PW-2992P Battery Pack

There are third-party PSP peripheral makers who opt for simplicity over gimmicky flair, others who go for full-fat features, and then there are those who chose to mollify consumers with the supposed advantages of erecting deckchair-like construction convenience around a fairly straightforward product. Which brings us circuitously to Trust's PW-2992P Battery Pack.

Yet, while the opening preamble moved itself smoothly into position, Trust's answer to the PSP power extension problem is anything but neat. Indeed, although Trust's relatively slimline square battery offering is portable-friendly in terms of size and delivers a valuable 4-5 hours of game time on top of the 3-4 hours offered up by Sony's default 1800aMh PlayStation Portable battery, to actually house it on the PSP itself is somewhat of a fiddly chore.

The PW-2992P Battery Pack comes complete with a skeletal frame mounting unit that clips into the two small rectangular casing holes featured either side of the PSP's USB port, fitting against the back of the console between the left and right rear curvatures. This framing serves as a slot bed for the battery pack, while also offering up a swing-out one-piece arm support, so that the PSP can be placed on a flat surface for improved UMD watching.

However, the quality of the mounting and its support stand feels distinctly 'value brand' in terms of build strength. The battery unit also betrays its fragility when loose, while the connection between the PSP and mounting further failing to convince it was firmly secure. Any accidental dropping of the unit while in play – and not from a great height – could (and can) result in fatal fracturing of the mount, which swiftly renders both it, and the support arm, as useless – as this reviewer can unfortunately testify.

Elsewhere there are positives. The 2800mAh lithium-ion battery, which Trust claims can return up to five hours of operational time against a four hour mains charge via the PSP's adapter, offers a handy power check function consisting of four LEDs across its upper edge, labelled in 25 per cent decrements from 100 per cent down to 0 per cent.

A single 'Check' button also occupies the battery's upper edge and a swift press reveals how much juice is left in Trust's back-up power supply. Furthermore, with not one but two power cables (long and short) in the PW-2992P package, players can line the battery cosily into the PSP when located in its mounting, or loosely in a pocket, on a table, and so on, should straight gaming be preferred to UMD playback.

Alas, from a gameplay comfort point of view, the PW-2992P Battery Pack's rear positioning across the centre of the PSP does also rank against use of the mounting, especially as players with larger hand spans will find themselves pulling in their fingers to levels of a tortured contortionist; spreading them across the battery itself makes it almost impossible to get a sure grip.

Again attaching the longer of the two power cables from the freestanding battery to the PSP's 5V DC-IN is perhaps the better option here, too, in terms of your comfort, but that's hardly an ideal state of affairs.

Ultimately, while secreting the 2800aMh battery away on the rear of the PlayStation Portable was an interesting exploration by Trust, the product's somewhat cheap and cheerful feel, its fiddly application,the lack of solid build quality, and the compromised gameplay positioning add up in our opinion to a wasted opportunity.

When carried loosely via the connection of the longer power cable, the lone battery unit does add a decent amount of game time atop of the 3-4 hours offered by Sony's default cell. But then there are other cheaper batteries that do that, too.

The Trust PW-2992P Battery Pack retails on Amazon.co.uk for £16.99.