Earlier this month in Las Vegas at the World of Concrete, Makita was highlighting many new cordless tools —- among them was a Dual-Port USB 18v Power Source specifically designed to work with any of their 18v LXT Batteries.
Something like this might seem like a novelty, and honestly prior to me using the Milwaukee M18 Power Source as my sole way to charge my iPhone, I would have thought the same thing. However, it is unreal how convenient it is to simply slide one of these onto the top of a battery pack & instantly start charging your phone! For over the last year, I have not used a car charger or a wall charger — ever. Because these style of chargers will accept the compact or high capacity packs, I can easily carry it in my pocket or set it on the center console in my vehicle.
One concern that I have always had with chargers are power spikes/surges. Lightning hitting a power transformer 5 miles away could send a zap through the lines & fry my $500 phone in a split second. Or, in the case of car chargers, it seems like they always overheat the phone and/or emit a very loud “hiss” that I just cannot stand. That is 100% solved when you are using your power tool battery. No more surge protectors, no more knockoff car chargers…..these work, and work well.
For example with my Milwaukee charger, on one 5.0ah pack I can normally completely keep my phone charged for 2 solid days. I randomly plug it in to top it off when I am not on it & then I typically plug it into the charger overnight. It is putting out 2.1amps & that not only charges iPhones….it charges them quickly. Along with that my wife sometimes uses it for her Android phone, her iPad, her Kindle, and sometimes I will even plug my wireless headphones into it to top them off. Literally a one-stop-shop, since just about everything can use USB ports to charge!
The unique thing about the Makita 18v Power Source -VS- the competition —– it has 2 USB ports that both put out 2.1amps at the same time! Meaning that you can plug two phones in & charge them equally fast. You do not lose amps because more than one thing is plugged in at once.
Also, since they have a belt clip built into the top, you can easily pop a compact battery on here and clip it to your belt without issues. That one battery will keep your phone charged all day (think hiking, boating, walks, the beach, or even the job-site).
I am looking forward to Makita officially releasing these, and they should be hitting the market anytime!
