Final thoughts, awards, where2buy, right2reply
As a multi-purpose additional power source for low-to-mid-power laptops, the 2-power XCell 70 has a lot going for it. It's compatible enough that it services the vast range of laptops currently available, looks good and is presented in a sleek form-factor thanks to LiPo technology, and ships with a universal charger that adds more value to the bundle.Our testing highlighted that it offered over 3hrs of battery life when tested on an ultra-portable Dell laptop, which equated to more-than 50% extra performance than the machine's internal Li-Ion battery. The kind of models this particular battery is aimed towards often don't have the luxury of installing a second battery into an optical drive, so its slimline form-factor makes all the more sense.
We can see a clear appeal for a product of this ilk, and business users looking to extend mobile battery life but not be tied down to a secondary battery from a manufacturer, which tend to be presented in proprietary form-factors that can't be re-used if, say, the notebook is upgraded to a different model, should consider the 2-power XCell 70 as long as their laptop draws less-than 72W, which, frankly, is any and every business-class notebook.
As we've mentioned but it bears reiterating, the universal charger that provides power to the mouse-mat-sized unit, can be used as a direct, mains-powered supply, too.
Current pricing puts the 2-power XCell 70 at around the £130 mark. That's significantly dearer than a replacement/secondary battery from most laptop manufacturers but, we feel, that's not an exorbitant figure once you factor in the laptop-agnostic nature of the supply and the secondary power adapter.
We reckon the 2-power XCell 70 has enough going for it to warrant serious consideration for laptop users where battery life is paramount. The one caveat is to ensure that the supplied tips provide compatibility with your prized possession. If they do, and they should, we can recommend the XCell 70 as an innovative bit of laptop kit and a novelty mouse mate all rolled into one.
HEXUS Awards
