It’s funny sometimes the conflicting messages that companies present for their products. Take for example Amzer and their 8700 BlackBerry Cradle: awhile back we posted Amzer’s announcement of the cradle’s release, in which they said their patented USB Quick Charge Technology eliminated the need to charge your BlackBerry using a DC charger. However, upon opening up the review package they sent us, we quickly noticed that the Amzer 8700 BlackBerry Cradle did in fact have an input for DC charging (although Amzer did not supply us with the necessary attachment, which is sold separately from the cradle).
Now, in fairness’ sake, it does make sense in some situations to have a DC input (like if you want to sync your BlackBerry with your laptop without draining its battery). However, if you really wanted to use a DC charger with your BlackBerry, you’d just use the one given to you when you purchased it. And besides, the 8700 BlackBerry Cradle’s Quick Charge Technology is supposed to make USB charging the way to go, right?
Well, not so much. Running an extended series of tests on Amzer’s cradle with 8700 BlackBerrys, we found that it offered no significant decrease in charging time compared to a regular USB cable and, in some case, was actually slower. This, obviously, peaked our interest.
So we decided to open the case up and see what this supposed Quick Charge Technology was all about. What did we find? Not that much: a single circuit board running a line to the bright blue LED at the front of the case, and another to the USB connection. Of particular interest on the circuit board was a bunch of resistors running in parallel; the resistors are most likely being used for safety concerns (as some sort of surge protection or to make sure that the DC charge doesn’t flow back to your PC when both the USB and DC cables are connected) but by our best guess should also increase the charging time. Now, we here at BlackBerry Cool are not engineers by any means, which is why we’re putting the images up here for your own perusal. Regardless, there’s no indication of Quick Charge Technology of any sort.
Now, a cradle that charges your BlackBerry at the same speed as a regular USB connection isn’t that big of an issue – there are other uses for a cradle. Any accessory that allows you to charge and sync your BlackBerry while making your desktop a little more organized should be a welcome addition to your home or office setup. However, Amzer’s 8700 BlackBerry Cradle fails in this regard, for a couple of reasons.
Pages: 1 2
