Today’s post is not quite a beauty related topic but it’s related to what I do or need as a beauty blogger. I am not a gadget girl. I don’t stay up to date with the latest gadget or technology at all. Can you believe it if I tell you that I refused to change my Blackberry Bold to iPhone because of the battery longevity? It doesn’t help if all your friends that are using iPhone complained about the battery. And I always spot my friends charging their phone 24/7. Finally one day my trusted Blackberry Bold gave up on me and so here I am, using iPhone 4S and I become one of those people that charge their phone 24/7 lol.

Being in a full time sales profession by day time and a beauty blogger by night and weekend… I am constantly on the phone regardless on the call, smsing, browsing internet, Instagramming, Facebooking or even checking and replying email. As a beauty blogger I wanted to post “live update” of the events I attend but I wasn’t able to do so as my phone is constantly on low battery.

I never thought of using power bank. Don’t ask me why. Told ya I’m a noob in gadget and technology. When this PME Razor Plus Ultra Slim MX-50 5000mAh Power Bank landed on my lap, I was over the moon.

PME is a brand that specialise on mobile power solution. I chose Pink over other color because I love Pink, just in case you haven’t notice yet :D. Don’t be fool by the bulky packaging because what you are about to see is nothing close to bulky. The matter of fact it’s the opposite!

PME MX-50 Power Bank is a 8.8mm ultra slim power bank. The package comes with 2 cables. A microUSB cable with connector (left) and a microUSB with USB connector (right).

MicroUSB cable with connector is to charge your phone with MX-50. It is compatible with smart phones such as iPhone, Samsung, HTC, Sony, Nokia, Blackberry, Motorola, LG and digital camera or bluetooth headset that comes with microUSB charging input. For my iPhone I would need the connector but if your phone is using microUSB, all you need to do is to remove the connector and you are ready to go 🙂

The MX-50 case finishing is reflective with shinny surface. That means the surface attracts fingerprints like no body business. Hey, it’s either you get a bulky matte surface power bank or you get a shinny and slim power bank right? I’d still choose this again if given the chance.

PME MX-50 is only slightly wider and longer than iPhone 4S. The diameter is about the same. MX-50 measures at 7.3cm width X 12.3cm height (approximately) while iPhone 4S measures at 5.9cm width X 11.5cm height (approximately). It is lighter than iPhone 4S of course. I am quite pleased to find that the fact that both device is about the same size and weight. iPhone size is the max I can take. Anything distinctively larger or heavier than that would be too much for me.

Charging PME MX-50

The other cable included in the package is a microUSB with USB connector which is meant for charging the MX-50. Here’s the tricky part. This MX-50 can only be charge using PC or laptop USB port. And charging can take up to 8 hours. No kidding. I’m struggling a bit when it comes to charging the MX-50. Normally I’ll plug this device into my laptop’s USB port while crafting out blogpost but that’s only 5 hours. Once I’m done and ready to go to sleep I couldn’t completely shut the laptop down as the power bank is still not done charging. Thank goodness I only need to charge the power bank once in a while say once every 2 weeks…depending how often I use it. But so far it’s only once every two weeks for me 🙂

The Grade A lithium-polymer battery has a 168 hours of battery aging process to enhance safety level and durability. It has a battery cycle life more than 500 charging times. Wow. That’s really A LOT.

On the MX-50 itself there is only three function on it. A LED switch (left), microUSB input/output (middle) and LED indicator (right). Once you plug the device charging cable to the laptop you will then see three blinking LEDs. Blinking means it’s charging. Once the leftest LED lights up and stop blinking means the battery charges has reached 30%. Two LED lights on means charges has reached 70% full and lastly three LED lights on means it’s fully charged.

One thing to note here. These LED lights doesn’t stays on all the time. It will went off after a few second. Should you need to check the charging status, simply just press onto the LED switch and the LED lights will be on.

Charging Your Smart Phone

The cable used to charge the smart phone is much more shorter and more convenient. It is actually a microUSB to microUSB cable that comes with a connector for phones like iPhone. As I said earlier you can remove the connector if your phone uses microUSB port.

Once you plug both ends to respective devices, the charging doesn’t start automatically. I will need to press on the LED switch to switch it on and the charging will then start. Charging smart phone is surprisingly faster. Just like normal cable charging.

A fully charged MX-50 can charge up a totally drained smart phone up to 3 times. If you are thinking that’s too little, well it’s not. Usually I only use the power bank when I’m outside, out of access to any electricity plug.

So. Has PME MX-50 changed my life and how I use my phone? You bet it has. Previously I dare not check my phone when the battery level is less than 40%. Now that I know I have a power bank with me in the bag I couldn’t be bothered. This is really useful for me especially when I want to do a live update at a certain event. You know the drill, Facebooking pictures and Instagramming at the same time while replying to all the comments that comes in after that.

Recently I had the chance to bring this power bank out with me during StriVectin X Street Love Tea Party. There’s a lot of Instagramming and Facebooking picture going on and it drained my battery by the second half of the event. I still managed to continue with what I was doing with the help of MX-50. It is not as inconvenient as I think it would be at first. There is no problem taking picture while having this power bank plugged in, so easy to held it on the hand and no it’s not slippery at all.

The MX-50 fits nicely into the smallest pocket in a handbag. My bag is quite huge and heavy as you can see. So I put this power bank inside the only pocket the bag has – on the front. It’s also easier for me to reach when I needed to charge my phone.

Here is the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of the PME Razor Plus Ultra Slim MX-50 5000mAh Power Bank for those that are interested.

My colleague and I had a chat on power bank just this morning. He said it’s the greatest invention ever and it’s brilliant. I couldn’t agree more because it is good to have it around when you are always out and about. Why didn’t I think of getting a power bank before this! No idea why. It just never cross my mind to do so. I’m quite naive when it comes to charging my phone. I always think that I can sneak time and place to charge my phone i.e. in the office and in the car lol.

Crossed out an item from my “worried” list which is to settle phone battery issue 😀

Disclaimer: Product was sent to me for review consideration. This doesn’t affect my judgement in the review in any way.