Portable power banks, let talk about them.

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SURVIVAL&WEAPONS

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Feb 2, 2014
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Basically as the title states, lets talk about portable power banks/portable battery packs. This also includes things along the lines of solar power banks like goal-zeros.

Do you use them? Do you avoid them? If you use them what do you prefer, and what do you avoid like Ebola :p ?

What's your favorite brand and capacity? Is it something for a quick battery boost during the day after your battery is about to die, something you use when vacationing/staying over at someones house, or something you have in you get home bag/bug out bag/car survival kit?

Where do you find the best bang for your buck (brand wise), or price to quality ratio?

Are those power banks on websites that offer 50,000mah capacity legit/good, or are they a waste of money?

What's your opinion on them?

I personally carry a cheap no name 2600mah power bank that also has a built in flashlight. Flashlight has three modes (because its cheap it doesnt state the lumen output, im lucky it came with warranty paperwork.) High,low, and a fast "defensive" strobe. The light is fairly bright I would say maybe atleast 80 lumens at minimum. It works pretty decent (for all i know, this is my first experience with portable power banks) it charged my Iphone 4 50% in 2 hours, during that time I was texting, making phone calls, on the web, playing music, as well as forgetting i had the screen on (when i use to use max brightness). Took a while to charge but i was happy. One of my high school teachers had a power bank that i believe was about 5600mah and also had a handwarmer function (how does this sit functionality wise? Good idea or just a novelty mode to charge more money?) im always interested in getting a "better" power bank that has a higher mah capacity but the highest i seen in person is about 5200mah.

I better stop rambling now. So lets talk about them. :) :thumbup:
 
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I've started looking into these again. I've got a small Duracell one I keep as backup in my EDC pack but honestly haven't had to use it yet. I use a Mophie battery/case on my iPhone and they also make power packs. The one which I'm seriously considering is the IOGEAR GMP10K GearPower 11,000mAh Ultra Capacity Mobile Power Station for Smartphones/Tablets/Mobile Devices, White - $45.96US on Amazon as of 2014-10-31. 4.5 out of 5 stars from 159 reviewers.
Here's a review: http://www.chipchick.com/2012/12/iogear-gearpower-review.html and IIRC they also compare it to the Mophie and a couple others.
 
I used the xiaomi powerbanks (both the 5200 and 10400), they are cheap and good enough for me.
 
I use easyacc power banks I work in a hospital between lead lined walls and being in the basement or tunnels and many other things that block signal , my phone goes through a battery pretty quick . Especially if I use the wi-fi much at lunch and breaks . I use a casio commando phone . I have a a 2600 ma/hr that will charge my phone once or my wife's flip phone twice . the lid has a micri usb plug the body has a standard usb plug no cords needed .
I have a 5000 ma/hr that will charge my phone twice or all most fully charge my little kindle fire hd 6
I have a 10,000 ma/hr that will charge my phone 4 times, or my kindle twice, my wifes bigger kindle too it will charge 2 things at once. I always have one in my bag
Roy
Edit the 10,000 ma/hr is around $25 at the river with free 2day shipping $14 for the 5000 and $10 for the little one most things I found locally were twice the cost for comparable power levels
 
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I've got two. a generic 5000 that lives in the bag-o-doom and a 11500 introcircuit power castle. (current wirecutter pick) Both have dual output, the generic will do 1 amp total, and the bigger one will do 2.1 for an ipad or the like. I have had a problem with the generic one, one day it just decided the battery was dead, until I was able to plug it in to an AC usb brick, then 10 seconds later, it was happy again. Not ideal, I still carry it, but I no longer consider it a reliable bit of gear. The powercastle is much better, has an auto shut off to conserve the battery so you don't have to watch it all the time. Its only a little bigger and heavier than the 5000, which is great, but it just a bit too big to fit in the anemone pouch where I keep the 5000.

Personally I think the name brand ones are generally better, and if I do buy one again, I'll go with whatever the wirecutter testing suggests. There are just so many poorly made ones on the market, I cant justify carrying one that might not work. At this point I'll will probably replace the 5000 with something like a 2600 to get it smaller and lighter. I rarely need more than one extra charge in a day, and if I do, I can generally top off from a car, or I know ahead of time, and I can carry the big one. A lot of the cost of them is in the quality of the battery and the circuitry, which the wirecutter tests. I just don't think the average person is a reliable source of info on that sort of thing. It may be great for them, but what do they have to compare it to?

My main use for these is when I'm traveling. Its a pain to try to hunt down a power socket, and then leave my phone tied to the wall somewhere. And a few of the places I've been recently, even power plugs were not to be found. Even if I don't need my phone for the few days I'm out in the bush, Its nice to have it fully charged when I do get back to civilization.
 
Im really eyeballing the IOGear & powercastle. I like the added power and ability to charge my ipad & phone with the power increase these two offer. I found my power bank to be a great edc item once I purchased it; its about the diameter of a maglite xl50. I may have missed the answer to this question in your responses but is there anyone that is a reliable person that compares/reviews power banks?
 
The best place I've seen for reviews is thewirecutter.com. they actually got an electrical engineer to do the testing. its worth reading over the ones they look at and seeing why they pick what they pick, as they give the good and the bad, and you may find that an aspect that is a deal-breaker for them may not matter to you.
 
Just an update, the wirecutter now has a review of smaller packs for someone looking for just a top-off charge (6000 mah range)
 
I have a Mophie Powerstation Pro, the big one with the rubber shell. It's nice, I like it; I've never had any other similar type of product to compare it to.

I use it so infrequently that the few times I've needed it, it's lost a quarter to half its charge. I believe that's normal lithium-ion battery drainage, though, and not a flaw in the product itself.

It is slow to charge when connected to some USB ports on some computers, but again, I don't believe that's a flaw in the product itself, but rather is due to the fact that not all USB ports output the same voltage. Connected to a simple wall charger, it charges quickly enough.

I intend to get Mophie's smallest battery pack, which is suitable for hanging on a keyring, which I might do or might put in an EDC pack. I keep the Powerstation Pro in my backpack.
 
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