the brilliant invention that is also a speaker, a recorder and even a GPS

When phones started to become popular in Europe, it was normal for their battery life to be measured in days, or even more than a week, instead of days or even hours. It made sense, they were used much less and their functions were very limited. But that doesn’t mean that It would be very practical to be able to travel for several days without having to take the phone charger.

Currently, smartphones are infinitely more powerful, allowing you to have an Internet connection everywhere, and sometimes even They replace computers themselves. The problem is that its autonomy has drastically decreased, and we are already content to be able to arrive at the end of the day during a day of intense use.

This is why portable batteries have become a very popular accessory like the smartphone cases themselves. It’s often more convenient to carry one of these devices than carrying a cable and charger and looking for an outlet. The batteries themselves have also evolved, with models with high amperage, fast charging and, in many cases, even wireless charging.

A special battery

But all this is eclipsed when we admire products like FOLI, a kind of external cell phone battery with so many functions that it practically becomes a multifunctional accessory. This is a project launched on the Indigogo crowdfunding platform that aims to take external batteries to the next level. In fact, given what it’s capable of, it almost makes us want to leave other devices at home that we usually take with us on certain trips, like the Bluetooth speaker or the recorder.

For starters, it’s a large capacity battery, with 15,000mAh, which would allow virtually any modern smartphone to be recharged three times on a single charge. It also lets you charge laptops, as long as they have a USB-C charging port. In addition, It has a good design, a little retrobut he seeks to have his own personality and he succeeds. It is reminiscent of products from the 1950s, both in terms of the shapes and colors chosen.

Although the most striking thing is that It has a 2.2-inch touchscreen which allows you to run various applications and functions, as if a small smartphone was integrated inside. Indeed, when connecting to the mobile via Bluetooth allows you to answer calls from the battery itselfserving as a hands-free system, which is convenient when we charge the cell phone and connect it to the battery by cable. The drum kit itself has a music stand integrated that allows you to tilt the screen, perfect when we work with a computer, to have it in sight, in case someone calls or we are controlling it, using it for something.

This screen also serves as remote camera shutterso that we can take group photos in which all members appear, without having to use the timer. Also allows you to make audio recordings as if it were a normal recorder and even play music thanks to its internal memory. But the most curious thing is that he has a map application with which to make routes and which is updated by connecting it to the smartphone itself. All these functions make it an accessory to take not only when traveling with friends or family, but also to go to class or even to work.

It’s even possible use the battery to locate the mobile as long as it is within Bluetooth range. If so, when you press one of the buttons on the battery screen, a beep will start to sound on the smartphone itself, letting you know where it is. Although the product profile on Indigogo does not indicate it, it seems to run on Android, because on the screen you can see applications such as WeChat, an e-book reader, the weather application, a contacts application to be able to call directly from the battery screen, a calculator…

Good load

Of course, being a power bank comes with requirements beyond good capacity. It includes USB-C and Lightning cables on the wrist strap and is capable of charging up to three devices at the same time with a combined power of 100W. The system includes 4GB of RAM to handle both the charging protocol and auxiliary functions of the device.

It is compatible with PD, QC, SCP, FCP, AFC, SCP protocols and supports 20W, 22W and 100W outputs. It has two ports, one USB-C and one USB-Aboth 66W. This allows charging of up to three devices, sharing both the 100W power output and the full battery capacity.

Pricing and availability

This project can be ordered on the Indigogo platform from a starting price of $79 as a launch promotion, although the official price is $169. The first shipments are expected to be made in November this year 2024.

It can be purchased in three colors, gray, black and whiteand in both cases it weighs 270 grams. This may seem a bit high, but we must not lose sight of the fact that it is a 15,000 mAh battery, and this still implies a higher weight than normal smartphones, which have at most a third of this battery.

Obviously, this product is not designed for just any user, but for a specific niche that may require this type of additional functions close to their mobile. The launch price is quite affordable, and there are several accessory packs and others with multiple units, with prices going up to $499.