Back in , the prototype of a power bank appeared in CES . Since then, the power bank market has grown phenomenally and today, you can find hundreds of different brands on the market. There are so many to choose from, with capacities ranging from 500mAh to 30,000mAh, single or multiple USB ports, with or without a flashlight, etc. Earlier this year, several mobile manufacturers including Xiaomi, Samsung and Nokia launched their wireless power banks, making the market even more competitive.
The choice is bewildering, and it&#;s not like you can just &#;fish a power bank out of the sea&#;. Yes ok, there are lots of tips and guides out there, but today we are going to see how the tech gurus make their choice. You might even get a fringe benefit.
PITAKA MagSafe Power Bank
The easiest and quickest way to judge the quality of a power bank is to check the quality of its case. What materials are used? How well is it designed? Are there any signs of damage? Is the button easy to press?
A quality power bank should have:
1) A clean and complete surface, nothing out of shape. There should be no signs of mechanical damage, no corrosion on any of the connectors.
2) Clear markings about the power ratings, avoid anything blurry that you cannot read.
3) Make sure any buttons and lights work correctly.
Every power bank should have markings which clearly state what the power ratings are. That will help you to understand if it can properly charge your or not.
1) The basic information should be illustrated on the product or in the user manual; this usually includes the capacity, model number, product type, manufacturers&#; information, etc.
2) The Rated input voltage/current and the output voltage/current information is fundamental. But what do these numbers mean? The rated input tells you the standard voltage that the power adapter can connect to so that it can charge the power bank.
If you lose the original power adapter, you could buy a third party one that matches instead of the original. The rated output has to match with the output voltage of the original power adapter for your . It&#;s not recommended to charge your with a power bank that has different voltages; otherwise, you may well damage your .
3) How many times can the full power bank charge my ? That&#;s the question a lot of you will want to know. Usually, that sort of information is not written on the power bank, but with rated capacity and cell/battery rated energy, you can do the math yourself. Don&#;t worry. We will get to that later.
4) Last but not least, the markings about safety certification are also significant. Most electronics products will bear signs of CE, RoHs and FCC. CE and RoHs are required if the product is sold in the EU; while FCC is mandatory for US market. Safety is somehow guaranteed if you see those marks on the power bank.
You will probably find other markings too, such as environmental information. If you are passionate about these environmental factors, you might want to choose a power bank with a &#;cyclic regeneration mark&#; which means that it is recyclable.
You probably know that bigger capacity is better since it can provide more energy. The thing is, there are two different types of capacity: battery capacity and rated capacity. What you usually see on power banks are the battery capacity. What&#;s the difference between those two numbers? Let&#;s read on.
If a power bank is marked as 10,000mAh 3.8V (38Wh), that means its battery capacity is 10,000mAh, the voltage of the battery core is 3.8V, and the battery core energy is 38Wh.
Rated capacity (mAh): Also known as nameplate capacity, is the least output capacity under the rated voltage and current.
For example, the rated capacity of a power bank is 7,000mAh (TYP5.1V 1A), that means the minimum output capacity of the power bank is 7,000mAh in the charging process with 5.1V and 1A output standard.
Conversion efficiency: This indicates the value difference between the battery core energy and rated capacity.
A power bank has a battery capacity as 10,000mAh; the battery core voltage is 3.8V which will increase to 5.1V when it&#;s charging a . So, in theory, its output capacity is:
10,000 * 3.8 / 5.1 = 7,450mAh
The rated capacity is 7,000mAh (TYP5.1V 1A), so the rated conversion efficiency is:
7,000 / 7,450 = 93.96%
In other words, the energy conversion efficiency is about 93.96%, with a 5.1V 1A output standard. About 6.04% of the power is lost in the conversion. If you use professional tools to test the rated output capacity, the result would not be too different. The conversion efficiency of most of the power banks on the market are between 80~90%. Therefore, a power bank with 10,000 battery capacity has about 6,000~7,000 rated output capacity.
Charging rate: 7,000mAh (rated capacity of the power bank) / 3,110mAh (capacity of the iPhone 11 battery) =2.25
Therefore, it can charge your iPhone 11 twice at best.
The lifespan of a power bank depends on two things: how well the power bank is made and how much you use it. The number of charge-discharge cycles, decided by the battery core and other vital components, varies amongst power banks. Typically, this is between 300 ~ 1,000 cycles and if you want my advice, you should definitely avoid any power bank that has less than 500 charge cycles.
Say, the power bank has 500 charge cycles, and you fully charge it once per day on average, then how long it will last? We can work that out with the following simple formula:
Power bank lifespan = Charge cycles * charging rate / using rate
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Where &#;Using rate&#; is the number of times you charge the power bank fully in a day.
