Cost: Around £200
Sales Pitch:
I first saw this unit at the Birmingham NEC 2015 Classic Car show, and was impressed with the size, style, weight, case, extras inside the case and the performance claims. There are a couple of versions of this unit and I needed the more powerful version in order to turn over my car’s big v8 engine.
Here is what the website (click here for the link) to see what it has to say about it:
“The NEW Micro-Start XP-10 PPS (Personal Power Supply) is our latest and MOST POWERFUL micro Jump Starter and Personal Power Supply yet. At only 9” x 3.2” x 1.2” it is still small enough to fit in your pocket yet so powerful it can start Diesel vehicles as well as any Car, Trucks, Motorcycles, and other Powersports Vehicles !!! Amazingly it also powers or charges Laptops (not 16v Apple Laptops) , any USB Powered device like Cell Phones, iPhones, iPads, Tablets, GoPro Cameras, Blue Tooth Devices and more. This model also offer 2 USB charging ports in addition to a 19v and 12v charging ports. It has a very high capacity 18,000 milliamps and up to 600 Peak Amps for massive starting capabilities! Nothing on the Market compares.
Just charge it once and take back-up power where ever you go, no need to electrical outlets, or finding a charging station…. its your own power supply to take anywhere you go….Whether you are riding, driving, camping, traveling or boating you can remain confident that you will be able to start your vehicle, make that important call, or get that last bit of work done. It even has a extremely powerful built-in flashlight with S.O.S patterns built in! It’s the swiss army knife for electronics…
THE MICRO-START—- WHAT IS IT AND WHAT CAN IT DO?
# Massively Powerful Pocket sized Lithium-Ion Jump Starter/Portable Power Supply :—only 9” x 3.2” x 1.2”, 18 oz. 600 Peak Amps
# It can Jump start Diesel Cars, Trucks, Motorcycles, Boats, ATVs, UTVs, Snowmobiles, Watercraft and more!
# It Charges and Powers most all electronic devices such as— Laptops (not compatible with Apple 16v Laptops), Cell Phones, iPads, Go Pro Cameras, Kindles, PSPs, PDAs, GPS, MP3s, Blue Tooth Devices, Cameras and more
# It has 4 on-board Power Ports: a 19v for laptops,———- a 12v standard output for all 12v Accessories,—– – and TWO USB 5v Outputs for charging or powering ANY 5v USB chargeable devices.
# It has a HI-POWER LED flashlight with 2 built-in flash patterns including an S.O.S. flashing beacon pattern.
# It has a lighted battery capacity indicator Press a button to see the battery capacity left in the Micro-Start
# It has built-in over-charge and over-discharge protections for long battery life. And specialized SMART CLAMPS that protect the unit.It has an automatic power-off when not in use”
I have noticed that the branding on my unit different to that as shown on their Website:
Technical Specs:
- 300 Amp- 600 Peak Amp Jump Starting ability
- 18 ounces
- 9″ long x 3.2″ wide x 1.2″tall
What’s In The Case:
- Sim-Leather Carry Case with double zip pulls and small carry loop at the top.
- Enigma 600 Series (Micro-Start XP-10) Unit.
- Detachable SMART Mini Jumper Clamps with built-in over charge, reverse polarity protections
- 1 Black Universal Cable with 8-different detachable tips to fit all the different brands of Laptop charging ports such as Acer, Dell, HP, Asus, etc.
- 1 black Universal Cable for all 12v Accessories such as Mobile DVD players, or other 12v Accessories.
- 1 White Universal USB Cable with 4 into 1 USB Cable to fit most popular 5v USB chargeable electronics such as all Cell Phones, iPads, iReaders (Kindles), PSPs, GPS, tablet computers, and anything else using the 5V USB standard. Fittings for Apple 30 pin tip, Apple 8pin tip, Micro USB tip, (Mini USB tip). Although my lead does not have the mini USB connection as stated on the website.
- 1 Home Charger for the battery unit.
- 1 Mobile Charger for plugging into cigarette lighter socket for the battery unit.
- Instruction leaflet. Click here to see the manual, or click the link: Enigma600 UserGuide
The battery unit itself fells like a slab of reasonable weight plastic but solid. The surface has nice satin feel that should stop it slipping out of your hands.
Connections:
It is recommended to charge the unit fully before use. This is done via a small phone charger style plug and fitting that plugs in right next to the main switch with a simple push fit.
