Griffin Technology PowerDuo Reserve Review

Anyone who has owned an iPhone for even a short period of time can tell you that its biggest flaw — or at least, the biggest flaw that isn’t directly related to the carrier — is its frustratingly insufficient battery life, especially compared to standard mobile phones. The typical solution for most users is to either switch off services such as Wi-Fi, 3G or Bluetooth when they aren’t being used, or to simply charge the iPhone one or more times during the course of the day. I rarely use my iPhone as an actual phone, and I still find myself running the battery down below 20% during an average day if I don’t take the time to recharge it at least once. I’m not always in a position where I can sit around and wait for my iPhone to charge, however, and that’s precisely the problem that Griffin Technology’s PowerDuo Reserve is intended to solve.

You may recall that Griffin had previously released a car charger and a home AC charger called the PowerJolt and PowerBlock, respectively. Each of these chargers had a single standard USB port and included a USB to Apple dock connector cable allowing you to charge any of the iPod models, from the Shuffle to the iPod Touch. Griffin has now replaced these with the PowerJolt Reserve and the PowerBlock Reserve, omitting the included USB to dock connector cable and replacing it with a rechargeable battery pack.

You can purchase the PowerJolt Reserve and the PowerBlock reserve separately, or you can purchase them together as the PowerDuo Reserve. The major difference between buying the individual packages and buying the PowerDuo pack is that the latter includes only one battery pack to share between the two chargers. If you anticipate needing to keep a charged battery pack in two different places, or you simply would prefer to have two battery packs charged and ready at any time, you may want to consider buying the separate packages.

The styling of the chargers has changed pretty significantly since the previous versions, both now employing a theme of shiny black plastic and rounded right-angles that is far more in line with the Apple aesthetic. The PowerJolt Reserve features chrome trim around the area where the battery pack is docked, which not only makes it a better match for the decor of most modern automobile interiors, but it also serves to make the area more visible in a darkened vehicle. It’s a minor feature, but it makes the device just that much easier to use, and serves as a further indicator of the kind of thought that went into the design of the product.