How many times has the TV remote run out of juice just as you wanted to watch something (or our Firestick remote that just seems to kill batteries)? Or the kids have got a brand new electronic toy and it didn’t come with batteries? Not a problem, everybody has spare batteries in their battery drawer don’t they. Not really, as its always one of those things that people forget to replace after they have replaced the dead ones in the remote. And good batteries can be quite expensive.
One way to ensure that you always have batteries and to save money is by down going rechargeable route. I think that it is very worthwhile to invest in rechargeable batteries and a battery charger. Not only are they less wasteful, there are no trips to the supermarkets to place used ones in their battery boxes – you shouldn’t really put used batteries in your household waste bins as they can be a fire hazard, and in the long run they will save you a lot of money (and depending on what brand of battery you usually buy and how quickly you get through them, it could be a very significant saving).
I have used rechargeable batteries and battery chargers in the past, ones that just plug directly into the wall socket. The ones I have used in the past always needed the batteries to be charged in pairs. The HiQuick Battery Charger is different, it is a lightweight USB charger (no power adapter supplied) and allows you to charge 1, 2, 3 or 4 batteries at a time and a mix of AA and AAA as it has 4 independent charging slots.
The HiQuick Battery Charger comes with 4 high capacity 2800mAh AA rechargeable batteries and 4 high capacity 1100mAh AAA rechargeable batteries.
In the box:
- HiQuick 4 Bay Battery Charger
- MicroUSB Cable
- 4x AA 2800mAh High Capacity/High Performance Rechargeable Batteries
- 4x AAA 1100mAh High Capacity/High Performance Rechargeable Batteries
- Manual
The batteries that are supplied with the charger are pre-charged and ready for use straight out of the box.
The battery charger isn’t supplied with a wall charger so you will need a USB plug with an output of 5V 2A, or charge from a laptop or power bank. The charger is connected using a MicroUSB cable.
Now battery chargers are an easy device to use, just pop in the batteries and plug them in. Leave them for a few hours and the batteries are charged – simple. What I love about the HiQuick battery charger is that once you power it on it has a display. This display shows the condition of the batteries and charging status. I also love that whilst it has four battery slots you don’t have to have them all full or batteries in pairs to charge them – each slot is individually charged with the status of each slot shown on the display. Charging time is quite fast, it takes about 3.5 hours to charge the AA 2800mAh HiQuick rechargeable batteries (whether you put in 1 or 4) and about 2 hours for the AAA 1100mAh batteries. You can also put in AA and AAA batteries at the same time in any slot and they will individually charge.
Despite its lightweight the HiQuick battery charger is also equipped with some excellent intelligent safety features that shut it off if you put the batteries in the wrong way round, detects non-rechargeable batteries and switches off, switches to trickle charge when batteries are fully charged to prevent overcharging, overcurrent and overvoltage – helping to keep your batteries in top condition.
Features:
- Reverse Polarity Protection
- Overcharge Protection
- Overcurrent Protection
- Overvoltage Protection
- Overheating Protection
- Short-circuit Protection
The HiQuick rechargeable batteries can be charged over 1200 times, making them vastly cheaper than standard batteries. They also feature low self-discharge when not in use, which allows them to maintain over 80% capacity even after not being used for up to 3 years.
Overall, the HiQuick Rechargeable Batteries and Battery Charger are excellent. Being USB, the battery charger can be used from a wall socket, laptop or power bank – making it very portable and one that can be used anywhere, anytime. It is simple to use, and the independent charging slots make it much easier to charge single batteries or all four easily and in a combination of AA and AAA, with no pairing of batteries required. And the handy display shows which battery is still charging and which ones are fully charged.
The batteries are great. They are perfect for remote controls and even work well in high powered devices such as my old digital camera that doesn’t work with cheap batteries. The battery life is excellent (will vary depending on what you are using them in), but for things like X-box game controllers they work very well and last just as long as big brand name alkaline batteries.
With a retail price of £19.99 for the charger and 8 high capacity rechargeable batteries (4x AA, 4x AAA), it is a bargain. The batteries have a good life and can be charged 1200 times so you will get a good few years out of them.
Why waste money buying expensive batteries for your TV remotes, game controllers and all those other power hungry devices when you can just use good quality rechargeable batteries. You really can’t go wrong with the HiQuick Battery Charger and Rechargeable Batteries.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £19.99
Available to buy from Amazon here.
DISCLOSURE: I received this item for free for the purposes of writing an honest and impartial review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This review uses an affiliate link which I may receive a small commission from if you purchase through the link.