The main battery unit has connections at the top edge for the USB ports both 5v, one for 2Amp output, the other for 1Amp. To the left of the USB ports is the main connection point which is covered by a rubber flap. I found this rubber flap annoying as its hinged inside the socket itself, opening to center of the unit. It would have been better if it was hinged on the other side, or even on a tag basis so it can be right out-of-the-way. Trying to fit the main plug into the socket requires having to hold the flap open while inserting the main plug. This is fine, but just a pain. The main cable connector will only fit one way into the battery again with a simple push fit. As this can be a weighty block to hang out of a push fit, I would liked to have seen a positive click or something to stop it pulling out and hold it firmly in place.
The main cable block connector.
From this main connector is the two main car battery cables in red and black. The clips are strongly sprung and the cable crimping is pretty good.
With the block pushed into place on the main battery. Instructions on the back of the cable plug is a nice idea to save getting out the small book instructions.
The other charger for the battery is the cigarette lighter fitting, this plugs into the same port as the home or mains powered charger. The cable is pretty good and allows to charge the unit pretty much where you want.
Output Leads:
The first lead has a fitting for the power unit and the other is generic ready to take interchangeable connections for various laptops, mobiles, tablets etc.
There are eight fittings that are stored securely on a plastic holder. This adaptor cable is not very long, only a few inches long as it assumed that the battery will be close to the appliance being charged. I would like to have seen it longer to be more helpful. The lead can be connected to either a 19v 3.5amp output or a 12v 10Amp output depending on the requirement of the connected device.
The second lead is USB based as mentioned above for 5v 1Amp or 2Amp, this is for the Apple 30 pin tip, Apple 8pin tip, Micro USB tip. All pretty standard and should cover pretty much all the popular mobile devices. The leads are short and all the connections come off a single cable like a triple headed snake.
Operations:
The unit has a visual guide to the unit power status. This is done by pressing the power button and a series of five small blue LED’s will light up. The lights show the power available, more light on closer to the 100% charge veing held. Here is the small square power button right on the corner.
All lights show the full power available.
Additional presses of the power button will cycle through the three functions of the torch. Static light is very strong and will enable you to see what ever you wanted. Addition press again will activate a pretty fast strobe light. The last function is the SOS signal (three fast, three slow, three fast flashes).
Connecting the cable plug the first step is to the vehicle battery. Once connected the side of the plug has a red LED for reverse polarity, a static green LED for correct connection and ready to start the car.
If the green LED flashes and buzzes press the boost button and start the car within thirty seconds. If there are no green light or no buzzer, again press the boost button and start the car within thirty seconds. Once the car has started you can disconnect the unit.
I find the pressing of the main power button on the unit a little bit of a pain as it’s quite small for my big fingers.
Results:
The torch is strong, the strobe will do your head in, the SOS is useful. I bought this for the Mustang obviously as it’s an automatic and you can’t bump start an automatic. We have a Volkswagen mk4 Golf 1600cc which has been off the road for a while now. The battery is dead, when I say dead it was completely dead, wouldn’t open the doors, no interior light, nothing. I needed to move the car after it had been standing for a good nine months. I connected the unit and no lights on the plug. I pressed the “boost” button and jumped into the car, the whole dash lit up and turned the key to start. The engine turned over fast just like a fully charged battery, after a few seconds the car fired into life. Amazing, all from something that is only nine inches long. I started the car like this a few times over the next few days and every time the car spun over no problem and started. I have left the charger for a couple of months now and you can see from the pictures that unit still has a full charge. Incredible. It works better than imagined it would.
The user guide:
The unit can Jump start a car up to forty times! The unit will hold a full charge for up to a year, but they recommend that you top the charge up every 3 months. It’s always going to be ready when you need it.
Rating: 9 out 10
I’m going to be really brutal and harsh with the marking although the unit has been faultless so far. Why only a nine? Well, I don’t like the rubber socket cover, it’s hinged on the wrong side and gets in my way. The power button is little too small for me, I would prefer a bigger one. The cables for the device connections are a bit short and should be longer. That’s it, I could give the review a top score a perfect ten, but that would look a little bit of a cop-out to give full marks wouldn’t it? All of these little things do not detract away from the functionality of the unit or how it performs. So I overlook these points and I have homestly bought myself a fantastic jump-start unit, that literally could fit in my pocket.
Would I recommend this unit? Yes, without a doubt.
Would I buy it again? Yes, although its expensive.
Conclusion:
There are other very similar units on the market that vary wildly in price, mainly because they are much less amps power rated, or maybe not as good a quality, I’m not reviewing those products so I can’t comment fairly. But, I can compare this unit to a real heavy unit that is many multiple times bigger than this little unit, yet this Enigma 600 packs a huge punch, more than some of those big carry round rigs. For something that I can put in a carrier bag, charge my phone, power a laptop or tablet then start my car at the end of it, it’s incredible.
It’s a lot of money I get that, so it has to be a careful considered purchase. If you get the chance to see one in action, check it out. Once you see it, I suspect you will buy one.