How to choose an external battery

Modern mobile devices, smartphones and tablets are a productive device that suits almost everyone, except for one thing — the battery lasts a short time, and it usually sits down at the most inopportune moment. To be able to recharge the phone directly in the field, are designed external batteries, or power banks, as they call them. It is for this reason that the choice of an external battery must be approached with all responsibility.

choose an external battery

Top Powerbank Manufacturers

When choosing a portable battery, preference should be given to the leaders of the microelectronics market, whose product range includes a large number of such devices:

Meizu;
Xiaomi;
Samsung;
Toshiba;
Acer;
Nokia;

When choosing a powerbank, it is necessary to take into account both the technical characteristics of a particular device, the form factor and capacity, as well as the feedback and opinions that have developed on it in the course of long-term operation. This information in some cases will be decisive for a particular buyer, rather than the beautiful numbers in the advertising booklet.

Types of Portable Batteries

Despite the general principle of operation and purpose, power banks are divided into the following conditional groups:

USB Rechargeable Batteries

The classic form factor, which assumes the presence of two separate inputs - one of which serves as output and is designed to charge the connected devices, the second - the input and is designed to replenish the capacity of the power bank itself. Replenish the energy using a computer USB port, as well as 220 and 12 volt networks with appropriate adapters.

Virtues

Decent functionality;

Charged by USB, ordinary power outlet or car cigarette lighter;

Capable of providing up to 5 cycles of fully charging a mobile phone or other similar devices;

Compact size;

disadvantages

High-quality devices of the road;

It turns out to be useless, being discharged far from the socket;

Power banks equipped with built-in dynamo

Devices, the principle of which involves charging not only through an external power source, but also through the built-in dynamo. For this purpose, a special pen is used, rotating which the user generates electricity, which is used to charge the battery. The rest of the device is identical to the classic power banks.

Virtues

Small dimensions and minimum weight;

A variety of options that differ in size, battery capacity and functionality;

Charging both thanks to the USB port, as well as the built-in dynamo;

disadvantages

More expensive than the usual options;

Tendency to failure of the mechanical part of the device;

The renewal of energy through the dynamo is rather slow;

Batteries with integrated solar panel

Recharged not only from the USB-connector, but also with the help of solar energy.For this purpose, a special solar panel is used, located on the outside of the device.

Virtues

Small dimensions;

Various models in size and battery capacity;

Charging from 220 and 12 volt networks, as well as using solar energy;

disadvantages

Expensive;

Slowly charged from the sun;

It turns out to be useless in cloudy weather and at night;

Portable battery selection options

external battery selection criteria

Built-in battery capacity

The main criterion that is responsible for how many cell phone charging cycles the power bank can withstand without the need for recharging. It is measured in milliamperes per hour - the traditional value typical of all electronic devices. To determine the approximate resource of the device, it is necessary to divide its capacity by the capacity of the battery of the charging smartphone, rounding the resulting value to whole numbers.

If the battery of your iPhone has a capacity of 3000 mAh, and the portable power bank is equipped with a “battery” of 15,000 mAh, the number of full charge cycles will be from 4 to 5 depending on the outdoor temperature and operating conditions.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the compliance of the actual and declared figures of the capacity. This is very often sin Chinese manufacturers, giving the "weak" power banks for powerful devices. It is for this reason that it is strongly recommended not to buy the cheapest models;

Features of the choice of an external battery for the phone according to the strength of the output current and voltage

The output current of the USB port is the main parameter that determines the charging speed of the connected device.

Headlamps and other compact devices that are not equipped with a capacious battery do not require excessive output current. Values of 500-750 Miles-amps are enough for fast charging;
Action cameras, cameras, push-button mobile phones will require for fast charging an output current of 1-1.2 Amperes;
Smartphones, tablets and other electronic equipment are able to efficiently charge only from the current, the value of 2-2.5 Ampere. The use of a source with less power will stretch the energy replenishment time up to 100% up to 4-5 hours;

As for the charging voltage, all modern microelectronics is designed for a current of 5 volts. The use of a lower voltage is not able to provide productive charging of the battery, but a higher current may cause their power controller to instantly exit.

Features of the choice of an external battery for a smartphone by the presence of additional options

Recharging the smartphone battery is far from the only function that modern power banks are capable of providing. On sale there are devices that have:

Built-in flashlight;
MP-3 - player, FM-transmitter and built-in radio;
A flash drive with a capacity of 18 to 256 gigabytes;
Moistureproof and shockproof housing;
The above functions are a nice addition, and if we consider the power bank from the standpoint of the main function, the primary value is provided by the capacity of the built-in battery, the power of the output current and methods of charging.