Review: The DJI Portable Charging Station is the best accessory you can buy for your Spark

With its smaller design, the Spark features a smaller battery which as a result decreases the flight time. Extra batteries are pretty cheap at $49 a piece, but once you start carrying around your drone, batteries, and extra accessories, things can get hard to pack in your bag. This is why the DJI Spark Portable Charging Station has become my favorite accessory that I own.

The rundown

When I say this charging station is my favorite accessory that I own, I’m not singling out the Spark, I’m talking about all of the accessories that I own for all five of my drones.

The smaller size of the Spark is what makes this accessory possible. Could you imagine a charging station for the Phantom series of drones? On each Spark battery is a metal contact point so when the Spark is dropped into the hub it starts charging. The other two batteries that fit inside connect through the regular battery terminal.

Quick walk around

The body of the charging station is entirely made of plastic and features a piece that holds all of your accessories in place. DJI likes to call this the “securing board” and it can be unlatched using the switch on the side.

Near the front are all of the buttons and ports featured in this device. The LED’s up top signify the charge of the batteries in the hub as well as the station itself. It can be turned on by double pressing the button on top with the secondary click being a long press. On the side is a collection of ports such as a USB out, a power in, and a micro USB port for future firmware updates, which I have never gotten.

The build quality of the case is seriously good. I was afraid that because the Spark and batteries aren’t totally enclosed in the station that things might rattle around, but everything is held in place perfectly. This leads me to another reason why I like the charging station so much, it doubles as a case. I feel totally comfortable throwing this into my bag mixed with other things knowing my batteries will always be charged.

Charging specs

The battery inside of the charging station has a capacity of 5000mAh while each individual Spark battery can hold 1,480mAh. This means you can charge each of the three batteries from being fully depleted to 100% one time. Figure you have three batteries with you, that means you can fly six times by bringing the charging station with you. Chances are you won’t be draining those batteries down all the way so you could probably squeeze out a seventh flight.

DJI estimates that you can charge all three batteries from 0% to 100% in 150 minutes using the charging station. If the hub is also fully depleted than you can expect a charge time of 300 minutes to fill up all three batteries and the portable charging station itself. I haven’t crunched the numbers myself, but the batteries do fill up fast using the regular Spark charging cable.

If you are currently a Spark owner with only one battery and charge your drone using a micro USB cable, you should definitely consider looking into the Portable Charging Station for the DJI Spark. They offer different bundles with included batteries along with the charging hub for discounted prices. Think about it this way; more batteries = more flight time = more fun!

Do you own the DJI Spark Portable Charging Station? What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments below.

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