You're right, but I wish I could hear as fast as he talks! I have a new battery bank and 2 devices that have outputs for charging other things. Have to check their rates...
Those results are not consistent with the ones in this video from my personal tests. I verified with multiple trials and multiple units, take that as you want.
@@fuzailhamid1122 Not sure how many times it can charge my phone, I got it for charging bigger devices, but it can fully charge my Framework 13 laptop's 55Wh battery. It can also run my Steamdeck for 3 hours and have 20% remaining. I use it regularly and haven't had any issues.
The amount of time you spent testing all this is incredible. You simply over deliver in all your videos by a huge margin. PD3 Voltage chart is cherry on top (for silly devices like Philips PicoPix Max which is locked to 15V) Thanks mate
Your channel and testing methods are on par with Project Farm. To the point that i gladly watch battery bank comparisons without actually needing one. Awesomeness.
That's a STRETCH. This guy doesn't leave all the testing equipment out while it's running for you to see snippets of. ProjectFarm shows you what the results are rather than telling you. I'm not accusing this creator of anything (in fact, I have zero reason to think he's not being truthful) but the way he presents the info, he could easily fudge the results if he chose to.
Project Farm of electronics. Great video. I always would scroll through battery reviews looking for people who measure them to see if they actually have the capacity they claim to have.
Love my Anker 737. On hikes where I need to get food in towns, spending less time in towns is always key to me. That 48min recharge time is perfect to get most things done.
Agree. The 737 is a great battery. I've since bought a couple of the new Prime batteries from Anker also. I've had quite a few other batteries from different budget brands and the ports seem to wear out quickly. (3 months or so). The anchor's been solid.
Longevity is an important factor. The banks that have a BMS that charge to 100% and discharge down to nearly 0% (of the actual internal capacity, not displayed capacity) will not have a long lifespan whatsoever. Li-ion batteries sitting at 100% for long periods before use will degrade quickly. Of course, that isn't easy to test... it takes a long time. My family has gone through so many of these that have lived a short life. Counterintuitively, the batteries tested with the worst % of advertised capacity may be a better product by having a greater lifespan. But that isn't a certainty. It's hard to tell how many are lying about the batteries vs how many are babying the batteries for a longer lifespan.
Yeah, as with all things, longevity is almost impossible to test for 20 power banks and still put out a relevant RUclips video. I'll be putting the UGREEN into service for all of my travel needs and my wife will be keeping the Veektomx in her purse, so I'll definitely update with a pinned comment should anything go wrong with those.
The negative reviews tell a very important story...they are not dependable over time and in some instances, are downright dangerous. They also don't accept returns after 28 days which is actually illegal! @@TheHookUp
@@TheHookUpYou could at least check the individual cells, for signs of unbalanced charging and with that, the ease of repair or at least separate the components.
Your video is packed with technical fundamental value to me and all other consumers without all the blah blah blah that I found around so far. Your communication is essential, precise, punctual. I like your charts. I wish there were more people making videos like yours. Thank you! 😃
Great review! In v2 of the review please include information on whether the power banks support pass-through charging and whether they can charge low-draw devices, as most power banks tend to shut off in such cases.
pass through charging and the ability to use as a UPS for a small device would be nice. Some cut the output power for a few seconds when disconnecting the charging making it unusable as a mini UPS for raspberry Pis
Forgot to comment so here's another $2. Just wanted to say I really appreciate the thoroughness and no-nonsense nature of your video. I didn't even buy anything based on it, but it's so rare to see I wanted to drop a tip.
Much appreciated research on battery banks as there so many out there in the market as you hardly scratch the surface. Fascinating test results. Thanks!!
I watched your video last night and immediately ordered the Veektomx which will arrive later today! Choosing a power bank can be a little daunting with so many different ones on the market, but watching this made my decision so much easier. I thank you for that!
Last time I was looking to buy a Beamer, now a powerbank. You pop up in my RUclips feed and my search ends after watching your video. Keep up the good work, I now subscribed.
I don't know why I was looking for the 20000mAh Baseus 65w Charger to be on the list since it's so highly recommended for Steam deck content creators, but we can't have them all. I'm glad you included the FAA limit as I almost bought a battery that wouldn't have met the requirement. I'm not surprised that the popular Anker slim power back is slow. It takes *forever* to charge and I won't recommend that one. Also, I *love* my Anker 737 power bank. It makes using the Steam deck on the go last longer than the recommended content creator one.
Hi! I'm a new subscriber. I usually don't subscribe to any vlogger or content creators, but you are very good in what you're doing. Thank you so much for not wasting our time. Hats off to the effort you put into it!
one of the best comparison reviews, and I'm not just counting powerbank reviews, I mean overall. Your meticulous testing and easy-to-view diagrams made going through this 21 minute review a breeze! Kudos
I appreciate your testing and information, but the biggest issue I have with power banks (especially Anker) is that they die after several months. We've gone through 5 power banks in 4 years - each time they refuse to take a charge after maybe 40-75 charge-discharge cycles (most of them from ~100% to something well before / above 0%). Would love to see a long-term review test of these power banks next year, if you could. Thanks.
I'll be putting the UGREEN into service for all of my travel needs and my wife will be keeping the Veektomx in her purse, so I'll definitely update with a pinned comment should anything go wrong with those.
I would like to report, I have 3 anker 737s. my oldest has 213 cycles and still is retaining 97% capacity and full functionality. and it gets fully cycled almost daily charging phones and my surface laptop as well as serving as power for testing 3d printer boards with a usb-c to adjustable DC power output board. I can atleast attest to their longer term usability.
