Charging has become an absolute necessity in our world and that’s because we have lots of devices that require charging. Smartphones, tablets, laptops and a whole bunch of other devices require charging and in such a wireless world we’re usually stuck with USB wall chargers. USB wall chargers are among the most used type of charging electronics on the market and that’s because they’re easiest ones to use and basically came first in the event of charging our electronics.
With that said, when you’re using a USB wall charger you’re stuck with it and have to be close to it until the device that you’re charging is up to a good point and then you’re free. That can take up quite a bit of time and most of us simply hate that. We’d rather be free and do what we want on time. Which is why power banks exist.
Power banks are portable chargers that enable us to charge our devices while we’re on-the-go. Owning a portable charger can literally be life changing as you don’t have to stay stuck to a stationary charger. Also, with power banks constantly increasing in popularity, there are a bunch of different type of power banks being created which means that you have more options of what portable chargers you can get.
In this article, I’ll be going over the types of power banks and what you should be looking for when searching for a power bank to purchase.
Power Capacity and Size of a Portable Charger
The power capacity of power banks is the first thing that you’re looking at before you actually purchase one and that’s a good thing to do; because depending on what the power capacity of the power bank is, you’ll either be able to charge your smartphone one time or multiple times.
This brings us to the 2 main forms of power banks.
Mini Power Banks
Mini power banks are the most used type of portable chargers and this is because of their absurdly small sizes. However, the main reason that a power bank is able to be so small that it can fit into your pocket is because of its low power capacity. Mini portable chargers may be very easy to take basically anywhere you want, but they’re really only able to charge a smartphone about 1 or 2 times; as they have power capacities of 3,000mAh to 5,000mAh.
With that said, Mini power banks usually come in two different sizes. They’re either cylindrical or they’re slim. Slim power banks are the best kind of small power banks to own because they’re the same size as your smartphone, and as a result, they can fit into your pocket along with your smartphone.
High Capacity Power Banks
Larger power banks that have higher power capacities aren’t bought or used nearly as much as Mini power banks because of their increased size and weight. So they won’t be fitting into your pocket and neither will you be able to hold them for very long.
However, for what they lack in portability, high capacity power banks still pack a punch. This is because they have high enough power capacities that are able to charge most smartphones and tablets multiple times over and still be used. They also have lots of charging ports that allow you to charge multiple devices at once; just as a USB wall charger allows you to do, but with a power bank you get to go wherever you’d like with it.
Amount of Charging Ports
Like we mentioned, the usage of numerous charging ports is prevalent mostly with high capacity power banks, and as awesome as it is to have lots of ports to charge from, what’s more, important is to know the charging speeds of each of them.
If you had a power bank that has 3 charging ports and of the 3 ports has a charging speed of 5V/1.0A and the Max Output of the power bank is 5V/3.0A. Then that’s a very slow charging speed for those devices that are charging. Instead, a power bank that has 3 charging ports should have 5V/2.0A charging for each of its ports because most modern devices have a charging speed into the 2 Amp range rather than the 1 Amp range.
The Brand that you Purchase From
Since power banks are becoming increasingly popular, there are a lot of companies that now sell power banks. This is a good and bad thing. It’s a good thing because with more people selling power banks, there’s more innovation being done with different companies that are able to improve current portable chargers with improved charging speeds and smaller sizes with higher power capacities. Competition does indeed lead to improvement.
With that said, on the other end of the spectrum, there are a lot of power banks on the market that are being sold that aren’t up to standards. They have slow charging, poor quality materials and stop working after just weeks of use. People are willing to purchase the first good looking power bank they see and that is a mistake.
Instead, a power bank and basically any other charging electronic should be purchased from companies that have a great reputation of selling great products. Some of these companies include Anker and Aukey. Both of those companies sell charging electronic products like power banks, USB wall chargers, and car chargers. Best of all, all of their products are great quality with high power capacity, small power capacity power banks, fast charging speed, and their products are highly reliable.
Unfortunately, not all power banks are created equal and so you have to be careful where you purchase your power banks from to get the best quality.
There is actually a lot of things that you need to consider, not only mAh of the power bank.