APC M5 Power Pack

The APC M5 is a good example of a small, but durable power pack that allows you to charge anything that is powered through a USB cable. It is about the size of a cigarette packet with rounded edges, and sits well in a jersey pocket or if you are touring, would take up little room in either panniers or a saddle bag.

When you are touring or going on a particularly long ride, it is always a worry that your electronics may run out of juice, so your cycle computer may not record your full ride or you may get stuck in the middle of nowhere with no battery on your phone. A power pack that fits in your jersey pocket and allows you to charge on-the-go is certainly a good piece of technology to invest in.

The APC M5 power pack can fully charge my iPhone twice from one charge and performed similarly for the cycle computer that I tested it on, a Garmin Edge 810. It has two outputs, one at 1A for charging of mobiles and one at 2.4A for larger electronic devices. I also charged my iPad from the pack which gave it around 50% power from a full charge of the pack, so if you are taking a tablet or larger USB powered device, it won't charge it fully, but will give it a good boost.

Charging my phone from dead to 100% took around 2 hours from the 1A and about 1.5 hours from the 2.4A socket. This is roughly comparable to plugging it into a regular USB slot on a computer.

It has a battery icon on the front that shows how much battery power is left in the power pack, so that you can see how much charge you have left before you leave the house. To charge gadgets, you simply use the USB cable specific to that device then plug it in. It is then turned on by a green button on the side of the unit.

The pack itself is certainly not designed specifically for cycling. It's small and relatively light weight, but all the USB ports are uncovered, so you certainly would not want this in your jersey pocket during a shower.

Apart from this, it is an effective portable charger for cycling. It retains its power for extended periods. I filled the battery on a phone around a week after fully replenishing the unit and it still retained the same charge as if it had just been unplugged. It can also be recharged itself in around 4 hours from a mains socket. This means that if you are touring with it, simply plugging it in overnight when you are staying in a room would mean that you would wake up to a fully charged unit.

Overall, this is a useful piece of technology to have for longer rides, just in case you run out of juice on a phone or cycle computer at a vital moment.

Verdict

Useful piece of kit that performs strongly, despite unprotected USB sockets