That said, the 8.6-once high-capacity battery pack has more than enough tricks up its sleeve to make hauling it around worth the effort.

Boasting two USB ports and a built in wall plug, the ZAGGsparq 2.0 can be used as a USB power adapter to charge a tablet and smartphone or other low powered gadget at the same time. Or, when a power source is unavailable, you can recharge your hardware with its 6 amp-hour capacity battery.

Testing it with our iPad 2, we found that we were able to pull an additional 5.5 hours of video playback out of the tablet when connected to the ZAGGsparq--an impressive amount of backup power to say the least.

A series of LED lights on the side of the ZAGGsparq details the device's charge level. Just below the lights, is a single button. To begin charging an attached gadget, simply push the button. It's an elegant design that leaves nothing to guesswork.

Elegant and functional as it is, the button on the ZAGGsparq unit we received felt flimsy when depressed, leaving us wondering how long it might last under real-world usage conditions.

Given ZAGG's excellent reputation for customer service, however, we don't feel this to be a large enough concern that you should be dissuaded from considering the ZAGGsparq as an addition to your mobile arsenal.