Tips & Tricks: External Battery Chargers for the Kindle Fire

There's a lot you can do to improve the battery life of the Kindle Fire. You can turn off WiFi, you can keep a close eye on how much energy your apps are using with Badass Battery Monitor, and you can keep your device plugged in at home every second of the day. But if you're out a lot, at some point you're going to find yourself in a situation where you're out of juice.

This was the type of situation one of our readers, Fay, was in. She wanted more battery life, which would give her more freedom with her device, and I pointed her to an incredible device we both got excited about: The New Trent iCruiser IMP1000 External Battery Pack and Charger, which is currently on sale for 23% off.

I spent some time looking at other models of external chargers. Some of them were cheaper and some specifically said they were for the Kindle Fire, but terrible reviews made it clear that those devices didn't have the right connection for the Fire. The New Trent iCruiser works with ANYTHING that can have a USB hookup. And I mean anything. Not only can you charge your Fire, you can charge virtually any smartphone, tablet, game system, iPod from any manufacturer. For the Fire, you will need a USB cable. If you don't already have one, we recommend the one from Oriongadgets for just a couple bucks.

Although there are a number of reviewers specifically mentioning that they use this for the Fire, it's hard to say exactly how much extra juice the New Trent iCruiser will give you. It says it can provide 50 hours of extra battery life for iPhones and 17 hours for the iPad 2. My guess is the Fire would land somewhere just above the iPad. 

Anyway, anyone who wants a convenient way to charge up their Fire, phone, and other electronic devices will have a lot to be excited about with this little battery pack. I have no doubt that this'll find its way into our Best Fire Accessories list very soon. Check it out!

To give you an idea of the size: