Always in touch: TOP-5 external batteries

Trust Urban Revolt Power Bank 4400

Miniature Power Bank from the Dutch company Trust attracts attention due to its dimensions. It is small, light and will fit even in the pocket of jeans.

Of the 4,400 mAh, about 2,900 mAh is available for charging gadgets, i.e. the efficiency of the device is approximately 66% — the average result for all external batteries. However, the available volume is enough to recharge most modern gadgets, if not 100%, then most of them. During charging, you will have to be patient — the output current of 1 A will not allow you to quickly complete the process.

On the one hand, the compact size of the device allows you to carry it with you on a daily basis, and on the other hand, due to the small size, we had to sacrifice space for another USB connector. Although for such a small total capacity, it is not necessary at all — for simultaneous charging of several smartphones, the battery volume should be more a priori.

A nice bonus for owners of an external battery is the presence of a built-in flashlight. It cannot be said that it shines well, but the flashlight will be able to illuminate itself in order to find a phone for which it is too lazy to get out of bed, or under your feet in a dark entrance.

Reference. The effective capacity is the amount of mAh that the battery can actually give out to charge the connected devices, taking into account all energy consumption. It differs from the real one due to the fact that the operating voltage of external batteries is 3.6-3.7 V, and they output 5 V at the USB output. Thus, part of the charge is spent on voltage conversion, and another part is lost when heating or working at low temperatures. Usually the effective capacity is about 65-75% of the real one.

TP-LINK TL-PB10400

Not everyone will be able to recognize an external battery in a nice elongated rectangle the first time. The device from TP-Link has just such an interesting form factor.

The device occupies a place right in the middle in the hierarchy of external batteries. It is neither big nor small, it is not expensive, but it is not cheap, it has average characteristics. The stated battery capacity is 10400 mAh, the real one is slightly less (about 7200 mAh). It will be enough, for example, for a full charge of the tablet Lenovo IdeaTab 2 16 GB / LTE with a 7000 mAh battery or as much as 4 charging cycles of the popular Apple iPhone 6S 16 GB , whose battery has a capacity of 1710 mAh.

Owners of TP-LINK TL-PB10400 like it because it has as many as 6 degrees of protection: from overcharging, short circuit, overheating, over-discharge, overvoltage and exceeding the permissible current level. It's also good that there are two USB ports on the case for charging gadgets. One of them outputs a charging current of 2 A (for more energy—consuming devices), and the other — 1 A.

In this model, engineers have built a flashlight that shines blue. Getting lost in the woods, you can not only charge your phone to call for help, but also highlight the path to know where to go. The battery charge level is checked by pressing the button that turns on the 4-point indicator light.

Some will consider the atypical form of an external battery impractical, others will like it on the contrary. From the closest competitors in the class, the model differs only in it — otherwise it is no better and no worse than its rivals.

Xiaomi Mi Power Bank 16000

Power bank'i from the Chinese company Xiaomi is the most popular product in the category of external batteries. They are attracted by the price-quality ratio, which is the best on the market.

The effective capacity of the model with the index 16000 is a little more than 10200 mAh. The loss of real capacity is inherent in all external batteries and is mainly due to the need to convert the voltage during operation from 3.6 V to 5 V.In the arsenal of Xiaomi Mi Power Bank 16000 there are two USB ports, respectively, the battery can charge two gadgets at the same time. Both ports produce a current of 2.1 A — charging the tablet or phone is quite fast. For example, charge a smartphone from zero Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 16 GB / 2 GB with a 4000 mAh battery, it is possible in 3-3.5 hours.

The battery case is made of aluminium alloy, which gives it solidity. The disadvantage of this kind of design is that you can inadvertently scratch the smartphone itself. The size and weight of the gadget can not boast of miniaturization — it turned out to be very dimensional and heavy. Therefore, the PowerBank is more convenient to carry in a backpack or a women's handbag. It will also fit into the jacket pocket, but it will clearly bulge out of it.

The indication of the remaining charge is shown by four light indicators located on the upper face of the device. Before traveling, it is necessary to double—check the charge level, because the main purpose of the device is long-distance trips, where it is not easy to find an outlet for recharging your favorite gadgets.

Asus ZenPower

At first glance, the battery from Asus is very similar to Xiaomi Mi Power Bank 10000 . Both in appearance and specifications.

And indeed, Asus ZenPower has a similar aluminium case, which is not different in width and height from a regular credit card, and about the same effective capacity (about 6600 mAh). The differences lie in the larger output current (2.4 A instead of 2.1 A), as well as in the location of the remaining charge indicator and the USB port, which, unfortunately, is only one. 2.4A of the output current allows you to gain a little in the charging time of gadgets — the battery {!!! block='price' idgood='509983' !!! The 3000 mAh battery will be fully charged in about 2.5 hours.

The aluminium battery case is an undoubted plus. But if you put the phone close to it, there is a risk of scratching it. Therefore, the savvy engineers of Asus have supplemented the package with a special case, called the Asus ZenPower Bumper. It will not only protect the device and the gadgets in contact with it, but also paint the external battery in a bright colour (black, blue, orange or light green).

In case of overheating, an increase in the voltage level above the nominal or a short circuit in the battery, the built-in protection is triggered, which will keep the device in working condition.

The battery will not take up much space and will be useful to everyone who wants to always be online, and the built-in battery in your favorite gadget is not enough for a whole day of use.

Extra Digital MP-S23000

The external battery Extra Digital MP-S23000 has an impressive capacity of 23000 mAh, which is enough to recharge any of your gadgets.

Visually, the battery is very similar to an 8-inch tablet. The similarity is not only in size, but also in the presence of a solar panel that resembles a screen from afar. You can charge the device from the sun, but you will have to spend a lot of time on this matter. Therefore, the scope of use of the solar panel is often limited only to compensation of battery self-discharge.

The external battery is very versatile. The package includes as many as 10 adapters for charging mobile phones and tablets, as well as 10 more connectors covering the main laptop models on the market. Since the latter have different supply voltages, there is a switch of charging modes 12 V, 16 V and 19 V on the battery case. When the output voltage increases, the effective capacity of the device drops. Nevertheless, it allows you to add one and a half to two hours of life to even the most voracious laptop.

The use of 6 lithium-polymer cells in the battery design allowed to reduce the overall dimensions and weight of the device in comparison with lithium-ion batteries. And still it turned out to be heavy — you can't carry 650 g with you in your pocket every day. Konek Extra Digital MP-S23000 — hiking and traveling. The battery is capable of operating efficiently in the temperature range from -10 °C to +60 °C and will withstand approximately 500 recharge cycles.