If you ever leave your house and spend time away, then this battery may be a good option for you. The PowerElf from iForway is sleek and compact but offers a significant amount of electricity and several good options for charging.

I’ve been using it on a three-week trip. I charged it before I left and used it for phone charges, camera battery charges, and even topping off my laptop and it’s still got juice in it.

PowerElf features

The PowerElf has two USB ports for phones and tablets and whatever else charges off USB. Many cameras’ battery chargers work off USB. It also has one USB-C port so you can charge your MacBook or another device. If your laptop doesn’t charge with USB-C, it’s also got a 12V outlet that will probably charge your laptop; I use that one for my AA battery charger for speedlights. Additionally, there’s a 12V cigarette lighter-esque outlet. You can power pretty much any DC powered device with the PowerElf.

Lastly, it also has a bright LED light at one end and a tether for hanging it. The LED light can be set to constant illumination, or it can blink and it can shine a white or red light. When I was camping in my tent in Wyoming (see the header image) I used the light and the charging ports every day.

While camping in Oregon, there was a huge dust storm. But that’s no problem for the PowerElf because it is dust and splash proof with the covers on (it boasts an IP64 waterproof rating)

It’s tiny and YUGE

Yesterday, I used the iForway PowerElf Portable Power Station with the TetherTools Case Relay to power my camera during a long time-lapse sequence.

It’s a small device, about as long as my tablet, and as tall as my small camera. While it’s footprint is small, it’s power capacity is huge. It contains 46,800 mAh of electricity, about 30 times as much as an iPhone. It’s got way more power than those tiny USB batteries you stick in your pocket to charge your phone. While I wouldn’t want to carry this around in my pocket, it does go in my bag and I can charge even my laptop on the go.

Conclusion

I like this battery. It’s powerful and versatile enough to be truly useful and variety of circumstances and I’m shocked that I’m still using its first charge. The only flaw I’ve found is that the main door cover separated from its tethers, but it’s actually a little easier to use without those. This was a preproduction unit, so I suspect they will fix that problem for the main production run. I think most people could make good use of this battery, and it’s a good price, especially during their IndieGoGo campaign, which is going right now. I’ve only been using it for a month, but I can definitely recommend this battery.