Hi All! So this is my first time starting a new thread so I hope I'm doing this right. I couldn't really find a thread specifically for battery banks or battery backups so I thought I'd start one.
I was wondering what is everyone's method of backing up/recharging your battery for your cellphones? For me, the battery that comes with my phone is enough to get me through the day usually and I just charge it every night while I sleep. If I go on trips, I use the Rav Power 10000 mah battery bank. I find this a bit bulky but it works great and lasts many charges before I have to recharge again.
Everyone's taste and preferences are different so I'm seeing what other options are out there that may be lighter in weight. I'm thinking of getting their smaller one, the 5200 mah, and have this in my backpack or car for just in case.
Any mini reviews of what you have would be great :good:
Wow, cool gadgets, I need to get a bank for just-in-case emergencies. Thanks Currently i use a solar powered charger, which is really slow and somethings doesn't work as desired. Looks similar to this http://www.amazon.com/External-Univ...=8-4&keywords=solar+powered+cellphone+charger
Ive bought one at sunsky from china battery about 4000mah, but it was year before, now there is a better.
I used to have a bank that looked like a GBA SP, with foldable screens. In the screens were two solar panels, which charged the battery of, I think, about 2000mAh or something like that. The thing is now broken though. Still looking for a nice (affordable) replacement
Mine is Anker 5600
I use the Belkin 4000, size similar to a ext HDD and look nice, pocketable too
http://www.techhypermart.com/belkin-f8m160ak-portable-battery-pack-4000.html
Charger considerations
Hi,
I need advise for the following:
Charger A (Li-polymer battery) output : 5V, 1A
Charger B (Li-polymer battery) output : 5V, 500mA
Device input: 5V, 750mAH (Li-ion / Li-polymer)
When using Charger A, some people comment that it will limit the current of 750mAH for the device and the device's battery should be fine since both the charger and device are at 5V. However, some people comment that this will shorten the battery life of the device since it will perform a 'quick charge' using 1A.
When using Charger B, some people comment that the device will draw more current than it can deliver and causes it to heat up and reduces the charger's life. However, some people comment that Charger B will extend the battery life of the device since it performs a 'slow charge'.
I also read that USB pins on the charger denotes if the charger is a PC or a dedicated charger. If it is a PC, the device will limit the drawing current. If it is a dedicated charger, the device will draw more current to charge itself.
I am confused as to who is right and which charger should i be using.
Can someone enlighten me ?
Thank you very much.
bought this one from Ebay, has not yet arrived, therefore I cannot tell if its good or not.
but for its price its quite a good bet, 12000mAh for 33 bucks (on sale until tomorrow)
not able to post links, just type w ww. before the following
ebay.com/itm/12000mAh-External-Power-Bank-Battery-Charger-iPhone-3-4S-iPad-3-2-Blackberry-/280947027345
Zagg sparq 2.0 highly recommended
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
I recommend Anker 5600 is very good for that stuff.
Hi, I use choiix power fort 10Wh http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=3001 it have 2700mAh and it's small and looks very nice. It can give one full charge for my SGSIII
I went on a trip this year and searched for a good bank, and this showed up.
http://www.sayes.co/20-powerbank.html
I tried it and it was really good, it has lots of adapters and it's cheap =P
I was able to order a RavPower 5600mAh on sale a while back ago, that was posted on slickdeals. here. I am pretty happy with the performance of the little backup, it defiantly gets the job done. My only complaint is that the body gets scratched up easily.
I was comparing the Ravpower and the Anker 5600 and they both look exactly the same except that both are branded with their logos. So I'm wondering if they're from the same manufacturer. Going to have to do some more research. However my current Ravpower power bank I do have is working great and I love this thing for trips.
I'm also thinking of getting a solar one for my 3day emergency/bug out bag. Thanks for all the suggestions.
Green Ranger said:
I was comparing the Ravpower and the Anker 5600 and they both look exactly the same except that both are branded with their logos. So I'm wondering if they're from the same manufacturer. Going to have to do some more research. However my current Ravpower power bank I do have is working great and I love this thing for trips.
I'm also thinking of getting a solar one for my 3day emergency/bug out bag. Thanks for all the suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, can someone please let me know if they are the exact same manufactuers, except for the company logos on them? I am deciding between the two. Also, what do you guys think of their 2600maH stick version? Which manufactuer would you go for over the other and why? I am very interested.
I'm using a "Scosche SolBAT II Solar Powered Backup Battery and Charger" which I bought off Amazon for something ridiculous like $15 last year.