As mentioned above, for a 10,000mAh power bank, its charging rate is about 2.25. If it has 500 charging cycles, its lifespan is:
500 * 2.25 / 1 = days = 3.08 years
But where can these charging cycles be found, you may ask? The test of cycle life involves specific equipment, so for now, we&#;ll just have to skip that.
But, if you really want to know, ask the seller before you purchase. Even if you don&#;t get an answer, as you can see from the above example, the power bank will last longer if it has more capacity and a lower use rate. So, it makes sense to go for a big power bank and use it slowly, that way, you should be able to keep for a couple of years if not more.
Now comes the easy part. The charging time depends on the capacity of the powered device (PD) and its input current which equals the output current of the power sourcing device (PSD)
Charging time = battery capacity / actual input current.
Take a 10,000mAh power bank to demonstrate. Its rated input is 5V/2A, so if you use a 5V/1A power adapter to charge it, its actual input current is 1A=1,000mAh. 10,000mAh /1,000mAh=10 hours. If you use a 5V/2A power adapter, it takes 5 hours to fully charge the power bank: 10,000mAh / 2A (2,000mAh) = 5 hours.
Same for charging the . If your battery has 4,000mAh capacity, and the maximum output current of the power bank is 2.5A (input current for the is 2.5A) then it takes about 1.6 hours to fully charge your with the power bank.
You cannot be too more careful with electronic devices, including power banks. They should have protection mechanisms to prevent any danger caused by electricity.
There are several underlying protection mechanisms: over-current protection, under-voltage protection, short-circuit protection, over-temperature protection and overvoltage protection. This information can usually be found in the user manual.
By now, you are probably a power bank expert to some extent. But can you count on all those numbers to consider a purchase? Not really. Knowing everything about a power bank can help you decide the quality, but the quality is not the only standard to define a &#;good&#; product. It also has to do what you want.
Yes, high-capacity power banks have a longer lifespan and higher charging rate, however, a high capacity also means a bigger size. Do you want to carry a bulky power bank in your small bag? Some of you will be shaking your head. If you want to carry an emergency power supply for your when you are out shopping, then a small-sized power bank is best. However, if you are a selfie addict, an extra 30% energy from the power bank may not be enough for your day out. You see, everyone has different needs.
Therefore, the first step to select a power bank is to figure out what kind of power bank you want, then compare power banks of the same type with what you&#;ve learned above.
If you happen to be looking for a power bank for an emergency power supply, check out this recommendation &#;
The MagEZ Battery Pack is a perfectly formed, small-sized, wireless power bank with mAh capacity that can provide an additional 60% energy for your iPhone 14, perfect for your everyday carry and emergency use. With magnets embedded within, it matches flawlessly with MagSafe cases. It can auto attach and align with your iPhone 12, iPhone 13, iPhone 14 series, and iPhone 15 series, safely and securely.
More importantly, the MagSafe battery pack is compatible with our MagEZ Slider, a multi-device charging station that can work as a stand and charges your and AirPods. With the Slider, you can slide the power bank in the dock when it's not used, so you won't misplace or forget to charge the power bank anymore.
You don&#;t have to be a tech guru to select what you want but, you should know the essential tech behind a power bank if you are going to buy one. Don&#;t be fooled by the salesman, do your research and you have a bigger chance to get a power bank that&#;s worth it. Nothing could go amiss.
The extension cords you&#;ll find for sale online are better quality and cost less than the ones generally stocked at brick-and-mortar hardware stores. If you can wait a day or two for shipping, buying online is the way to go. But that&#;s not particularly helpful advice if you&#;re in the middle of a project and need an extension cord right now. If you&#;re going to have only one cord, focus on indoor/outdoor extension cords&#;generally the ones in bright colors&#;and follow the tips laid out here to snag the best cord among the limited options in the store. If you&#;re looking for an indoor cord just to extend your charger or plug in a lamp, the guidelines are a little different.
When you&#;re guessing how long of an extension cord you need, leave yourself extra room for error and buy the next longest cord. Not only is a longer cord more convenient&#;it&#;s annoying to just barely reach your work area&#;-but it&#;s safer too. That&#;s because you&#;re not supposed to daisy-chain extension cords, connecting one to another. The extra length of multiple cords plugged in to each other (without thicker wires to make up for the distance) adds electrical resistance between the outlet and the thing you&#;re trying to power. Added resistance can in turn cause voltage drops that will make equipment like drills, saws, and vacuums run at lower power. The extra resistance of daisy-chaining cords can also cause additional heat to build up along the way, increasing the risk of one of the cords melting or even starting a fire.
Even if you&#;d normally ignore the safety risks and grab the cheaper, shorter cord, there&#;s another practical reason to get a longer cord: A long cord means you&#;re less likely to need to buy another extension cord for your next project.
