Tonic works well for travelers with lots of battery-sucking gizmos.

Considering the number of devices that can charge over USB, it makes sense to keep a USB power adapter around. Incipio’s Tonic is a compact, lightweight, 1.1 ounce AC adapter that allows any USB- powered gadget to charge from a wall outlet, rather than through a computer’s USB port. The Tonic is especially handy for travelers, notebook users, or those who don’t want to poach from a computer to juice up their gadgetry.

The tonic plugs into an AC outlet and features a standard USB port. Plug in your own USB charging cable, and you’re all set. The Tonic also ships with a USB mini-A adapter, making it work with everything from external battery packs to cell phones. Instead of carrying a bunch of bulky, proprietary AC adapters for your gear, you can easily pack this small charger alongside whatever USB cables you need.

The Tonic works with USB hubs, so it is possible to charge a few devices at once, although we wouldn’t recommend using it with several high-powered devices at the same time. We used the Tonic with several gadgets, and while it worked fine with the iPods, iPhones, and others, it wouldn’t charge a few things, including an MP3 player from Creative.