While some third-party peripheral and accessory suppliers offer up internal and/or external PlayStation Portable battery solutions that alter the ergonomic profile of Sony's little powerhouse or disrupt its balance by protruding excessively from the battery housing, the creative folk at Logic 3 / SpectraVideo have sought to bring PSP owners boosted game time without any potentially unwanted physical compromises via one tiny portable cell.
The Logic 3 External Battery Pack more closely resembles a mini laptop mouse than it does a portable power supply, existing as a simple mouse-shaped unit – without navigation buttons or a flywheel, naturally – positioned on the end of a 45cm cable that attaches to the PlayStation Portable in order to deliver the unit's stored charge.
The External Battery Pack is equipped with an 1800mAh lithium-ion battery that requires a solid four hours of charge time in order to extend the usual three hours+ of operation time (briefly) enjoyed by PSP users by a further three hours.
While a combined total charge output of around 6-7 hours may be viewed as a somewhat scant return by on-the-go gamers hoping to invest some serious mobile time into their latest PSP title, this battery solution is diminutive enough that it'll fit comfortably in a jacket pocket or a backpack's smaller compartments without ever forcing a compromise in terms of carried items – unlike many of today's more flashy battery options.
Physically, the External Battery Pack is as simple as it is small, with virtually nothing outwardly betraying it's a battery supply except a 5V DC-IN socket for the AC mains adapter and, of course, the 5V cable that runs for attachment to the PSP.
There's also a single LED centred on top of the mouse-like body, which glows orange when charging and green when an innocuous and rather fragile-looking 'on/off' switch is duly engaged, so the battery's charge can be stored and released to the waiting PSP.
The battery doesn't feel especially sturdy or expensive in terms of build quality. The rather cheap feel of the External Battery Pack could have been quite easily overcome, however, if Logic 3 had just been a little more creative in the design department.
For example, the unit itself is wonderfully small but the attached cable virtually destroys the appealingly reduced stature of the battery as a whole, whereas a retractable (or even detachable) cable would have catapulted the External Battery Pack well forward while ably pasting over its somewhat cheap aesthetic. Actually, even a form extension on the base of the unit whereby the user could manually wrap the cable around anchoring points would have been a huge improvement – no mechanics necessary.
As it is, the External Battery Pack, while certainly easy enough to store and carry, will likely not appeal to the more hardened and demanding PlayStation Portable owner who's looking for a substantial operational extension, and is therefore willing to swallow the extra bulk duly impacted on his/her gaming portability. For a quick top-up for more casual gamers, it does the trick though.
The Logic 3 External Battery Pack is available in Europe via Amazon.co.uk for a mere £10.99, which makes it great value, despite the flaws.
Logic 3 External Battery Pack
Small but with an awkward cable, it's a good solution if you don't want to sacrifice your PSP's lines for more power