Aside from length, the thickness of the wires inside an extension cord dictate how much power it can safely carry. Thicker wires can carry more power over longer distances. Any cord at a big-box store should meet the minimum requirements to run low-power gear like lights, battery chargers, or a stereo (see chart below). But the minimum won&#;t do if you want to run power tools like drills, saws, or wet/dry vacs safely and at peak power.
Cord thickness in the US is generally listed in terms of gauge, or AWG. Larger numbers mean smaller wires, which in turn means it can carry less power. A cord measuring 14 AWG is the thinnest we recommend&#;and at lengths of only 25 feet or shorter&#;and the much thicker 10 AWG is likely the thickest gauge you&#;ll find in an extension cord. Look for the numbers in the table above when you&#;re trying to decide which cord is right for you.
If you&#;re confused by the relationship between length and cord thickness, at least look for the amperage rating on the packaging. We recommend skipping indoor/outdoor extension cords rated for 10 A or 13 A. Instead, get one rated for at least 15 A. (If the cord doesn&#;t list a maximum amperage, you should skip it entirely.) That way you can plug in any household tool or equipment, and 15 A breakers or fuses&#;the kind you&#;ll find in most residential electrical panels&#;will cut off the power before the cord is pushed beyond its limits.
For household use, you don&#;t need to worry about voltage ratings. Most cords will be marked for 125 V or 130 V to coincide with residential voltage in the US. Contractor cords meant for job sites may be rated for up to 300 V to meet workplace safety requirements. Though these cords might be a little more robust, there&#;s no reason to spend extra money on them if you&#;re not a professional.
In our guide to the best extension cords, we found that some cords are much more flexible than others, especially at lower temperatures. Flexible cords are easier to stretch out across your workspace, easier to coil and store properly, and less frustrating to use in tight spaces. When cords are tightly wrapped in their packaging on a shelf, it&#;s hard to tell which ones will be easier to work with. Without unspooling all of them in the aisle, the only way to ensure you get a more flexible cord is to find one made for lower temperatures. Not all cords&#; packaging lists the cord&#;s ideal temperature ranges, but we&#;ve found the ones listing temperatures below freezing are generally more flexible at every temperature.
It can be tempting to pick up an extension cord with a few extra outlets at the end, often called a banana tap. But if you&#;re looking for a durable cord to run tools, equipment, work lights, or other power hogs, we don&#;t recommend them because they&#;re easier to overload. For example, a 15 A cord can easily handle a circular saw, but if you add a couple of bright work lights, every time you fire up your saw you&#;ll be overloading the cord. If you&#;ve got a 15 A breaker on that circuit, it&#;ll trip instantly when you try to run the saw and will make working impossible, or if you have a less common 20 A or higher breaker, you risk a surge of current and that will overheat your cord. For anything requiring serious power, and for general-purpose cords you hope to have on hand for years to come, stick to one outlet per cord and per piece of equipment. Indoor cords, meant to power less-demanding items like chargers and lamps, have slightly different rules.
If your cord is destined for your living room or bedside table, you probably aren&#;t looking for the thick, heavy, bright orange or yellow cords we talk about above&#;you probably want something like the cord we recommend for indoor use in our guide to extension cords. For low-power gear like chargers, lamps, or maybe a wireless speaker, the less robust indoor cords are fine as long as you&#;re aware of the limits. A small fan is fine, but a window air conditioner is not. A digital photo frame isn&#;t a problem, but powering a home theater with one is a bad idea.
The most important thing to note with indoor cords is that UL, and even modern building codes, don&#;t allow extension cords to be used in a permanent installation. That definitely means don&#;t use them in place of real electrical cable to wire an outlet, but experts have also told us that indoor cords are commonly used as a long-term solution and run around couches, beds, and other furniture. All those corners and snags can stress a cord, wear out the jacket, and become a major fire hazard in your home. If you own your home, save up and have an electrician come put an outlet in where you need one.
If you rent, or have no other option, take extra care when shopping for or using an indoor cord. Just like with outdoor cords, buy something longer than you need. Having a bit of slack in the cord is even more important in indoor cords so that you don&#;t stress the jacket as you pull the cord around corners. Outdoor cords have standard plugs, but on indoor cords you should look for flat plugs that are less likely to be bumped or tugged from the wall outlet, exposing the connection.
And though indoor cords generally have thinner insulation, if you opt for a round cord you&#;ll probably get more protection. Round cords will likely have two layers of insulation and be more durable than the single-layer cords where you can see the divot between the insulation on two wires. And just like with outdoor cords, indoor cords will have amperage ratings to tell you how much power is safe to plug in. The amperage on indoor cords is generally suitable for digital devices that don&#;t use much power, but don&#;t plan to use it a year later to run your power tools outside when no other cord is around. Indoor cords aren&#;t weather resistant either, which means they&#;re more likely to break down if left in sunny or damp locations for a long period of time.
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