Honestly, it’s life changing is a regular series where we talk about the weird and wonderful possessions we can’t imagine life without. Think of it as an ode to the mundane, bizarre and, sometimes, wholly unnecessary products in our lives.
“BUT I WAS OUT OF BLEEP” is an excuse my friends and family know all too well. You’d think remembering to charge my phone overnight by my bed – or during the day at my desk like any other functioning adult – wouldn’t be such a challenge for me. But, truly, low power mode is my default setting.
I know that dreaded 10% red warning notification like the back of the hand I face-palm every time I realise I’m out of battery – again. I know which pubs in central London will let me charge behind the bar (for the cost of some posh crisps). And I can spot a plug socket from 50m in a station or airport.
But I’ve also been stranded for hours in all of these places, standing up good pals and partners when I realise I don’t have my charger cord in my bag and can’t find the text that said where we were meant to be meeting.
Which is why a particularly long-suffering boyfriend took matters into his own hands when (for Christmas or my birthday, I can’t remember, such was my gratitude) he presented me with a Little Blue Box.
Not from Tiffany’s, but Anker – “America’s Leading USB Charging Brand,” the box boasted. “20 Million+ Happy Users and Counting.” Make that 20,000,001.
“I know it’s more practical than romantic,” said the boy, but we both knew the significance.
The Anker Power Bank is a sleek black lozenge that’s bigger than a smartphone – even than my chunky, much-mocked Motorola – and heavier too. But that’s the weight of POWER, because this bad boy keeps you in business, against the odds, for hours (it claims to be able to charge the iPhone 8 almost seven times). As well as a slot for the AC/DC cord, it has two USB ports for a romantic charge à deux – or in my case, my work and personal phones because, yes, I’m often out of battery on both.
It’s not the first portable battery pack I’ve owned – in blind panic, I once bought a tiny one at an airport when I realised I hadn’t plugged my phone in before an early flight and couldn’t access my boarding pass to get on the actual plane.
But take it from me, you pay for what you get with power packs – and something the size of a cigarette lighter is not going to cut it. This Anker is pricey at £32.99 (the full range spans £12.99 to £89.99), but totally worth it. It’s also compatible with iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxy and lots more of the phones and tablets that regular (non-“Hello Moto”) people have.
Suddenly I was able to leave my house, confident I had charge for days. Of course I needed to remember to charge the charger. But once I overcame this meta-challenge, I was liberated in the knowledge I could venture forth with no need to find an emergency Pret on a night out – just for the socket points.
Experiences such as Glastonbury were transformed, I realised – no more eeking out my battery, bar by bar; no more rationing of texts or fear of losing my friends at the Other Stage; no more Saturday morning queuing for the bloody Charge + Chill tent (which everyone know is anything but). Anker was my anchor.
Until I spilled coffee all over it. Every story needs a tragic coda. Needless to say the Anker’s insides didn’t survive the caffeine injection and currently, I’m back to stuffing a load of cords and plugs in my bag every morning or living the consequences… “But I was out of bleep!”
For a while back, though, I saw how differently life could be lived.
Anker PowerCore 20100 – Ultra High Capacity Power Bank, Amazon, £32.99
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