Whether you are planning short weekends or thinking of a long holiday this summer, your mobile phone would certainly top your packing list. You would make sure your mini entertainment is taken care of when you are out travelling. This entertainment could be in the form of music, movies and photography, but what could stop you are a few unwanted hurdles. For example, your smartphone cannot play music or videos loud enough for a larger group or maybe the camera could have been a bit more feature-rich. But at the end of the day, the phone’s battery life is what could let you down.
We have put together a small list of five accessories that fit your pocket, in terms of both size and budget. These accessories should take care of most of the shortcomings of your mobile phone and keep your holiday spirit going strong. These items are not easily available at your local mobile accessory store. However, they can be ordered online with great ease. The accessories mentioned here are from China; they are super cheap and will be delivered to your door step absolutely free of delivery charges.
Three-in-one, dual-power adapter
What you would need is a charger to juice up your gadgets while on the move. Though your gadgets definitely come along with their respective chargers, you end up taking them all. What if one single charger could help charge all your devices? This charger from China is a 2-in-1 accessory that can charge your gadgets either from a wall socket or while you are in your car. The accessory comes along with three data/charging cables – two for Apple devices and one for Android phones. With this single multi-charger unit, you can not only charge your devices, but also use the cables to transfer data to and from them. The two chargers in the pack ensure that you can charge at least two devices at a time (one at home and the other in your car). Lastly, you also make sure you carry one single set for all your devices. The accessory is especially beneficial for those who travel along with their family – all the family members can charge their devices with the same charger, thus cutting down on baggage weight and space. The product costs just below Rs 450. The cost being so cheap, you won’t mind even if you tend to lose it or accidentally leave it behind at the holiday spot.
Portable power bank
Well, the first accessory we mentioned was to charge the phone while you are in your car or at the hotel. But what if you are outdoors enjoying the place you are visiting? You definitely won’t be able to use the power adapter. The portable power bank comes in handy when you need an emergency power source to refill that lost power in your gadgets. Be it your phone, digital camera, tablet or music player, it is sure to run out of power after extensive usage – the power bank will help you refill that battery in no time. The 5200 mAh battery onboard this accessory can be charged before you are ready to head out in the open. Once the internal battery is full, you can use it to charge your devices almost up to three times its total power. The unit charges off the power adapter and stores the charge for weeks. It comes with its own set of cables, but you can combine it with the cables from the above accessory to make it even more convenient. Just to mention, the unit also has a small built-in LED torch.Do note, a similar branded power bank could cost you nothing less than Rs 3,000 in the local market.
Wide/Macro/Fish-eye lens
Now that your power requirements have been met, here is an interesting accessory for the shutter bug in you. We all know that a mobile phone camera does a ridiculous job when it comes to wide angle and macro shots – this is almost impossible without an attachment. For just Rs 850, this universal lens for your mobile phone can help you take photos that your phone’s camera just cannot. It is a dual-mode lens in a single housing, making it possible to take macro shots as well as wide angle photos from any mobile phone. It is a simple clip-on accessory with a two-part lens module. Mount the two parts and get wide angle shots or simply use a single lens to take macro shots. The lens is also capable of taking shots with fish-eye effects. So if you have forgotten to carry along your professional camera or your pocket shooter, don’t bother much as this lens can be used anywhere and anytime.
Portable speaker dock
Whether you are camping with friends, partying on the beach or simply relaxing in your bath tub, music is something that you would definitely appreciate. The audio from your iPhone, iPod or mobile phone is definitely not loud enough for a small crowd. What you need is an amplifier to at least enjoy some good music with a louder volume. But tagging along a big speaker dock can get annoying at times. Most often you end up leaving it behind simply because of the bulky size. Here is a simple, sweet and compact speaker dock for your iPhone, iPod or almost any music player you own. It is battery operated and comes with its own built-in rechargeable set. It is the size of a small pencil box and has two speakers on either side with an iPod/iPhone dock on the top. The rear panel sports the other interfaces where you can plug in a pen drive or an audio jack from another music source or simply plug in your microSD card loaded with your favourite audio tracks. Enjoy short video clips or even your favourite flicks in your tent and make it your own mini theatre. The mini audio box is available for just Rs 1,200
Mini FM transmitter
Enjoying music on your personal audio device is fun, but if you want to play it on a bigger audio system, you need longer wires. If you want a wireless connection, Bluetooth is the way, but not all audio systems are Bluetooth compatible. New audio systems at home and in-car audio systems sport the Bluetooth feature, but what if your MP3 player does not have the Bluetooth feature in the first place? Well, transmitting your music over FM is not a bad idea as most mobile phones, car stereos and home audio systems do sport an FM radio. This small FM transmitter has a 0.7-inch LCD display, a 3.5 mm audio jack and a built-in rechargeable battery; it can transmit your music from up to 10 metres. The FM frequency can be set manually using the LCD display and all you need to do is plug in the device to your phone/MP3 player and tune in to the FM station on your audio system. Using this option, you can stream your music to your friends over the FM band. The device can also come in handy to make your very own wireless headphone set to watch your television shows or movies late into the night without disturbing anybody in the room. Simply plug in the device to the TV’s headphone jack and tune in to the FM frequency on your phone and enjoy the wireless headphone from a distance. The FM transmitter is available here for just Rs 450.
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