I bought it for hiking mostly as an emergency charger. I use a Huawei phone as a GPS out in the wilderness, and the GPS app (Androzic) is quite power intensive. I have also used the same device on an iPhone and an iPod touch. The Huawei phone will receive a full charge from this battery, but the iDevices will only go to around 75%.
The solar cell on the back of the battery isn't all that efficient and will take about two days to charge the internal battery, but having it there gives you more options should an emergency occur while in the wilderness. A half hour charging in full sunlight would provide enough power for a short call or a couple of texts to family or emergency services.
The device comes with suction cups and a small carabiner, so it can be stuck to the inside of your car window or clipped to the back of your rucksack. The device is lighter and smaller than the average smartphone and can be fully charged by USB in about three hours. Interestingly, the device has a LOT of bad reviews on Amazon, so maybe they simply sent me a good one.
I also have a very cheap and nasty handcrank USB charger from dealextreme which can be used to add a bit of juice to the solar battery pack at night or in cloudy weather or can directly charge the phone in an emergency. It's a little flimsy and takes a fair bit of cranking to get enough juice for even one call, but it weighs nothing, cost about $2 and is cheap insurance out in the boonies.
My list of power equipment for the phone/GPS and the iPod Touch for a multi-day walk are as follows:
Short Micro USB cable x 1
iPod USB cable x 1
Scosche SolBAT II battery/charger with alloy carabiner
DX hand crank battery charger
Total weight is less than 200 grams
nottellingeither said:
I'm using a "Scosche SolBAT II Solar Powered Backup Battery and Charger" which I bought off Amazon for something ridiculous like $15 last year.
I bought it for hiking mostly as an emergency charger. I use a Huawei phone as a GPS out in the wilderness, and the GPS app (Androzic) is quite power intensive. I have also used the same device on an iPhone and an iPod touch. The Huawei phone will receive a full charge from this battery, but the iDevices will only go to around 75%.
The solar cell on the back of the battery isn't all that efficient and will take about two days to charge the internal battery, but having it there gives you more options should an emergency occur while in the wilderness. A half hour charging in full sunlight would provide enough power for a short call or a couple of texts to family or emergency services.
The device comes with suction cups and a small carabiner, so it can be stuck to the inside of your car window or clipped to the back of your rucksack. The device is lighter and smaller than the average smartphone and can be fully charged by USB in about three hours. Interestingly, the device has a LOT of bad reviews on Amazon, so maybe they simply sent me a good one.
I also have a very cheap and nasty handcrank USB charger from dealextreme which can be used to add a bit of juice to the solar battery pack at night or in cloudy weather or can directly charge the phone in an emergency. It's a little flimsy and takes a fair bit of cranking to get enough juice for even one call, but it weighs nothing, cost about $2 and is cheap insurance out in the boonies.
My list of power equipment for the phone/GPS and the iPod Touch for a multi-day walk are as follows:
Short Micro USB cable x 1
iPod USB cable x 1
Scosche SolBAT II battery/charger with alloy carabiner
DX hand crank battery charger
Total weight is less than 200 grams
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a nice list of equipment. How is the solar powered charger coming along?
tgmeyer said:
Yeah, can someone please let me know if they are the exact same manufactuers, except for the company logos on them? I am deciding between the two. Also, what do you guys think of their 2600maH stick version? Which manufactuer would you go for over the other and why? I am very interested.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly i went with pricing. I assume if they look the same they are from the same vendors/manufactures but different brand/company. Reviews for both sound very good too. Ravpower had a promo going on a while back and i tend to see them pop up from time to time on slick deals. The stick might give you one charge but since it looks smaller than the rest, it may be the easiest and lightest to carry around. I say get a decent sized one. Anywhere between 5600mah to 10000mah so you can go through a few charges without needing to charge again.
I have a 6600 mAh(well, in my experience it's not true, more like 4-4.5k), but I rarely use it after I bought a tablet with a fullsized usb port in it.
solar charger
I was looking for a solar charger. I bougth one but it crashed in two days. Therefore I returned it and now I am waiting for another one. In the place I live there are few options
I'm looking for portable (camping/hiking type) solar charger for Samsung Note 2 (T-Mobile version). Just bought GOAL ZERO Nomad 7+ Guide-I/O Plus (which is AA/AAA battery bank. When I plugged in my Note into the solar panel instead of charging it was draining battery, so after 2 hour I wen from 35% down to 19%. I did testing on the battery bank (from USB to micro-USB on the phone and it works fine). So my question is:
1) is it possible that the panel is defective or Note2 is simply so incompatybile with the whole world ?
