MEGATech Video Reviews: Rosewill CHiC-C Modular USB Battery Pack

As much as technology continues to improve on the superphones that we carry around in our pockets, most of us still find ourselves reaching for a charger by the end of the day (if not sooner). This is a big reason why portable batteries have become an absolute must for anyone who wants to stay connected. And even though the battery technology continues to improve, we still find ourselves choosing between a battery that has lots of juice and one that is as small as possible. The Rosewill CHiC-C aims to address this very problem in quite the unique way: it’s modular.

Any Way You Want It, That’s the Way You Need It

It’s not like USB power banks are anything new and it’s not like Rosewill is new to this arena either, but the Rosewill CHiC-C is an entirely different kind of beast. You might remember when we saw it at COMPUTEX 2014 earlier this summer. The basic idea behind the Rosewill CHiC-C modular power bank is that you get a primary unit with the microUSB input and regular USB output. Then, you can also daisy chain several secondary units to it to create an even bigger battery pack.

The primary unit and the secondary units are good for 1000mAh each. The sample product that I was given came with two secondary units, so combining them all effectively gave me a 3000mAh portable battery. That’s not very much by today’s standards, especially when you consider the overall size of the three combined sections. You can likely find a comparably-sized power bank that’ll give you at least 6000mAh, though it wouldn’t be modular.

You could theoretically attach more than two additional units to this too, though you would presumably start to lose efficiency the more you add.

The Rosewill CHiC-C Video Review

The best way to explain and to show this modular battery to you is through the video above. There is a definite premium, high quality feel to the Rosewill CHiC-C. The exterior is wrapped up in high quality aluminum and the units very easily snap into place with one another thanks to a couple of very powerful magnets. Due to the polarity of the magnets, you’ll never have them oriented the wrong way.

Because it isn’t really a “unified” battery, there is some concern about the different units getting separated if you were to simply toss this in your backpack or laptop bag. That’s why a little pouch is included. I’d also be concerned about the magnets having an adverse effect on other electronics I may have or even possibly demagnetizing my credit cards.

MEGATechie Versatile Voltage or MEGATechie Broken Battery?

Products like the Rosewill CHiC-C modular power bank sound great in theory, but they may not be all that practical in the real world. While Rosewill has made a quality product here and the versatility of the modular design is to be applauded, it can be difficult to choose this power bank over something like the 5000mAh LUXA2 P2. The more standard design allows for a much slimmer profile and nearly double the capacity.

When we spoke with Rosewill at COMPUTEX 2014, they said that the Rosewill CHiC-C is still in the exploratory phases and they may not ever bring it to the retail. Cost is a definite concern, as building this modular battery means that they’d have to deal with extra magnets and connectors that wouldn’t be present in a single unified design. The target price was as much as $60, which isn’t competitive enough in today’s market. If those costs go down and the capacity goes up, I may sing a different tune. As it stands, let’s just leave this concept as a concept.