Quick Review of an AA to USB Power Charger.

Purchased 2 of these chargers from Ebay for $3.78 each with no shipping charges. I wanted an AA battery to USB power charger so that I could extend the battery life of my small handheld video cameras without spending a fortune on factory replacement batteries. Plus I have a surplus of AA Eneloop batteries that are not being used. I was bit leery of purchasing the charger, both in terms of quality and country of origin. However I was pleasantly surprised that the chargers arrived in 12 business days. More on the quality below.

This charger is made of an all plastic casing and for the price, the quality is better then I expected for $3.78. The case consists of a simple 4x AA battery tray with a sliding and removable sleeve that gives access to the batteries.


Controls on the charger are a simple OFF, LED light and USB selector. When in USB mode, there is a red indicator light that shuts off whenever the device that is being charged, is completed. The same indicator light will blink in a slow steady pattern when the AA batteries are low in voltage.


The USB port (cable not included) is securely attached in the case and I have not experienced any loseness nor movement while plugging and unplugging the cable several times. The 3 clear LED lights only purpose is to be used when the selector switch is in flashlight mode. While not the brightest, the 3 LED's are suffucient enough to give low level light in a darkened room but I would not recommend that the flashlight mode be put to use for any real emergency where brighter and longer throw lighting is required.


Likes
- Small size - 3-1/8" height and 2" wide which is smaller then a deck of cards

- Quality vs price. For $3.78 each, the chargers are a bargain and much better then a $45.00 charger I previously purchased but returned as the claimed mAh did not measure up.

Grumbles
- The selector switch can be accidentally bumped on to either flashlight mode or to USB mode. I have found though that a small piece of electrical tape will keep the selector in the off position.

Summary
In my limited testing so far, the charger has performed fine as its only real primary purpose is to convert the 4x Eneloop batteries combined 8000 mAh to USB - 5v at 500mAh. At this point, I can say that charging time is on par with other 500 mAh chargers I have used. For my intended use, I will be using the charger to extend the run time of my video cameras via a small digital camera bag attached to my belt or via the charger mounted on the camera tripod leg.

For other users, the charger would make a suitable battery backup for a cell phone, GPS etc and is small enough to fit into almost any EDC bag. One thing to keep in mind. On Ebay, most of the descriptions clearly state the charger is not meant for tablets. I also noticed that the charger would not charge my friend's Samsung Galaxy Note II...which is almost tablet size.