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Dexim P-Flip Foldable Power Dock

Editor's rating (1-5):
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What's hot: Powerful battery, small and light for travelers.

What's not: Slippery surface. Battery capacity could be even larger.

Reviewed January 2010 by Tong Zhang, Senior Editor

Dexim offers a range of power and audio accessories for the iPhone and iPod as well as BlackBerry smartphones. The Dexim P-Flip Foldable Power Dock is a desk stand with a 2000 mAh rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery built-in. Though it’s designed as a desk dock, the Dexim P-Flip is small and easy to carry making it a great travel companion as well. The Dexim P-Flip works with the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G as well as the iPod touch, and it extends the iPhone 3GS’ talk time up to 8 hours, video playback up to 15 hours and music playback up to 60 hours.

Design

The Dexim P-Flip gets its name from the foldable cradle that can swing in two directions to form a dock stand for charging or syncing the iPhone, or fold flat for travel. The design is simple yet very effective, and the flexibility of the folding cradle allows you to stand the iPhone/iPod touch on a desk, prop it up horizontally to watch videos or open up the flip to take a call without removing the iPhone from the cradle. Since the iPod touch is a bit thinner than the iPhone 3GS, the Dexim P-flip dock comes with a small square piece of padding with adhesive to fill the small gap between the cradle and the iPod touch. It’s form fitting for the iPhone 3G/3GS though and if you have a bulky case, you will need to remove it for charging with the P-Flip. The P-Flip has a shiny and slippery surface that makes the stand look good on the desk but we wish it had a more grippy surface for better handling. Three LED lights on the bottom of the P-Flip indicate charging status.

Power

The Dexim P-Flip is first and foremost a portable battery. The 2000 mAh battery takes a few hours to charge via AC adapter but only takes 45 minutes to an hour to fully charge the iPhone 3GS with less 10% battery power left on the iPhone. When the P-Flip is charging the iPhone/iPod touch, the charging LED light on the bottom flashes red and when the device is fully charged the red LED will turn off. When the portable battery is plugged into AC or USB computer power, three blue LED lights will flash and when the P-Flip’s power is fully charged, the blue LEDs will turn solid. The Dexim holds a charge reasonably well, and it has a hardware button for checking the battery power level.

In our tests, the P-Flip charged the iPhone fully twice before it ran out of power. The iPhone 3GS had 10% battery life or less left when we started charging and the P-Flip was fully charged when began the tests.

In the Box

The Dexim P-Flip for the iPhone/iPod touch includes a foldable power dock, an USB-mini USB cable and an AC adapter. Package in different countries offer the AC adapter with local plug.

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Conclusion

Any iPhone 3GS user will tell you an external power solution is a must for the frequent travelers who are often away from an AC outlet. The Dexim P-Flip not only packs a 2000 mAh battery but also is small and easy to carry. The foldable dock design is a big plus since it can prop up your iPhone/iPod touch on a desk or stand it horizontally for video watching. The P-Flip allows syncing while in the dock which means you can eliminate the additional USB cable. The battery dock also comes in different colors and includes a free P-Flip clock that can turn your iPhone/iPod touch into a night clock and alarm clock. We only wish the capacity were even larger.

Price: $54.95

Web site: www.dexim.com