2) is there any other nice solar kit that would work and at the same time is small and light enough.
This is also possible because Note-2 (as well as Galaxy-3) uses 11 pin instead 5-pin USB pinout...
Eventually I would like to charge also my Samsung SLATE-7. I plugged it to the panel through the lighter outlet (as I have an extra charger that takes the power from the lighter then converts it to the higher voltage/amps - I believe is is around 19-20V). The only problem is that (as I herd) charging this way would be pretty slow. I have spent several hours last two days trying to find something that would work but after my several bad experiences with Samsung I have to be 100% sure when I order something on line. In this case I was lucky as I bought Nomad-7 at REI store so I can easily return it. I've seen several nice chargers on line today but at this moment I cannot be sure that anyone of them would work.
Any advice appreciated.
The note 2 requires at least a 1 amp output JUST to run while you're using the device (ie screen on)... It will charge slowly at 1 amp with the screen off and the phone not in use.
1.5 amps is recommended minimum to charge while you're actually using the device...
2 amps is the stock wall charger...
USB 2.0 output is only 500mA... Which is enough to trickle charge the note 2 while not in use.
So basically... look for a Solar charger that has at least 5v 1amp (if not 2amps) USB output. That should charge it. Or it my opinion? Invest in a 11,000mah + External usb battery and separate Solar panel kit. Most solar kits come with dinky 4000mah or less battery packs which is barely enough to charge your phone once. (if that)
http://www.amazon.com/Amzdeal®-PURE...65&sr=1-1&keywords=amzdeal+power+bank+pure+w1
compact and powerful best describes this must have for cell phone/mp3/camera ect. owner who wants to have a "extra battery" in the palm of there hand. first off shipping was very fast and on time and product was securely shipped and inside box was the 3200mAh unit, a short usb cable and a easy to read owners manual in 4 languages. also i liked that box contained a warranty card and powerbank has 18 month coverage which i though was very nice to know. the units lipstick size (3.46x0.88x0.88in) is perfect for the pocket or in your purse for the women and the units power source comes from LG AA Grade Li-ion 18650 battery cells and that is a big factor for me to have trusted/tested batteries. the unit has a blue led that flashes while unit is being charged and turn steady blue when unit is fully charged. i charged my galaxy S4 from 2% to full and still had a charge left in the powerbank to charge my camera from 6% to full. when connecting a device to powerbank the blue led lights up to show connection then light turns off which i like if charging at night or somewhere you don't want a blue led lighting up. i must say this is a very well constructed, very compact powerbank for under $20 its well worth its weight in gold and it really is a must have unit for on the go.
darren.wlsn1 said:
http://www.amazon.com/Amzdeal®-PURE...65&sr=1-1&keywords=amzdeal+power+bank+pure+w1
compact and powerful best describes this must have for cell phone/mp3/camera ect. owner who wants to have a "extra battery" in the palm of there hand. first off shipping was very fast and on time and product was securely shipped and inside box was the 3200mAh unit, a short usb cable and a easy to read owners manual in 4 languages. also i liked that box contained a warranty card and powerbank has 18 month coverage which i though was very nice to know. the units lipstick size (3.46x0.88x0.88in) is perfect for the pocket or in your purse for the women and the units power source comes from LG AA Grade Li-ion 18650 battery cells and that is a big factor for me to have trusted/tested batteries. the unit has a blue led that flashes while unit is being charged and turn steady blue when unit is fully charged. i charged my galaxy S4 from 2% to full and still had a charge left in the powerbank to charge my camera from 6% to full. when connecting a device to powerbank the blue led lights up to show connection then light turns off which i like if charging at night or somewhere you don't want a blue led lighting up. i must say this is a very well constructed, very compact powerbank for under $20 its well worth its weight in gold and it really is a must have unit for on the go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha, I use 18650 batteries in my e-Cig. 3200mAh would only charge my Note 3 once, maybe. I use a 16,000mAH unit with five outputs and a flashlight. I can charge my phone, camera, headset, watch, and e-Cig all at once. I can do it while the charger is plugged in too, in case there is only one power outlet.
