This ordinary-looking pen hides a battery pack for your smartphone, a touchscreen stylus, and… a pen

Smartphones are always evolving. Engineers at the major handset makers are always finding ways to cram more pixels into their screens and more megapixels into their cameras. Despite these ever-increasing specs, few modern smartphones can offer more than a day or two of average usage on a full charge. When you consider the fact that batteries degrade over time, a lot of people are lucky to get eight hours out of their handsets toward the tail end of a two-year contract.

If you’re in the Android camp, you might have the luxury of being able to replace an old battery with a new one. Otherwise, you’re stuck with carrying a charger, slapping on a bulky battery case, or plugging into a battery pack. The latter option often resembles a rectangular external HDD or a cylindrical flashlight. Battery packs don’t have to be sexy, by any means, but a new product from Japanese electronics maker Thanko adds a touch of style and functionality to the boring old mobile power source.

Thanko’s Ballpoint Pen Power Bank crams an 800mAh battery into, well, an ordinary-sized pen. The Apple version (with a lightning connector) weighs 39 grams and the Android model (sporting a micro USB connector) weighs only 36 grams. Both are just 14mm thick and 157mm long. In addition to providing emergency juice for your smartphone, the Ballpoint Pen Power Bank comes with a touch screen stylus that also hides – you guessed it – a ballpoint pen. The device charges via a USB 2.0 plug hidden under a silver cap at the back end of the pen. A tiny LED light in the gadget’s midsection indicates when the internal battery is fully charged (a process that takes about one and a half hours).

If the pen’s 800mAh battery – good for about a 20 percent charge on most current smartphones – isn’t enough for you, Thanko offers another multi-function battery pack with a massive 5,200mAh reserve. Not only does it allow you to fully charge your smartphone or tablet, but its built-in electric shaver ensures that you never have to leave the office with a five o’clock shadow.

The Ballpoint Pen Power Bank is available at Thanko’s website for JPY 3,480 (US$29.75). The Shaving Built-In Mobile Battery will set you back JPY 3,980 (US$34).

See: Why China’s tech giants are funneling money at battery boosting apps to go global

(H/T Engadget Japan)