Eurohike wind up phone charger review

Is this the answer to your charging needs or just another wind-up?

8 September 2006 0:32 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Your out on a camping trip you need your phone, the batteries dead. Damn, blast and bugger I hear you cry, well, Millets the UK outdoor specialist thinks it has the answer to your prays and better still it costs just £12.99.

The Eurohike Wind up phone charger is available pink, blue, green and black and has three superbright LEDs, and a functional rubberised grip and and of course a mobile phone charger built in.

To put it bluntly and save us both a lot of time, this is great. The torch is ideal for emergencies and that's before you've even got to worrying about charging your communications device.

Three minutes of winding is enough to bring your mobile back from the dead and creates adequate charge to give you 2 to 8 minutes of talk time depending on the model of your phone.

In the box and the phone comes with power adapters for Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola and Siemens and our test on a Samsung D600 saw the power come back on and the charging icon bounce into life within seconds rather than days and a knackered hand.

But don't panic, if you don't have a phone then you can still use the wind up torch. Here you have three lighting options, depending on how much you want to wind, and the torch allows you to turn either 2, 3 or 5 led lights on at anyone time.

One minute of winding gives you around 20 minutes of light at full blast and the light, which is like a bicycle light, is enough to see what you are doing rather than just a dim glow you might expect.

Verdict

Whether it’s the highly affordable price, the fact that it works so effortlessly or that its fantastically simple, we love this gadget.

Forget solar, this is a must for any camper - mobile phone or not.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: Eurohike
Price as reviewed: £12.99
The good: Power in seconds, three light options depending on power, adapters in the box, price
The bad: Would have loved a USB socket to charge everything
Quick verdict: Forget solar, this is a must for any camper mobile phone or not
Score
Winner