Review: Nomad ChargeKey – Is that a USB iPhone Charger in Your Pocket?

July 25, 2014





As you know, CES 2014 was in January. I’m now in the midst of sipping on iced macchiatos and wearing board shorts, so news from this winter might seem a bit out of place. But not this. I’ve rediscovered a godsend in my laptop bag from the conference.

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Ever run out of juice on your iPhone? Ever run out of cables with which to charge that same iPhone? YEAH, me too!

This morning I was charging my iPad and didn’t feel like running to the car to get the spare iPhone charger cable I keep there. I was running on about 13% power and had a conference call coming up that was going to suck the remaining juice from the phone. What’s a multitasking journalist to do?

I wracked my brain and remembered the compact, convenient Nomad ChargeKey! It’s named as such because you’re expected to keep it on your keychain so you’ll always have it with you. I leave it clipped inside my laptop bag, but I had NEVER used it until today. Now I’m a convert! *By the way, in the six months I’ve been hanging onto this sample, they’ve changed the name and improved the quality – it’s now called a NomadKey and has a full housing around the USB end of the device.

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This thing is solid. It comes in USB or MicroUSB and  I’ve been charging now for about 45 minutes and my phone is happy. I’ve been able to easily transfer data – so it’s not just a charge cable – and I don’t have cables twirling all over my desk and workspace.

For $30 it might be a bit out of your budget, but the regular length cables are at least $20 each, and this is unobtrusive and goes anywhere. Further, I found a discount code for my readers HERE that will give you 20% off the price.

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Overall rating for this? I give it almost a must-have. Without it today I’d be sunk, although I COULD have unplugged my other devices and used that cord. But for versatility and build quality I give it a huge thumbs up.

Find more info at the Nomad site. There is word they have more products like this on the horizon so stay tuned.

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