[Guide] How to choose the right power bank

Power banks have became much more like a necessity these days for smartphones in specific. No matter how humongous the battery is fitted into your device, there is going to be some tragedy where you run out of juice – as for my case, plugged my phone to the charger but forgotten to turn it on. Luckily there was still enough juice to have the alarm ring – but that’s my fiasco, and it still happens sometimes. That’s why it’s important to always have a power bank!

Now I’ve been asked the same question in a similar fashion too many times – what/which power bank should I buy? Or even the question of how to know which is good? Well, here are 5 rules of thumb to consider while choosing the power bank for you or for someone else; they do make a great birthday present after all, no doubt.

Before we begin, this is my own personal recommendation on what’s important – arranged in no particular order – while choosing a power bank. It differs from person to person, and it’s entirely your choice to take the advice or not. I hold no responsibility if you choose a not-so-suitable power bank for yourself.

1. Size and weight

Surely no one wants to carry a light but humongous piece of battery, or in contrast, a small but heavy battery pack out everyday and everywhere.

So here comes the tough part – what size and weight is suitable for you is something that I cannot dictate, it’s entirely up to you. What I can tell you is that power banks come in all shapes and sizes.

My rule of thumb in getting the suitable size and weight is most certainly not something like this Yoobao power bank. It’s a long stick – almost as long as the iPad Air – and weight about as much as an iPad too. It’s great if you’re going to put it in a handbag, but I put my stuff in a pocket.

My personal power bank is this one – it shapes like a 2.5-inch external hard disk, and weighs extremely light for its capabilities. Side note : this power bank is not for sale in Malaysia.

2. Capacity

The biggest question of all times while choosing a power bank :

How many times can it charge my [insert phone model here]??

The more, the better, right? Certainly it is, but you’ll have to keep in mind that the capacity correlates to the size and weight quite strongly. If you’re going to get one that has something like 6,000 mAh, it’s relatively light, but if you’re using that 10,000 mAh Yoobao power bank I showed you, it weighs a lot more than the 6,000 mAh.

So how do you choose the correct capacity? Choose something that has at least twice the capacity of your phone. The reason is this – on an extremely busy day, it’s sure to be charged throughout the entire day.

My other reason is a little technical, but I’ll try to get it simple. As batteries are charged but unused, it’ll slowly releases its charge over time, meaning that if you did charge it to 100% but did not use it, it will drop to a lower percentage. Varying from battery cells, some of them can hold charge pretty well, but some of them are just nasty and drops too low.

Getting one that has at least double the capacity of your phone’s battery is not only for the sake of buying, but it’s obviously as a safety net if your phone battery drops below certain levels.

3. Output current

On the power bank or even your chargers, you can see there’s something that says Output: 5V/1A or 5V/2.1A. The most important thing is that ampere it outputs, or how many A it has.

In this case, the more is always better. Why? Because the output current tells how fast it can charge a device. Having 2.1A output can charge your device of whatever capacity much faster than using a 1A charger.

It’s a little tough to find power banks that have 2.1A output, but I assure – once you used a 2.1A output power bank before, you will never go back.

4. Brand/battery cell used

The thing that holds the charge is the most important thing when it comes to portability. This point heavily correlates with the capacity too. To look for a good power bank, hunt for those that uses Korean or Japanese battery cells as they make the best battery cells available for now.

Batteries are known to bulge up after some time of usage, and that’s a known fact. However, high quality battery cells can withstand a lot longer than bootlegged or poor quality ones.

Surely not all the brands will disclose the brand of battery cells used, but you can always trust of some of the bigger brands that also has power banks available for sale. I’m talking about brands like Cooler Master, Gigabyte, Sanyo, Panasonic/Eneloop, just to name a few.1A output port and relatively small – all housed into an anodized aluminium housing. It is a little on the heavier side, but then again for RM36, who dares to complain?

With limited units, don’t be sad if you can’t get one. There are always alternatives. Here’s a list.

1. Gigabyte’s TINT series of power banks
2. Cooler Master/Choiix POWER FORT 5600mAh or 6600mAh
3. Hunt or wait for the next batch of Xiaomi power banks.

Before I end this, there’s one thing I must emphasize.

Never settle for cheap, ripoff products.

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