The Lenmar ChugPlug keeps your MacBook juiced up for longer, keeping you on the go. In the land of ubiquitous power sockets, is a power charger something you need?
You may not have heard of the ChugPlug, so what does it do? It’s the first integrated external battery for the MacBook! It attaches to the existing Mac charger and gives you up to an extra 4 hours work time. That’s pretty awesome.
You don’t need to leave the ChugPlug hooked up to your charger, it comes with a neat bag, so can be kept with your laptop and brought out when required. This is definitely a device you only want to bring out on demand - its weight and bulk mean that you won’t want to have it attached to your charger all the time.
The Chugplug’s best used when the power starts to dip. Its strength means the laptops do charge very quickly, but the more intensively you use the MacBook, the slower it’ll charge. From dead, the ChugPlug quickly charged my 11” Air up to 35% from dead in less than 45 minutes.
The ChugPlug is quite ‘chunky’, sealed in a white case. I’m not sure of the size of the batteries in the ChugPlug, but it would have been good to have swappable battery packs to give even more life to the MacBook.
It’s compatible with all modern MacBooks as it sits between the wall plug and your charger, essentially faking the current still flowing through from the plug. It’s definitely come in useful for those days where the laptop has been used all day, making sure that there’s always plenty of power in the tank to write in the evening.
Pros:
- Extra 4 hours battery life tucked in your bag
- Work for a full day rather then 3/4
- Works with all modern MacBooks
- Bulky and weighty
- Non swappable battery