Okay well let me start off by saying, I apologize for rating this four stars, because it's a five star product. Before the Viltrox, I purchased two ZG.CINE battery storage/charging cases (that was before this was announced and sold). Hear me out, I'm trying to make a quick comparison. Those cases, I thought, were awesome! Same as the Viltrox product, much cheaper, card slot holders i.e. 2 microSD, 2 SD, and one CF-Express Type B in the middle sandwiched between the two batteries.
Sounds like a better deal, right? Well, no. There are two key differences here, and I will explain first with Viltrox, then with the competitor.
Viltrox has made a well constructed i.e. sturdy plastic case that houses two batteries of whatever system you're utilizing. The case is white, it has some quirky (very low-key) Cyberpunk designs on both the internal compartment and on the exterior. Nothing juvenile like some crazy RGB's, just adds a little character. Not my cup of tea, but also I think it's pretty cool the level of detail that went into this. I have more to say but I will skip to the competitor and do a bit of comparison there.
ZG.CINE has constructed a battery holding case similar to Viltrox's, albeit not in design, function, or construction... No, what it similar is that they both hold batteries and you can read the battery charge through the LCD, additionally you can charge both cases via USB-C. Okay now that's where the similarity ends.
Let's get to exactly what it is that differentiates Viltrox's battery case from others on the market. This case has an inbuilt lithium-ion battery, so not only can you charge your batteries through the case via USB-C BUT, you can also charge them solely through the case without external power (assuming your case is charged). Let's not forget, this is a 5500mAh battery at heart, it has bi-directional charging which can be used to charge devices externally i.e. AirPods, phone, anything with a USB-C port (or I'm sure you can use a USB-C to USB-A adapter if you really needed to.) If you wanted to get really crazy, you could plug in another battery via the USB-C port into a USB-C charge compatible battery. Speaking of AirPods, this case isn't nearly as small as an AirPods case, it is actually about the size of a V-mount 99wh battery (if you lay them flat and side-by-side.
Now back to the competitor, and the only reason I bring them up is to say... They have one great feature that this doesn't have. Although the Viltrox is superior in every-way, ZG.CINE does have one tiny edge-up here, but certainly not enough for me to recommend that over this. I know I said it in the first paragraph but I'm going to remind you again--that cool feature is that the ZG.CINE case can hold your batteries *yawn* BUT with your batteries it also can (securely) hold 2 microSD cards, 2 SD cards, and 1 CFExpress-B card. A feature that I really wish this case had, and if implemented I wouldn't hesitate to buy a second one. Speaking of second one, I wish they made one for the Fuji W-236 batteries too. I utilize this on my Fuji H2S + H2 so W-235 is obviously perfect. However, I own an X-M5 and X-T2 too, since they're small portable cameras. Really would love a (perhaps sized down?) version of this for the W-236 battery as well. Overall I am extremely impressed by the innovative products that Viltrox continues to develop and iterate upon, this is a prime example of that innovation Viltrox has shown time-and-time again.
TLDR; 5/5 Excellent product, absolutely no complaints it functions better than I expected it to. Build quality is far greater than competitors, internal battery/bi-directional PD 30W charging is awesome feature and was unexpected. Only reason I removed a star is because I'm telling you that this battery container/charger is the best currently available on the market--the lack of star is simply a person quip I have with the product that could increase the utility of it greatly (the lack of card storage).
