that comes with this product took a little nudging to fit into the charging outlet of our iPad 3. And for our iPhone 5, we had to charge it using our personal charging cable. Maybe the charging line in the pack works with earlier versions of the iPhone.

All in all, the SmartFish Power Plant is a pretty nifty device and if you think Rs. 2,285 (if you buy from HitPlay) is a steep price tag, we found there are few alternatives in the market right now. There are external battery chargers out there but these are obviously limited in use.

We’ve had the SmartFish Power Plant for nearly 3 weeks now and it’s been quite handy around the office, especially when we’re sitting in spots that don’t have a power outlet and we want the phone to be next to us while it charges.

A possible shortcoming is that the power plant itself takes as long as 8 hours to replenish its power. So you must remember to charge it a day ahead of your trip. But when at its optimum level (displayed by the five blue capacity indicators), the power plant manages to fully charge a handful of devices over the course of 2 days before it drains out.

Product: SmartFish Portable Power Plant 5600 mAh

Price: Rs. 2,285

Where to buy: The SmartFish Portable Power Plant 5600 mAh is available on Hitplay here