Nokia's DC-19 Universal Portable USB Charger provides an easy way of topping up your phone's battery when out and about. That's something that seems to be an increasingly common requirement, a result of integrated batteries having become the norm, and the reality that most smartphones need to be charged at least once a day. There are a large number of portable battery charging products on the market, so is there anything that makes Nokia's latest entry in this category stand out from the crowd?
"This rings a bell", you may think, and you'd be right. Many months ago, I reviewed the Mugen 3000mAh version of this accessory - and the idea here is identical, yet with significant extra thickness and capacity, so if you read that earlier review then you know most of what there is to know - just add mm and mAh as appropriate. If you're new to Mugen's accessory then read on - this might just change the way you use your Lumia 920....
Despite being announced in March 2013, the CC-3061 shell has only just made its way in the last month or so, to online retailers to be made available for sale to the public. Let us delve into this newest of products from Nokia for one of the lower profile heroes from the Lumia range of Windows Phones.
I don't think I've ever had to review an accessory that's so well built, so effective and yet.... so inelegant. This is Mugen's extended battery solution for the Nokia Lumia 920 - you'll recognise the company's name from a hundred other (equally bulbous) extended batteries for a hundred other phones over the years. However, what makes the '3000mAh Battery Case' so inelegant isn't the heft or thicker lines, unusually. And it's not exactly Mugen's fault. Nor is it, surprisingly, a complete showstopper, as I'll explain.
With so much focus placed on music by the modern smartphone there's a fundamental issue that can muddy the waters, namely the gap between the handset and your ears. The speakers on a handset are mostly okay, the bundled headsets won't do a bad job, but if you love your music you're going to switch to something else. And one option is the Sabotage Royale headset from Degauss Labs.
I've tried every case design and variation over the years, amassing a vast stash of smartphone cases (which I gradually give away!) I do try to be unbiased in my reviews and roundups for the 'All About' sites, but there's one particular style that I keep coming back to because it fits in so well with my lifestyle. The belt-mounted (slimline) vertical pouch may look a little geeky, but with my combination of sitting, walking, driving, forgetfulness and frequent access, it's the one design that ticks all the boxes. Here's the latest tweak, by PDair, for the Nokia Lumia 1020.
The Lumia 920 and 1020 feel pretty good in the hand, but they're still shiny plastic and everything's horribly exposed, from screen to camera glass. Yes, the 920 (et al) has a great record for durability, but why take chances? If I said you could have a textured, grippy, ruggedised case that also included a serious kickstand, all for a tenner, would you bite my hand off? If (as I suspect) the answer is 'yes' then see my review of the 'Amzer Double Layer Hybrid Case with Kickstand' below - it's everything you might think from the product title. And looks, in modern parlance, 'bad ass' at the same time...
The Lumia 1020 is still pretty new and, arguably, something of a niche device, but there have still been some decent case designs for it. After all, if you're going to spend £500 on a smartphone and carry it to the ends of the earth, it would be nice to keep it protected as much as possible, and in a premium way that enhances the phone hardware rather than gets in the way. Noreve's Tradition case is just such an accessory, with only a couple of small quirks to complain about.
Depending on who you talk to, the Nokia PD-95G, otherwise known as the Lumia 1020 Camera Grip (or, hereafter in this review, just the 'grip'), is either a plastic monstrosity or a slice of engineering genius. As usual with these affairs, reality is somewhere in between. The grip is expensive, large, plastic and unwieldy, but at the same time there are some advantages and nice functionality bumps. Read on for my full review.
Transparent, waterproof pouches that enable us to use our tech in the pouring rain, down the beach or even, in extreme cases, underwater, have been around for a while, of course, I looked at Proporta's Beach Buoy last year. And now we have E-Case's eSeries 9, with smaller overall form factor and higher window-to-bezel ratio. Here's the eSeries 9 submersible case in action with a couple of likely candidate handsets. Summary? We have a winner...
