As regular visitors will know, we love any gadget that can solve multiple problems. Those two-bird killing devices are favourites of ours, especially when the birds they mercilessly slaughter with only one metaphysical stone are ones we hadn't noticed we needed slaying. We check out the GP Charge AnyWay.
Think about this: you're travelling with a horde of gadgets. Your phone, laptop, and eReader all have rechargeable batteries, so you carry the right kind of cables with you. However, your camera, games console, and torch all need regular batteries, so you're forced to carry additional AAs and AAAs with you. Until now, bitch.
The GP Charge AnyWay is very much a conventional rechargeable battery pack; you slot in either AA or AAA size NiMH batteries, plug it int to an available USB socket, and power them up. The cleverness came when GP then added a USB port to the charger itself, allowing you to use it like a portable power pack.
Unlike other battery chargers, the Charge AnyWay is compact. There's no plug part to plug directly into a socket - just a USB and MicroUSB port. GP included a wire, to juice it up, and of course four AA Lithium-free ReCyko Nickel Metal Hydride batteries (but it can also charge AAA, too).
This means that, with the GP Charge AnyWay in your pack, your power needs are sorted. You now have the ability to charge all your smart gadgets AND THEN take out the physical batteries to insert into other tech. We like that.
Fortunately the device itself is sturdy and features a sliding cover to keep the batteries in, both when charging and while in your bag. It'll fully charge four AA batteries in six hours, and some AAAs in just two. Oh, and should your phone be flat as a pancake and your rechargeable batteries are already being used elsewhere, you can insert non-rechargeable batteries into it to hook up to your phone. Handy.
An awesome travel gadget, and something useful to have about the home, the GP Charge AnyWay is the solution to a problem we didn't realise we had. We approve.
£30
Available from www.amazon.co.uk