Friday, May 24, 2013

A Little Sharing - Power Banks

                                       

How often you come across the photo above? Well, I guess if you are a typical smartphone user, you will see this almost everyday. The next Question is, what will you do? Of course if you are near a power point, all you need is to charge your phone/tablet. Am I right? But what if you are not? What if there is no electricity? Nowadays in Malaysia, you wouldn't know when it's going to be blackout again, right?

What are your options? We have a lot of options, the most simple and cheap is, let it be. No battery? Off phone Lor.. As simple as that. But to those who need to be reachable, this is not the best solution. What else? 

Today we will go into another option, which is the power bank. The gadget most smartphones and tablets user will probably own or intend to own.

What is a "Power Bank" ?
A power bank means a bank which have a lot of power? Haha. Hell no. It's a portable battery bank  that provides energy to keep your gadgets "alive" whenever you need to. The standard capacity of power bank range from 500mAh up to 30000mAh (which I highly doubt. Why? Read on)

                                   
                                           Samples of power banks in the market

If you Google "power bank" , you will see thousands or millions of hit. Reason being, almost all the manufacturer in China are producing power bank! Reason? It's currently the highest demand accessories for smartphones and tablets. And to win the Rat Race, they even sell fake power banks or over claims the capacity of the power bank!

Today, I will share on how to choose a power bank.

Battery
Like I mentioned, power bank is a device that contained batteries. Currently in the market, there are few types of commonly use batteries in power.
Korean batteries (Samsung)
Japanese batteries (Sanyo, Panasonic)
Chinese batteries (china OEM)

The quality of Li-Ion battery differs.

Branded made-in-Japan (eg. Sanyo, Panasonic) one normally has capacity of at least 3100mAh, and comes with 1 year warranty. They have higher price too and won't be chosen to make the cheap power bank selling in the Internet stores. Normally sold in brand such as Sanyo Eneloop power bank in premium store.

Branded made-in-Korea (eg. Samsung) one is quite reliable too. Part number could be ICR18650-30A, ICR18650-28A, ICR18650-26F, ICR18650-26D, ICR18650-24E, ICR18650-24F, ICE18650-22F, etc. 30F means capacity is 3000mAh, 22F means capacity is 2200mAh, and so on. Normally used by Samsung in their own power bank which are sold in Authorized Samsung Store / we store. Find it in www.connect2u.my

Samsung OEM made-in-China Li-Ion battery has 4 grades. The highest A01 grade normally reserved for Samsung own use, while A02, A03 and A04 are made available for customers. Part number could be ICR18650-20, ICR18650-22, ICR18650-24, ICR18650-26, etc. If a power bank claimed to use Samsung batteries, the batteries inside are probably the A02~A04 type. Normally used by Manufacturer to increase the quality of the power banks as its more reliable than the china OEM batteries.

Certain unbranded made-in-china battery were found to have only 1600-1800mAh but also put in the 18650 code and claimed to have 3000mAh. The cheap power banks probably are using this kind of Li-Ion battery. You can find most of these selling in most discounted website such as dealmates, groupons, ebays, Lelong, mudah and various forums.

                                           
                                  Feelook Power Bank using Samsung battery

So the next time you planning to get a power bank, you can ask about the type of battery. Next, the battery capacity.

This is the part that confuses a lot of people. In the market, you can find up to 30,000mAh. Problem is, if a battery can only store up to 3,000mAh, how many do you think they will need to put in a 30,000mAh Battery Pack? 10 batteries? Now, show me a power bank that can store 10 batteries and you will still buy. 

So, what comes to your mind? The over claimed the capacity. Ya. And most people fell for it. It's so nice to have a 30,000mAh with to only RM99 to RM129. "Mana mau cari?"

You have doubt on what I said? You think I am just sour grape cos I do not own a big capacity power bank, right? Read on...

Calculation of the Capacity. 
For your information, although you have a 30,000mAh batteries, due to the leakage and voltage conversion, you can only use about 80% of the maximum capacity. Which means, for a 30,000mAh, you only have around 24,000mAh to charge your devices. But again, 24,000mAh is already a very high capacity and allowed you to fully charge more than 2 times for your iPad or 10 times your galaxy S3. But how many times your power bank can charge? You try and let me know? Full charge means from 0 to 100%.

Battery capacity:
Galaxy S3 - 2100mAh
Galaxy S4 - 2600mAh
Galaxy Note - 2500mAh
IPhone 5 - 1450mAh
iPad 4 - 10,000 mAh

For an iPhone 5, with a 30,000mAh capacity power bank, you should able to fully charge at least up to 15 times! But most of us only able to charge let say 3-4 times? 

Your next Question. Then how come my power bank weight as heavy?
My answer? Nah, I can't give you a definite answer unless you open up the power bank but you will end up voiding the warranty, if any. 

                         6 pcs of batteries which looks like a damaged recycle batteries.

                                     
                                        Worse, you might even find 2 packs of sand!

You think it's a prank? Yes it is. From the manufacturer it is. This is taken by one if the unlucky owner from Taiwan who bought his power bank in china. The source of articles will be posted at the end of this topic. 

So, ladies and gentlemen, hope this will help you on making decision on your next power bank. As much as we wanted to get the most value for our money, this are some of the areas I would like you to  consider.

