PowerBank recommdations - Qualcomm

pigeonguyuk · 30 Nov 2017 at 00:31

Hi All
I'm looking to get myself a good quality PowerBank for my Sony Xperia XZ and other mobile devices.

It needs to have at least 2 outputs and be Qualcomm 3.0 quick charge rated

The 2 brands I see at the minute with best reviews is RAVpower and Anker but I'm struggling to find a reliable place that will ship one to Northern Ireland

Any recommendations would be appreciated

Budget is £30-40 but would maybe stretch to £50 max

Orcvader · 30 Nov 2017 at 09:20

There's the Anker PowerCore Speed 20000 with QC 3.0 on the Rainforest for £36, but I've no idea how much delivery will be to the NI.

killsta · 30 Nov 2017 at 09:20

Anything by Anker, choose based on size and how much you want to carry around with you

marc2003 · 30 Nov 2017 at 09:26

Not sure what the situation is with amazon and their own deliveries in NI but royal mail have to cover it for the same price as the rest of the UK. Surely you must be able to order postable items without being hit with silly charges?

pigeonguyuk · 30 Nov 2017 at 10:58

marc2003 said:
Not sure what the situation is with amazon and their own deliveries in NI but royal mail have to cover it for the same price as the rest of the UK. Surely you must be able to order postable items without being hit with silly charges?

Yeah pricing is okay but the problem is a lot of companies wont send batteries as they are high risk items hat could "explode" so the ones on amazon cannot be sent to Northern Ireland.

marc2003 · 30 Nov 2017 at 11:29

Oops, I should have remembered that. I know I've been asked what my own packages contain when sending them via the post office.

pigeonguyuk · 30 Nov 2017 at 12:04

marc2003 said:
Oops, I should have remembered that. I know I've been asked what my own packages contain when sending them via the post office.

I honestly don't see why they have so many restrictions. If its packaged well and if handled properly then there is little risk

Rroff · 30 Nov 2017 at 12:07

NI is funny for that - you can get devices sent that have the same capacity - but try getting a power bank with that capacity sent and nope.

Chris Wilson · 30 Nov 2017 at 15:01

Do many of these power banks recharge direct from a car's 12V? Thanks.

Rroff · 30 Nov 2017 at 15:05

Most will recharge via one of - micro USB 5V, 12V DC (usually 5.5x2.1 or 5.5x2.5 plug) or 19v with a range of socket size. 5V USB is the most common input for recharging - you can get cheap adapters that will convert from 12V to 5V for this with a cigarette lighter style plug if required.

You can also get power banks that give a couple of attempts to jump start a car which might be handy for emergencies. (I'm not sure how good they really are).

Chris Wilson · 30 Nov 2017 at 15:51

Thanks for that, very helpful and appreciated, cheers Rroff!

Rroff · 30 Nov 2017 at 18:15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_xrjWhnPvQ

Looks like the decent ones do work quite well for emergency starting a car - been thinking of getting one in case of emergencies.

pigeonguyuk · 1 Dec 2017 at 12:18

Just ordered the following Ravpower RP-PB043 powerpak, 20100mAh/74.3Wh with USB C guy on the bay has 3 available .Says selling due to a wireless project not being completed. £20 delivered when they are normally £40-50 new so not a bad price.

Kainz · 1 Dec 2017 at 23:47

pigeonguyuk said:
Just ordered the following Ravpower RP-PB043 powerpak, 20100mAh/74.3Wh with USB C guy on the bay has 3 available .Says selling due to a wireless project not being completed. £20 delivered when they are normally £40-50 new so not a bad price.

I own 7 of these (don't ask) and they're superb. The majority of mine are the QC2.0 older models with the same capacity and features of the current ones. Just purchased a further 2 (qc3.0's) on amazon black Friday taking my total to 7.

They're very reliable and very well built. I took 3 to the Maldives last year and they were reliable even in the hot weather. I've not a bad thing to say about their products, well packaged and you get USB-C cables with them that work well on all my USB-C devices.

pigeonguyuk · 3 Dec 2017 at 12:32

Kainz said:
I own 7 of these (don't ask) and they're superb. The majority of mine are the QC2.0 older models with the same capacity and features of the current ones. Just purchased a further 2 (qc3.0's) on amazon black Friday taking my total to 7.

They're very reliable and very well built. I took 3 to the Maldives last year and they were reliable even in the hot weather. I've not a bad thing to say about their products, well packaged and you get USB-C cables with them that work well on all my USB-C devices.

still 2 on the bay @ £20 each if u need more bargin 2nd hand price.

Kainz · 3 Dec 2017 at 19:32

pigeonguyuk said:
still 2 on the bay @ £20 each if u need more bargin 2nd hand price.

Ah cheers mate, but I think 7 is enough lol. Carrying them to work every so often to charge them up is a slog and a half as it is!

mrk · 3 Dec 2017 at 20:27

Whatever you get, make sure it charges via USB-C and not Micro USB. The sooner we shift on from the old standard the better.

Any Type C power bank will have at least Type A ports where you connect to your devices, so just make sure the power input for the bank is USB-C.

Kainz · 3 Dec 2017 at 21:03

Yep. I'm a tad annoyed that the vast majority of high capacity banks out there aren't USB-C. Anker don't even seem to have many anymore.

Rroff · 3 Dec 2017 at 21:04

For some reason a lot of USB C stuff got pulled, especially Anker, not sure why - they had a decent lineup of wall chargers and powerbanks for like 2 weeks then they all disappeared (some have even completely disappeared from their product pages).

I actually picked up one of these (nearly half price) on Black Friday due to USB C output plus AC which could be handy:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-R.../B01MDKHWNR/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1512335169

£40 off at the moment if you click the promotion thing and select the right option - its a pretty hefty device though and some controversy over capacity though mine seems around about rated.

mrk said:
Whatever you get, make sure it charges via USB-C and not Micro USB. The sooner we shift on from the old standard the better.

Any Type C power bank will have at least Type A ports where you connect to your devices, so just make sure the power input for the bank is USB-C.

Some exceptions aside a lot of powerbanks that can be recharged via USB C don't actually charge any faster than micro USB - the ones that charge faster tend to use DC barrel connectors at 12 or 19v 1.5-2amp inputs rather than 5v which isn't always the most handy.

mrk · 3 Dec 2017 at 21:17

Aye I was more on about going for one with a USB-C input for the sake of not having to be stuck with a device that has a Micro USB port in couple of years time as opposed to it being faster than Micro or not!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Xtorm-AL450-Essential-Power-Bank/dp/B014690TOW

That's the one I have. it's very expensive, but has been very reliable. Once I'm done charging a USB-C device, just flip the cable around and charge it from the wall or car via the C input.

It's only QC2.0 though, or USB-PD (5V 3A), but I think it's still one of the few reliable ones with fast charging, in a compact design for the capacity.