JimSmith94 said:
Ha, I use 18650 batteries in my e-Cig. 3200mAh would only charge my Note 3 once, maybe. I use a 16,000mAH unit with five outputs and a flashlight. I can charge my phone, camera, headset, watch, and e-Cig all at once. I can do it while the charger is plugged in too, in case there is only one power outlet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its nice for a quick charge not made for running whole house but glad your happy.
darren.wlsn1 said:
its nice for a quick charge not made for running whole house but glad your happy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I carry an extra OEM battery in its small carry case in my pocket when I think I might need it around town. The biggie is for plane, bus, train, and hotels where few or no outlets are available.
power
I have a Zen Power bank 2600mAh. Works great for a plain ride, or such. Not the biggest battery but its nice to have som extra power in your pocket when there so output close by.
for me best is xiaomi bank 10.000
we all need extra battery power and the dodocool Portable 12000mAh Power Bank is a perfect choice for your phone/tablet needs. As the owner of a nexus 5/6 as well as a galaxy S4 and a nexus 9 tablet i needed a "all in one" power bank capable of charging a phone and tablet at same time and im happy to say this unit does. At 12,000 mAh theres plenty of power to go around and this unit looks and feels as good as it works with a flat black finish and a chrome bezel around the outside of the unit. there are 4 LEDs that illuminate blue showing how much power is left in the unit and each LED represents 25% so its very easy to see how much juice is left. There are 3 ports at one end and there are clearly marked on bottom of the unit and are 1.0 AMP/2.1 AMP (both output) and in middle of those 2 is your 1.0 AMP input for charging the unit. At 1 AMP the unit charged from 3% to 100% is roughly 13hrs but charging with 2 AMPs i was able to cut that time almost in half and i have used this method for years of charging power banks and never has a issue. In the box was the power bank/owners manual and a 40in usb cable and the weight of the unit is 9 3/4 ounces and has Samsung 18650 Lithium batteries that in my opinion are the best and i have never had a issue wit these batteries in other powerbanks. Unit also has full protection against over-charge / over-discharge / over-current / over-voltage / short-circuit, etc. so that also was a big selling point for me. Here is why you need this unit, i was able to charge my LG Nexus 5 with a 2300mAh battery Three times + 55% remaining on unit and my Galaxy S4 with a 2600mAh battery Three times + 15% remaining on unit so that is impressive.Im very happy with the overall look/feel/price and performance of this dodocool Portable 12000mAh Power Bank and was given this unit for a fair and honest review so with that i see in Amazons product description "3.Build-in white LED Flashlight By long pressing the power button, the flashlight is turned on (Long-press again, off)." and i have other units with this feature and find it very useful but this unit does NOT have this feature and i have contacted dodocool to get confirmation on this and maybe im not seeing it so if needed i will update my review. I gave this unit 5 stars for price and performance and dont think flashlight statement was a error on dodocools end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EyREn-ndd8
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1RHF74N215QIG/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
i was just given this promo code for 15% off for xda users, not sure when it runs out but here ya go.
15% off Promo code ：ZGTDKD95
For review today, I have an Aukey PB-Y14 Powerbank rated at 20000 mAh. Overall I really like this Powerbank. It is very versatile in so much that it can be charged with a lightning plug, USB-C, or Micro-USB. For outputs it has 3 USB-B plugs and the lone USB-C is also an output. Charging speeds are slow being that this powerbank doesn’t support Quallcom’s QuickCharge in any way. Having said that it still does a great job. I already owned another Aukey powerbank (Model PB-T10) which does support QuickCharge 3.0 and it is very fast. Once depleted, the PB-Y14 takes quite a while to charge, but to be fair it is a pretty large battery. It has only needed to be charged once since I’ve received it, and so far it has charged my Note 9 twice and my Chromebook once, battery life as indicated by the row of LED’s on the side shows 50%, so it seems to be holding its own quite well and I like the battery display on this unit much better than that of the PB-T10 which shows you a colored led and you must remember which color coincides with what power range. In summary the PB-Y14 is a very good power bank but would not be my only choice. I like it quite a lot, but I also like my PB-T10 an equal amount. I will continue to keep the PB-T10 in my daily carry bag and perhaps keep the PB-Y14 around home for emergency power in case of outage or possibly to be a mobile power supply for a small computer such as a raspberry pi. My recommendation would be to weigh out your needs as these are both high quality and very affordable. If you must have fast charging, go for a different model such as Aukey’s PB-T10. If you have a need to charge more than 2 devices (the PB-T10 only has 2 outputs) or greater versatility for charging your powerbank (the PB-T10 only has lightning and micro-usb inputs) go for a PB-Y14.
Thank you for posting