For purchasing of power banks, kindly visit www.connect2u.my

Sources: 
http://voyager8.blogspot.com/2013/03/beware-of-dishonest-cheap-power-bank.html
http://www.gizmochina.com/2013/04/12/beware-of-fake-2400-mah-powerbank/



29 comments:

  1. I like this blog...I think that it would be fun to get into investing...... solar panels cost

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really enjoy to read your blog and will be waiting for your next update.I appreciate all the work you put into this site, helping out others with your fun and creative works.
    Power Bank

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  3. what a awesome details you have about Power Banks. I appreciated on it. did you ever try travel charger in india.

    ReplyDelete
  4. F-EYE Power Bank is a great instance of high technological gadgets of our daily life. It is a type of portable charger or traveling charger which is helpful to charge different devices even where in one got stuck with no charging facilities. It is a typical combination of energy supply as well as battery charging that can charge your devices like mobile phones, tablets, laptop etc without supply of electricity. Apart, power bank is featured with several benefits like.
    ------------------------
    10000mAh Power Bank

    ReplyDelete
  5. F-EYE Power Bank is a great instance of high technological gadgets of our daily life. It is a type of portable charger or traveling charger which is helpful to charge different devices even where in one got stuck with no charging facilities. It is a typical combination of energy supply as well as battery charging that can charge your devices like mobile phones, tablets, laptop etc without supply of electricity. Apart, power bank is featured with several benefits like.
    ------------------------
    10000mAh Power Bank

    ReplyDelete
  6. Power bank is required to charge once and then you can charge your cell phone whenever and wherever usually depends upon the usage of your phone.
    ..........................................
    power bank

    ReplyDelete
  7. your blog Provides things are helps me to find my detail. your blog is very good for me please keep it up.I like it
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  8. Very good information about solar related products.I loved it.
    For more info just go ahead with Solar Batteries | Solar Power

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AMAZON GREAT INDIAN SALE.....!!! #POWERBANKS

      CLICK HERE :- http://www.amazon.in/dp/B01ARKVL9G

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  9. Smartphone 5 Times.I Just Bought Today from latestone.com and Checked By Charging My 4 Android Phones....Works Perfectly Fine..!!!!!
    Which is Great For Android Mob. Phones if You Watch Movies Alot While Travelling..

    So,Great Product,Easy To Use.
    It Comes With 4 Different Connectors For Different Platforms Phones. Any Android Smartphone,Nokia,Apple iPad 4th and 5th Generation and Also iPhone 5s...Since This Comes With Lightning {Dock} connecto

    ReplyDelete
  10. Quite Informative article. Good that i stopped by ur blog. I have been using power bank from latestone.com which proved to be quite convenient and useful for me. It is a 16800 mAh battery at reasonable price. May be you can try.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Quite Informative article. Good that i stopped by ur blog. I have been using power bank from latestone.com which proved to be quite convenient and useful for me. It is a 16800 mAh battery at reasonable price. May be you can try.

    ReplyDelete
  12. iONZ provides Portable USB Charger Power Bank Assembled in the USA. Also providing solutions for power bank, portable usb charger, iPhone power bank, usb portable charger, Samsung power bank, ionz portable charger and iPhone portable charger.

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  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  14. uimi power banks : the ultimate battery support of 6000 mAh to 13000 mAh for your Smart phones, Smart watches, Bluetooth’s etc.
    Visit for more information : http://www.uimitech.com/

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  15. Thnaks for sharing amazing information about power bank

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AMAZON GREAT INDIAN SALE.....!!! #POWERBANKS

      CLICK HERE :- http://www.amazon.in/dp/B01ARKVL9G

      Delete
  16. A Power Bank does not need external power all the times to recharge the sets. Power Bank 10000 mAh are good enough to get the phones recharged till you reach back home or office. Modern power banks use a set of USB chargers through which they can recharge more than one device at one time.

    ReplyDelete
  17. An Amazing and Best Suitable Power Charger for your Smartphone @amazonindia
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    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You won’t get power socket everywhere. Sometimes even when you get the socket in some public place, it would be difficult to put up your device for charging due to security reasons. The smart phones and tablets have many important documents as well as data that may be kept secured and hence you would not be able to put your mobile for charging at some unknown place. Power bank would make it easy for you. It will remain besides you and it is easy to keep a track of your device when it is charging. You can keep your power bank for charging wherever you get power supply and then use it to charge your mobile or tablet without posing any security risks. Even you can receive the alerts when the mobile is being charged by power bank besides you.

      Delete
  18. this post is very unique, keep sharing some more post with us.
    power bank manufacturers

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  19. Now a days Smart phone uses is increase rapidly, so that everyone needs a power to use smartphone, power bank is the only option for that, whenever you are choosing any power bank brand, get its genuine review, see this site for more information.

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  22. I really enjoy to read your blog about power bank. You can also check creative work with diary and it is called Power Bank Diary.

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  23. I am very happy to read this blog ...thanks for sharing us .

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  24. Hi, buddy, great effort in your article i saw this Power Bank

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  25. Very good post with wonderful ideas that are much useful. Thanks for sharing your ideas. I suggest we can also add Pennline power bank organizer from William Penn website . Visit this online store for more information.

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