FAQ - Alpha Bags with Joey T3 Smart System

What are the Alpha SMART Bags?

Two Wheel Gear teamed up with Joey Energy to create the first smart bike bag collection. The Alpha Handlebar Bag SMART and Alpha Pannier Backpack SMART are designed to integrate the Joey T3 Bluetooth and Smartphone App System. This system provides a daily cyclist many of the security and convenience benefits you would get if you were driving your car. Everything from power for your phone, to anti-theft security, to phone hacking protection and LED lighting. 

What is the Joey T3 Bluetooth and Smartphone App System?

The Joey T3 is a touch console connected to a high capacity battery with Bluetooth connection to your phone. Follow the instructions included with the Joey T3 and download the SmartBag App to access the full range of features: 

Anti-Loss/Theft Distance Alarm

• Protect your bag, bike and belongings.
• Accidentally leave your bag behind? Your phone sounds an alarm. Someone tries to take your bag (and bike)? Your phone sounds an alarm.

Device Power for Everything 

• Charge phones, tablets, lights, GPS, cameras, and all your bike accessories on the go.
• Get up to 25 hours of additional talk time on your phone.
• Safe power source - you won’t need to “share air” with others at public USB ports.
• Meets air travel requirements for flying. 6,200 mA battery with high speed charging and power output metering.

Charge Timer

• Your friends and family will find out you have power and want some for their phones! 
• Start a countdown timer to give them plenty of power to get home without unnecessarily draining your battery.
• Power output stops automatically when the countdown timer ends.
• Use this for your own phone charging to maximize your time between charges of the Joey unit.

Find Phone

• Ever lost your phone in your home or office? Or get back to your bike and wonder if your phone is with you somewhere, in a bag or in a jacket pocket? 
• Touch the Find Phone button and your phone will ring to show its location. 

LED Lighting

• Your car has an overhead light that illuminates its interior space. 
• Now your bag has a bright LED light to illuminate your belongings and help you find things in your bag.
• Easy to aim it to illuminate nearby areas such as the ground to locate dropped items. 

Digital Clock

• 74% of people don’t wear watches anymore. 
• This bright, light-up clock is always there for you, automatically sets itself and automatically updates when changing time zones.
• Especially helpful in social and work situations when you want to check the time without appearing to be looking at your phone. 

Dual Charging

• Extremely convenient and helpful: Computer-optimized overnight charging of your phone and the Joey unit from a single wall outlet.
• Plug the Joey T3 into a wall outlet with your phone’s charge cube. Then plug your phone into Joey.
• The computer in the Joey unit has everything charged by morning. A great help both at home and when travelling.

Juice Jacking Protection

• Police agencies in North America and around the world warn against using public USB ports, especially at airports, hotels and public locations such as tourist areas and convention centers. 
• Criminals are hacking the USB ports to infect phones with viruses, steal data and demand money from victims.
• Joey T3 has a hardware firewall to protect your phone if you need to use a public USB port.

Ring your Bag

• Tap a button on the Joey App to ring the Joey unit in your bag.
• A very handy feature to use after airplane flights where you are required to put your phone into “Airplane Mode” (airplane mode cuts all your phone’s Bluetooth connections). 
• Tapping ”Ring Joey” on the Joey App will confirm your Bluetooth connection to your bag is reestablished following your flight. It’s also just kind of fun.  

Remote Display of Functions

• Your plug-in USB ports and all the functions and features are accessed via the convenient Joey Console at the top of your bag - and right at your fingertips.
• The Console hangs from a webbing loop and rotates for easy plugging in. 
• You never have to dig through your bag to find a battery to check its power level or turn it on or turn it off.

What is included with the Joey T3?

• The Joey T3 Smart System with Console and attached battery. 
• The high speed Joey USB A to C charge cable.
• Printed instructions
• Instructions on how to download and connect the Joey T3 App from the App store. 

How much is the Joey T3 Unit?

Through our special partnership with Joey Energy, the Joey T3 units are available for $79.95 when ordered with the Alpha Handlebar Bag or Alpha Pannier Backpack. The regular price of the Joey T3 is $199.95 at Joey Energy. 

Does the Joey ship separately from the bag?

Yes, when you order the Alpha bags with the Joey T3 unit, you will receive 2 shipments. One from us (the bag) and one from Joey Energy (the Joey T3). It’s very simple to install the Joey unit in your bag and only takes about a minute. 

When will everything ship? 

The Alpha bags and Joey T3 units are available now. 

Do I install the Joey T3 in my bag?

Yes, but it is extremely easy and only takes about a minute. 

1. Hook the Joey T3 unit on the webbing loop labelled “Joey” in your bag.
2. Place the battery in the battery compartment labelled with the battery power symbol.
3. Clip the Joey cable to the little cable clip to keep things tidy and out of the way of the bag zipper. 

How long does the Joey Battery last?

The Joey T3 unit adds approximately 25 hours of talk time to most phones. In ordinary use, most people recharge the Joey unit every few weeks. 

How do I charge the Joey T3, do I take it out of the bag?

• The Joey T3 stays in your bag all the time, even when charging. Don’t take it out!  
• Every few weeks (for most people) you’ll plug it into a wall outlet. 
• Simply place the bag near a wall outlet and use the Joey cable and your phone’s wall outlet charge cube to plug into the wall to charge. 

• Best: Use the Dual Charge Feature and plug your phone into the Joey unit at the same time as the Joey is charging from the wall and everything will charge while you sleep overnight. 

How long does it take to charge the Joey unit?

Charge the Joey unit from a wall outlet using your phone (or iPad) wall outlet charge cube and the included Joey cable. Depending on the size (power level) of your wall outlet cube it usually takes between 2.5 and 4 hours.

We don’t recommend charging from computer USB ports. They are usually very low power output and would result in very slow charging. 

What about charging the Joey unit in foreign countries?

No problem. Your phone’s wall cube is designed to convert most foreign wall outlet currents to the 5V standard for USB charging. Just use your wall cube + a travel outlet adapter (prong shape adapter) and charge normally. 

What about harsh weather, will it affect the Joey T3 unit?

The Joey T3 unit is designed to be environmentally robust. The battery compartment is sealed against rain and dust and the Joey Console (the part with the buttons, screen and plug in ports) is weather resistant. That said, the Joey system is designed to be protected by the bag itself. Think of the bag as the primary protection against rain, snow, spills, dust and dirt so do keep the bag closed up tight in inclement weather. 

Just like your smartphone, the Joey unit is designed to function throughout the temperature range for this type of lithium polymer battery. And just like your smartphone, it’s not intended for use in bitter, arctic cold nor extreme, blistering heat. Think of it this way, if an average person is comfortable being outside, even if the weather is fairly crisp or fairly warm, your Joey unit will be too. 

Why no wireless charging?

Wireless charging, especially in an enclosed space like a bag, generates extreme heat, heating your phone and your phone’s battery in ways not recommended by smartphone makers. In fact phones are generally designed to shut down under extreme heat conditions. Wireless charging would overheat other things in your bag as well, such as your laptop or iPad and overheat food (think melted protein bars and wilted lettuce on a sandwich). Likewise few of us want to drink heated water from our water bottle.