Quirky Pickup Power Review
By Alex Colon
https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/quirky-pickup-power
The Quirky Pickup Power is a smart way to make sure your mobile devices stay charged no matter where you go, but you can buy a better power strip and backup battery piecemeal for far less money.
Convenient design.
Battery can charge tablets.
Pricey.
Could use an additional AC outlet or some USB ports.
Finicky connection ports on battery.
I have plenty of backup batteries, but they aren't very useful. That's my fault. One drawer in my desk is sort of like an Island of Misfit Batteries, home to a bunch of batteries that have no power because I never remember to charge them. That's what makes the Quirky Pickup Power such a good idea. It's a desktop power strip with a portable battery that pops right out, so you'll never forget to charge it. It's super convenient, but at $99.99, it comes at a high price, and the battery itself isn't easy to work with. If you're less forgetful than me, you can save a lot of money by just picking up a standard power strip and separate battery.
Design and Power Strip
The Pickup Power comes in two different configurations. A $79.99 model comes with a 4,000mAh battery that has a single USB port. I tested the $99.99 model, which has a 6,000mAh battery with two USB ports. Both models come in black or white, and both size batteries feature 2.1A connection ports, so they can be used to charge cameras, ebook readers, smartphones, tablets, or pretty much any other modern USB device.
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The power strip is a bit bulkier than your average surge protector, but that's because it's meant to sit on your desk. It measures 1.4 by 3 by 11 inches (HWD), and has six grippy rubber feet on the bottom so it won't slide around. You get three AC outlets, which brings me to my first complaint. While the outlets are nicely spaced, there's definitely enough room for one more. I have a lot of devices to charge, and I wouldn't mind a slightly longer power strip if it meant more connection ports. I also would've liked to see some USB ports. I could easily see them fitting on the front edge of the strip, or even next to the AC outlets.
Battery and Conclusions
The backup battery fits neatly into the empty port on the power strip, which is slightly angled, so you can press down on the right side of the battery to pop it out of its charging cradle. The battery itself measures 0.8 by 2.3 by 4.25 inches (HWD) and weighs 5.92 ounces, which is a bit larger than other batteries with a similar capacity. A 6,400mAh battery from Anker, for instance, measures 1.0 by 1.8 by 3.7 (HWD) inches and weighs 4.8 ounces (it also costs just $25.99). When it comes to backup batteries, I'll always go for the smallest option that fits in my bag or pocket.
The battery has four LED indicator lights on the side. The lights turn on automatically when you place the battery in the charger, and pulse to let you know it's charging. There's also a single button on the side of the battery that triggers the lights when you're out and about. I found the lights to be mostly accurate, although the first LED is supposed to fade in and out when the battery is out of power. Mine didn't (it simply stayed lit), so I didn't know if the battery was completely out of power, or somewhere near a quarter full, without plugging it in.
My biggest issue with the battery is that it's finicky to connect. I used it to charge an Apple iPhone 5s ( at Amazon Canada) , a new Moto X ( at Amazon Canada) , and a Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 ( at Amazon Canada) . No matter the device, the USB cable had to be plugged in just so in order to start the flow of juice. On top of this, many times that battery would start charging my device, only to stop a second or two later, and then pick up the charge again. Other times, I'd have to remove the cord and replace it to get a working connection.
Once I figured out how to finesse it, the battery added an additional 7 hours, 40 minutes of video playback to the Galaxy Tab S, which is right on the mark for its size (on its own, the 7,900mAh battery in the Tab S was good for 10 hours and 57 minutes of video).
The Quirky Pickup Power is a great idea with a too-high price and mediocre execution. Even if I didn't have problems with the battery, the simple fact remains that you can buy both a better power strip and battery for less than half the price of the Pickup Power. Quirky's Pivot Power Genius ( at Amazon Canada) is a good place to start, as it features a flexible design and lets you control two plugged in devices remotely. And if it's just more juice for your phone you're looking for, you can always pair it with one of The Best iPhone 5/5s Battery Cases.
That said, the Pickup Power could still be worth it for you if you constantly find yourself looking for a power port every time you go out. As my drawer full of dead batteries shows, convenience is definitely worth something; just keep in mind you're paying a premium for it.
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About Alex Colon
Alex Colon is the managing editor of PCMag's consumer electronics team, overseeing coverage of cameras, cars, drones, headphones, health and fitness products, phones, smart home devices, speakers, tablets, wearables, and pretty much everything else that doesn't come with a keyboard and mouse.
He previously covered mobile, smart home, and wearable technology for PCMag and Gigaom. Alex has written hundreds of reviews of cell phones, smartwatches, and various other products. He has also edited thousands of reviews and articles on consumer electronics technology.
Though Alex does the majority of his reading and writing on various digital displays, he still loves to sit down with a good, old-fashioned, paper-and-ink book in his free time. (Not that there's anything wrong with ebook readers.)
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Quirky Pickup Power