When it comes to choosing power banks it can be a difficult selection to choose from. If you end up purchasing a power bank without guidance you can very well end up with a power bank that you never really wanted.

The problem or rather the reason that it’s difficult to know what power bank to get is because there are so many types of power banks on the market. There are not only lots of types but there are also lots of companies that sell low-quality power banks. Which is why it’s vital to purchase a power bank knowing that you’re purchasing it from the right brand and that it has all of the right powering abilities.

Let’s start with the two parts that make owning a power bank important.

How much portability and power?

The main thing to remember when it comes power banks is that the power capacity and the portability are connected. That’s the reason that power banks that have low power capacities are the most popular and high capacity ones are less popular.

Owning a Mini Power Bank

Power banks that have low power capacities have fewer batteries and the batteries that are used are very small. These types of power banks are so small that they’re able to fit into your pocket and you can also hold them for long periods of time. If you’re searching for the most portable types of Mini power banks then I recommend ones that have Slim form factors and the reason for that is because Slim power banks are basically the same size as your smartphone.

With all that said, it’s important to remember that a low power capacity fo 3,000mAh to 5,000mAh are best to use with smartphones only. That’s because most smartphones are able to charge to full power at least once with these types of power banks. Charging higher capacity devices such as tablets doesn’t make sense as they won’t be able to charge near full power at all.

High Capacity Power Bank

Then there are the more useful but less portable, high capacity power banks. These types of power banks have power capacities that are within the 20,000mAh to 30,000mAh range. As result, they use multiple large batteries and that makes the power bank large and heavy. It’s still a portable charger, it’s just that most of these types of power banks are not able to fit into your pocket.

With all that said, the power capacity is perfect for recharging smartphones, tablets and loads of other devices lots of times to their full power. They also use many charging ports, which means that you can charge lots of devices at once. Another thing is that most of these power banks use special charging techs like Quick Charge or USB-C. When you use those charging technologies with compatible devices, then they’re able to charge at max charging speeds.

Not only is the Max Output really good, some of them even have fast Input charging methods that use 2 Input ports.

Charging Speeds and Ports

When it comes to Mini power banks it’s normal to have slow charging speeds for Output and Input. However, newer Mini power banks are now having faster Output charging ports, so it’s important to keep an eye out for those.

With that said, when it comes to high capacity power banks, that’s when it’s vital to pay attention to the charging speed that each charging port offers. The reason for this is because a power bank can have many USB Ports but if all of those ports featuring 5V/1.0A charging speeds, the power bank is not a good one.

Charging speeds are more important than the quantity of ports and that is why if a power bank has 3 USB Ports, then each of those port should output a charging speed of 5V/2.0A at least. That’s because most devices are able to charge at max speeds or near max at 2 Amps or higher. Another thing to keep note of is charging technologies like Quick Charge or USB-C. Quick Charge tech is compatible with lots of Android smartphones currently on the market; also USB-C is a growing charging technology that is becoming more common among smartphones and laptops.

Max Output

Knowing the Max Output of a power bank with many ports is also important. The Max Output is a power bank’s or really any charging electronic’s ability to Output as much power as possible. Which is why is a power bank does have 3 USB Ports and each of those ports has a charging speed of 5V/2.0A, then the Max Output of the Power bank should be 6 Amps. That’s because a Max Output of 6A will allow each of the 3 USB ports to Output 2 Amps each without compromising any power loss.

Recharging

Mini power banks mostly have slow recharging because they have less power to recuperate. When it comes to high capacity power banks though, the really good ones use fast recharging methods that include using 2 Input ports so the power bank can recharge at double speeds. Some power banks also use Quick Charge or USB-C for recharging, and as a result, they’re able to recharge faster.

Brand that you purchase from

Since power banks are such a famous charging electronic, there are a lot of companies that have jumped onto the bandwagon of selling them. That has resulted in a Surge of companies that sell power banks; it’s a good and bad thing. The reason for that is because there’s lots of innovation, as well as companies that just sell complete garbage products that stop working after just a few weeks or months.

Which is why you must know whether the company that you’re purchasing your power bank from is a reputable one. The ways to know this is by looking closely at the specs of the power bank and make sure that when they advertise “Fast Charging” that it’s not 1 Amp charging. It also helps to read reviews from past customers and to know the experience they had with the power banks. Another really good way to tell that you’re purchasing from a good brand is to check the warranty and see how long it lasts. Long lasting warranties basically ensure that the company stands behind their product 100%.

Author Bio:

My name is Usman Haq. I’m currently a tech blogger and also an Engineering student. I’m the founder and owner of ChargerHarbor.com. A website that provides tons of information on charging electronics.