Scosche GoBat 2600 review: A solid 3-in-1 car charger, power bank, and flashlight

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Car chargers are a dime a dozen these days, and most offer the same functionality — plug it into a 12V outlet in your car and charge your devices. Our Scosche GoBat 2600 review takes a look at a car charger that triples up as a portable power bank and a flashlight or safety strobe.

Specifications

The GoBat 2600 has the following features and specifications:

  • Primarily acts as a 7.5w/1.5a car charger for your mobile device.
  • Can also be used as a portable power bank and a flashlight/safety strobe.
  • Conveniently charges your device and itself at the same time.
  • 12 to 24V DC input
  • 5V/1A Micro-USB input
  • 5V/1.5A USB output
  • 2600mAh battery capacity

What’s in the Box

  • GoBat 2600
  • Micro-USB cable
  • Instruction manual
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What’s included…

Design

The Scosche GoBat 2600 3-in-1 Car Charger is slightly larger than your typical DC adapter, and for good reason. The end is about two-and-a-half times as long as a regular DC adapter and features a hump on the bottom making it about one-and-a-half times as thick. The front end of the GoBat 2600 features the Scosche logo on the top half, a Micro-USB in port with two LED lights on either side and a full-size USB-A out port underneath.

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Scosche GoBat 2600 front view.

The other end consists of your 12V charge plug which fits into your vehicle’s DC outlet and has a protective cover with a magnetic end which sticks to the front and sides of the GoBat 2600 when not being used to cover the charge plug. More importantly, the magnetic end can be stuck to a metal surface for stabilizing the unit when used as a flashlight. The magnetic end has a rubber sticker on it, so you don’t have to be worried about scratching paint or other surfaces when using the magnet. When looking at the front of the GoBat, the right side has a power button and four LED battery level indicator lights.

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Scosche GoBat 2600.

As previously mentioned, it is slightly larger than your typical car charger adapter, but it’s not overly large when plugged into your vehicle and is a nice size for portability.

Ease of Use

As with all car chargers, simply plug the GoBat 2600 into your DC outlet in your vehicle and connect your device to the USB-A port on the charger to provide power and charging for your smartphone or tablet. If you need extra juice when you’re leaving your vehicle, simply take the GoBat 2600 with you and place the cap on the end to protect the 12V charge plug and you can continue to charge your device as you would with an external power pack. One thing to note is that you’ll have to press the power button to turn the power bank on and start charging your device.

Pressing the power button will illuminate the LED battery level indicator lights to let you know how much charge you have left. You can also hold down the power button for about 3 seconds to turn on the dual LED lights on the front and use the GoBat 2600 as a flashlight. While the flashlight is on, you can press the power button once to toggle between solid and strobe mode. To turn off the flashlight, simply hold the power button down for another 3 seconds.

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The power button and battery indicator LEDs.

Performance

As far as performance is concerned, the GoBat 2600 works as expected. When plugged into your car, it charges your phone just fine — albeit with regular charging speed. When used as a power bank, it charges at regular charging speeds as well. Finally, the LED flashlight is pretty bright considering the size of the LED lights on it. You’re not going to be seeing a great distance in the dark but it’s definitely enough if you’re looking for something in the dark.

While the charger is plugged into your car, it’s constantly charging and will continue to charge the battery pack (if it needs charging) at the same time as charging your phone. You can also charge it through the Micro-USB port as well if you so choose. The GoBat 2600 also comes pre-charged and is ready to charge your device or be used as a flashlight right out of the box.

Battery Life

With a 2600mAh internal battery, you should have enough portable power to recharge your phone once — or close to it. It’s definitely enough to get you by in a pinch when needed.

Price/Value

With an MSRP of $24.99USD, the Scosche GoBat 2600 is selling for $19.99 on Amazon. Given the 3-in-1 functionality of the device, it’s definitely priced right.

Wrap-up

Most everyone probably has a car charger for their devices in their vehicles these days. If you’re looking for something with more functionality, the Scosche GoBat 2600 with its car charger, battery pack, and flashlight functions is definitely a great choice.

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*We were sent a sample of the Scosche GoBat 2600 for the purposes of this review.
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Last Updated on January 21, 2019.

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