Tips On Buying A Power Bank

It depends on your requirement.  If you don’t carry too many devices when you travel, then you can buy a small and low capacity one just to charge your smart phone.  If you need to charge a IPad, computer, etc., then you will need a one that has high capacity.

1. Capacity - Determine Your Usage:

The main attribute associated to a power bank is its capacity.  This capacity is measured in milli Ampere Hour i.e. mAH. You can’t exactly calculate how many times a specific powerbank can charge your device, but the rule of thumb is more mAH rating mean more capacity.
So if you have a phone with a 1500mAH battery, ideally a capacity of 1500mAH can fully charge it once.  And when you buy a portable power bank, make sure that it can charge the battery of a specific device i.e. its output voltage matches with the device you own, because if the output voltage of the charger is less than the device being charged, it won’t work.
And of course if you have a charge with a larger output voltage than your device, you may be able get several charges.
Should you decide on buying a portable charger, keep your own usage in mind.  To meet huge charging needs of consumers, 8400mAh and 11200mAh  units are also available.  There are chargers that can charge almost any type of device, from all types of companies. This includes laptops, ipad, ipod, tablets, and mobile phones from Apple, Samsung and HTC.
Sample Usage Guide…

• 1500mAh battery : mobile phone – 1 full charge.
• 5200mAh battery : mobile phone – 2 full charges. Ipad – approximately 40%.
• 10000mAh battery : mobile phone – 4 full charges. Ipad – 100% full charge.

Power banks are available in almost all the countries at various prices and in varying sizes and specs.  Before purchasing you should make sure that they are not used.  Used chargers will be a waste of money as their life span is not much.  Life span can also be greatly reduced if it is kept in adverse environmental conditions for a long time.
There are portable chargers whose lifetime is reduced at temperatures more than 45 Celsius. However, at extreme temperatures such as over 70 Celsius there is a good probability that the battery will be completely damaged.

2. USB Charging:

Some powerbanks contain a built in USB charging capability.  Some of the older models don’t have this feature.  They had a separate cable which one had to carry along with the device. This added to the number of things that could go wrong in its usage.  People were not able to charge their cell phones if they lost or forgot the cable at their home.  Once the device is charged the cable can be easily folded into the powerbank.  To charge the device all one has to do is to unfold the adapter and plug into the required slot.
The better quality power banks will come with a set of connectors for different device types, such as, Sony Ericsson , Apple, Nokia, Samsung, etc.

3. Price & Quality:

Apart from battery strength one other thing which can help you make a rational decision is the price.  But you should not buy a portable power bank which either uses refurbished batteries or which doesn’t contain the basic features e.g. short circuit, over charging protection and temperature protection.

4. Portability:

Several reasons of buying a power bank is that it is portable and will charge your device.  You can buy cheap ones with big capacity, but they usually will not charge your gadgets properly, or break down on you.
If you are looking to buy a portable power bank, we really recommend not going for the cheapest option. Thid is one of times where you do indeed get what you pay for. A mid-range to upper range price will be a great option with no sacrifice on quality.
Because of the large number of personal devices that we now have such as iPhones, iPads, Ardroids, smart phones, some cameras, GPS, MP4, IPods and Bluetooth to name a few, it’s practically a necessity to have one if you want to make sure that you never run out of battery on your device.
There is nothing more frustrating than running out of battery.  Before I had a Power Bank, I was on a long drive, using Google Maps with my Android.  My car charger stopped working, so my mobile battery died halfway through the 4 hour journey and I had to find my way without back home relying on stopping and asking for directions several times.

5. Power Bank Recommendations To Best Charge Your Devices

After extensive research, we have found several excellent sources for a rechargeable battery pack and give it our highest recommendations.

5200mAh Charger

If you just need to charge your mobile phone, the PowerGen Mobile 5200mAh  is an excellent choice.  You can get up to 2 charges for iphone.  The price is $29.99.
According to the package insert, this battery pack has capacity to charge the following:
* iPhone 4: 2 charges
* iPad 2: 45% of one charge
* iPad 3: 27% of one charge
“The PowerGen 5200 works as expected for a 5200 mAh battery. I can charge my Kindle 3G from critically low to full charge twice with enough juice left to give it one more partial charge. I charged my new iPhone 4S from 5% to full charge once and I still have about 75% charge left in my battery pack. “