USBCell from Moixa – Rechargeables that Plug Into any USB Port

We just discussed the Rezap Battery Doctor, which recharges even alkaline batteries – a solution that I favor for most purposes. But it still requires you to take yet another charger with you on your travels, which is not ideal for vacations or business trips. Recently, however, I stumbled upon these USBCell rechargeable batteries from Moixa, which have the charger integrated in the battery itself! A very clever design, with a few minor drawbacks – but lots of advantages.

Why It’s Clever and Easy

In my search for hidden gems among the many new products on the Internet, I come across many original products, of course. But every now and then there’s one that’s so original and clever that it makes my jaw drop. I’ve been using rechargeable batteries for years, and they certainly have their merits. But the downside is that you have to take a charger with you wherever you go if you suspect that a full charge won’t last for whatever you plan. When I travel, I already have to take the following with me: a charger for my cell phone, one for my laptop, one for my video camera battery pack, and one for my PDA. Add a relatively bulky AA cell charger to this, and you can see that I almost have to take an extra suitcase just to accommodate them all. Some of the charging challenges and wire clutter can be reduced by a multi-charger such as the ChargePod or the 150-country travel adapter. But I haven’t seen one with an integrated AA or AAA cell charger as well.

I don’t know how they did it, but Moixa has managed to incorporate the battery charger into the battery. You simply take off the battery’s cap and see a USB connector jutting out. Plug it into any device that provides a powered USB connection, and your batteries are charged! The good news is that, nowadays, almost any device has USB interfaces and thus can be used to charge your batteries: your laptop, desktop PC, monitor, TV, DVD player, cell phone charger, car radio – you name it.

A video with some more information:

The main drawback is that, since part of the battery’s volume is used for the charging circuit and the USB connector, there is less space for the chemicals – hence, less battery capacity. The result is that the total mAh rating of the AA cells is about half that of the best-performing rechargeable batteries. On the other hand, since it’s so easy to find a socket to recharge them, you don’t have to wait till you get home to add some juice to them. You can simply do that in the office, in the car, your hotel room, or wherever else, making the lesser capacity less of an issue.

Summary

USBCell rechargeable batteries plug directly into powered USB ports
AA type available, others to come
USB connector and charging circuit incorporated into the battery
Status LED integrated in battery
1.2 V, 1300 mAh at time of publishing, less capacity than regular rechargeables
Can also be charged by approved regular charger
Charge from PC, monitor, charger, car radio, etc.
Great for travel, not yet another charger required

Tips

They’re ideal for wireless devices such as an Xbox, a Wiimote or a wireless keyboard since you can use them with the wireless part as long as this will work, and then simply plug them into your Wii console or PC to charge them again. In case of the Wii, the USB connectors are to close to each other to let you insert 2 batteries site by side. But you could use a piece of USB cable as a workaround.

Other types such as AAA with a mini-USB connector, and a 9V type, are already being developed – you can check up on progress on the USBCell website.

Moixa is also working on cell phone batteries with a similar functionality. I wouldn’t wait for those, though: First of all, it’s inconvenient to take them out of the phone to charge them. Secondly, recently most cell phone manufacturers finally agreed to standardize and charge their phones through USB, requiring just 4" of cable to achieve the same as with the USBCell.

Alternatives:

Like all NiCd and NiMH rechargeable batteries, the USBCell batteries have a 1.2 V output, in contrast to the 1.5 V that some devices might expect from their batteries. For that purpose, we still consider the recharging of regular alkaline batteries to be a good alternative.
Not as nice as the USBCell but also very useful, are the new rechargeable batteries such as the Sanyo eneloop, that don't self-discharge anymore in the drawer.