Page 2 - A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
Taking the plastic off the wraps, we get to the EMTEC Power Connect itself. The majority of the body is covered in a glossy plastic shell, which is very prone to fingerprints. Three of the four sides are covered in rubber to hide several inputs, and I will describe the inputs as we go. EMTEC's signature red dot is found on the right side, and this keeps in line with other EMTEC products. EMTEC's logo is also engraved on the top in a matte-like finish. As for the design, I can say this product looks good, but there are a few changes I would make. I would have preferred to see a matte finish on the outside, especially with the fingerprints the Power Connect attracts. The rubber flaps are a nice touch, but I also found they pick up debris and dust, which detracts from the overall look. The coloring and design fits the overall scheme of EMTEC's other products, so I am not telling them to move away from their design language. Rather, I am suggesting EMTEC to use different materials. As for build quality, I can say this product is very well built, and feels solid in the hands. At a dimension of 78 x 71 x 24 mm (L x W x H), this is a relatively small device. In terms of weight, this product tips the scales at approximately 150g. It still is pretty light and you can throw it into your pocket, unless you wear skinny jeans like my Editor-in-Chief. (Hey, skinny jeans are awesome. - Jonathan)
As for the front, there are several ports, buttons, and lights to look at. First is the power button found on the left side, but this functionality is quite obvious. Above this button are three LEDs. The one on the right hand side is the battery indicator, and this LED tells you the device is on and can charge a device. During normal operation, this light is solid green. When it becomes low on power, this turns to a red light. During charge, the green LED blinks until it reaches full charge, and then turns off. Beside it is a blue LED, and this displays whether or not the Wi-Fi network created by the EMTEC Power Connect is ready or not. If it is blinking, this means it is starting up. Finally on the left most side, there is another green LED, and this is on when the EMTEC Power Connect is connected to the internet. In addition to creating its own network for file sharing, this product allows for internet passthrough, so users can be connected to the web while still connected to the Power Connect. It would have been nice to see some more lights on this device to tell users an estimate of the percentage of power left inside, as this is commonly found on other portable chargers.
The port covered by the front flap is a full sized USB 2.0 port, and this provides several functionalities. At the most basic, this is where you can plug your USB cable into your mobile device to charge it. This port outputs at a maximum of 5V and 1A, which will affect the charging speed. Most tablet chargers, for example, are capable of delivering 2A of current, so tablet charging with the Power Connect is not recommended. We will see how much this actually plays a role when we do our charge tests. Internally, a 5200mAh lithium ion battery exists. As most batteries in smartphones are approximately 2500 to 3000mAh in capacity, the Power Connect should charge your devices one to two times. EMTEC states this Power Connect can also charge your devices up to 300 times, which seems like pretty low, since modern quality cells can last several times of that. Secondly, this port doubles as an input, as you can put in a USB flash drive or an external hard drive to use for file sharing. This is really cool, since it means you can expand your EMTEC Power Connect to almost 4TB with an external hard drive, but in turn adding quite a bit of bulk.
On the left side of the device, we have several more ports and buttons covered by a rubber flap. From the left side, we have a small hole used to reset the device. The next slot is a micro SD slot, where you can put your expandable storage, again to be accessed for file sharing. microSD, microSDHC and microSDXC are supported here. Next to this is a micro USB 2.0 port, and this is used to charge the EMTEC Power Connect. Just to note, EMTEC states it will take around five hours to charge the Power Connect from empty to full. At the back, there is a flap hiding the RJ-45 connector, also known as an Ethernet port. This allows the EMTEC Power Connect to connect to the Internet, whether wireless or wired. In addition, this opens up the device to a local area network, where you can access this device through your network switch. Unfortunately, there is no Ethernet cable provided.
As stated before, this is a wireless media hub, so there are several ways to access the EMTEC Power Connect. For one, you can connect to the device without wires. Inside there are provisions to create an 802.11b/g/n network, so your devices can connect to the hub. In addition, there is an RJ-45 connection supporting speeds up to 100Mbps.
I went ahead and downloaded the EMTEC Connect app from the Google Play Store for my HTC One X+. The installation and setup process was quite easy. After all the installing and logging in, you will be greeted with the left most picture, which is the main menu. From here, you can access different media files on your phone and on the Power Connect itself. Videos, photos, music, and documents are listed on the front, with each of them being quite self-explanatory in what they access. In essence, the application searches through all of your phone and filters out the different files based on their extension. Clicking on one of these directs you to the middle screenshot. From here, you can move files to and from the EMTEC Power Connect. Overall, I have to say I am not very pleased with the mobile application. On both my phone and my tablet, the software's behavior was erratic at best. Sometimes it would randomly restart without any warning. EMTEC has also stated up to five users can access the Power Connect at a time, but I had troubles playing any audio or video simultaneously on two devices, let alone five. Both devices would end up stuttering, and soon after the application would shut down. I think it would also be helpful for there to be a refresh button, as files would often not show up on the device until I left the window and returned to it. The web experience, as shown on the right most screenshot, was a bit better. Despite having a similar interface and functionality, I would recommend it over the app just for stability reasons.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. Test Results
4. Conclusion
