In Defense of the FuelRod

FuelRod charging iPhone through Klein ET920

FuelRods get dissed a lot, somewhat deservedly. I’m here to recommend them, in very specific contexts.

First, the downsides: They’re expensive ($30 at a Disneyland kiosk, circa spring 2020), they have limited capacity, and they charge slowly, at ~5W. In an instrumented test, I found a fully charged FuelRod (green light, after recharging at home via microUSB) brought an iPhone 12 Pro from 13% to 67% (about a 53% recharge) and took about 1 hour 24 minutes to do so. According to my Klein, total transfer was about 6.796 Wh (1349 mAh); the iPhone 12 Pro has a 2815 mAh battery at 3.83V (10.78 Wh), though mine’s about a year old and reports 87% maximum capacity remaining.

But, all of that said, they offer one huge advantage that cannot be discounted: When they’re depleted, you can swap them for a fully charged replacement, free of charge, at a number of kiosks throughout Disneyland and California Adventure. There are very few places where you can plug in a charger in the parks (I saw someone tethered to a wall in the dining area next to Bengal Barbecue), and who wants to be stuck in one place in a theme park anyway? Need more juice, just swap for a fresh 'rod and keep on charging. Priceless.

Klein ET920 showing 5W charge from FuelRod