While some consumers get a full day out of a single charge, there are those of us whose batteries die before the end of our day. When that happens there are options like battery packs and charging cases. however, the easiest way is to just charge the device from a wall socket. On average normal charging takes about three hours to fully charge-who has time for that? Legion Meter aims to help those who don’t have three hours to wait for a full charge by speeding up the process by 92%.
Created by PLX Devices, Legion Meter is a device that many will find looks familiar. It looks like any old USB drive, but instead of storing files, this helps charge your device. In order to use it all you need to do is plug in-between your charging cord and AC adapter unit. The unit also has an OLED display to help set preferences. There is a need to set preferences on the unit to allow it to communicate with your device properly and safely. Apple products will require a different setting than an Android device. If you are planning to use it to charge your BlackBerry, Windows, or GoPro devices you will use the Android setting. Making sure you use the right setting will help prevent your battery from getting fried. Though simply speeding up the charging time is not all this little Meter is capable of accomplishing.
That little OLED display does more than help you distinguish between the two settings. Also displayed here is information to help you determine the health of your battery. You will be able to see “Power” in Watts being delivered to your device, “Current” shows the current being delivered, “Volts” shows you the voltage your USB is currently outputting and milliwatt-hours that help diagnose your batteries health. While it is charging, it is gathering information from within your device. Once a full charge is completed, all of this information is determined by special algorithms which “learn how you’re using your devices and calculates your energy usage at roughly 500 times/second giving you ultra accurate power metering.” If your battery has less capacity than it did when you first got the device, that is a sign of an aging battery. Also with the flip of a switch the device can block data or allow data transfer to occur-if plugged into a computer. Adding the Meter to your arsenal of power products may just make sense to you. However according to the KickStarter page there are a few warnings that need to be considered.
If your device has not been listed above, that is due to either the device not being tested yet, or have “negligible performance gain.” Also, they recommend using the device when your battery is at 40-80% power levels. Since these are the levels they have tested the Meter with adding conditions like screen, blue tooth and WiFi on/off conditions and a screen brightness of 50%. They also mention that the device is still in the testing phases somewhat, so the product you receive may differ slightly from the images we have so far. Though they plan on going full blown production and shipping in October 2014. If the Legion Meter is anything like PLX’s other KickStarter devices- Legion and Luxor- than this Meter will be a great addition to any power hungry user.
The Legion Meter is to become a very affordable device, when it is funded on Kickstarter, with a pledge for a meter being $39 with free shipping in the US and $5 shipping to Canada. Though it may not store power like a battery pack or case, it definitely costs less and could be a valid alternative for some.