Please consider reviewing the Nitecore powerbank. It is often recommended by hikers/backpackers due to its size to capacity ratio. I'd love to see how it fares in your testing!
The prigrammable DC barrel jack on the Shargeek Storm2 is a standout but niche feature. I was part of the Kickstarter for that battery and have picked up a couple others when they went on sale. They make excellent hobby batteries for on-the-go custom power supplies and I've found them to be pretty great overall. A couple of additional test ideas: * Pass-through charging: can you charge devices and charge the power bank at the same time? * Port independence: Does plugging in or removing additional devices cause charging to reset? UGreen used to be terrible about renegotiating charge voltage when plugging or unplugging devices into other ports. This was especially annoying while powering a Raspberry Pi from a power bank and having them reset because I plugged in a portable monitor. Battery banks tend to "reset" when changing what's plugged in. The Storm2 supports both flawlessly.
Passthrough chargimg and port independance are key for what ibjist bought an anker for. And it failed. Resets the output when the input is removed amd cant handle passthrough. I want a 5v ups for an ethernet switch. I ended up using an old freebie powerbank that works perfectly.
@@spr00sem00se Exactly this. The Storm2 supports this provided you don't use the DC barrel jack as an output. I have only found one other power bank that supports this but isn't sold anymore. I was able to use it on a Pi 4, ran it for 6 hours in a duration test and had no issues with passthrough power even if the port configuration changed. Anker == Ugreen in their lack of support for either feature.
If the batteries die on the shargeek, would the batteries be easily replaceable, aside from soldering anyway? I've wanted one for a while, and the slim is on sale for $109 right now
@@roboteen The batteries on the Shargeek Storm2 are not easily replaceable. It was in the FAQ during the Kickstarter campaign and has been repeatedly asked since. I would have LOVED it if they were but without the tools and experience to safely tack-weld contact strips onto new cells, they aren't considered replaceable. This fact and the unfortunate limitation that the DC Barrel jack cannot be used in "output mode" while charging are my key Cons for that pack. It does everything else right and has been one of the best packs I own.
Great video! Your production quality is impressive, reminiscent of Project Farm. I appreciate your deep dive, and I have a two suggestions to enhance your future tests and comparisons, especially as devices increasingly support higher voltage USB-C Power Delivery (PD) profiles, battery pack voltages increase, and the efficiency of the battery bank's DC-DC converters become more critical. For example: I saw effective capacity drop by *DOUBLE-DIGIT percentage points* in my testing _just by tweaking the voltage_ profile output used on my test loads. For the uninitiated, vanilla USB _typically_ operated at 5 Volts, 1 Amp to 2 Amps. But, to enable higher speed charging without thicker cables, manufacturers needed to increase voltage. USB-C PD (and some other “quick charge” protocols) can go to 9, 15, 20, even 48 Volts! Take the Anker 523 PowerCore Slim 10K PD. It has a 37 Watt-hour (Wh) rating (3.7 V battery, 10,000 mAh capacity). The bank outputs up 5V at up to 3A (15W) or 9V at 2.22A (~20W). No battery or output circuitry is ever 100% efficient. But - the voltage boost converters have to work harder boosting the 3.7V battery output to 9V than 5V. When I tested a *10 Watt load* (5 Volts, 2 Amps out) on the *USB-A* port, I pulled about *31 Wh* of energy from the battery, or roughly *85% efficient*. When I tested an *18 Watt load* (9V, 2 amps out).on the *USB-C* port, the bank tapped out at merely *16 Wh*, or *ONLY 43% EFFICIENT!* That is a _HUGE_, purchase-impacting difference! USB-C load testers and protocol emulators have come down dramatically in price, and picking one up will help hold manufacturers accountable to their marketing-speak. Also - communicating capacity: I prefer to speak in *Watt-Hours* rather than than *milliamp hours*. For example: the Anker 523 bank has a *10,000 mAh* battery. The Anker 737 battery (great choice, BTW) has a "mere" *4,000 mAh* battery (per the regulatory sticker). So, according to mAh alone, the 523 _should_ store ~150% more juice...right? We know that's not the case: the 523 Power Bank has a *3.7V* battery (i.e. *37 Wh* of capacity), while the 737 has a *21.6V* battery (i.e. *86.4 Wh* capacity). These more nuanced tests could provide more depth to your already excellent reviews, helping viewers make more informed decisions. Keep up the great work, and I look forward to seeing how your content evolves!
For all the devices that could support 20V I also did a 20V 2A drain to see if there were significant differences but didn't include it in the video because they were all within 5% of the 5V drain tests.
Thank you, that’s solid info. Based off the PD spec (which admittedly has been a slowly-improving crapshoot…), the 20V profile range is 2.25-5A (~45-100W), in my experience used by notebooks and up and not commonly-supported in smaller banks. In that case, I think an interesting test - especially on the (physically smaller) and cheaper ones might be a 9V test - that should really push the cells and DC-DC converters to their limits, and the heat generated might reveal any build-quality/reliability issues. Another cool topic might be the DIY power bank kits from Ali. You can spec the charging boards in them and bring your own cells - it might be fun to see what you can do in terms of features/output quality/capacity against an off the shelf product. I recently assembled a Dyson V10 battery with Molicel P45B 21700 cells and, compared to the OEM Dyson battery, it nearly doubles the runtime and the battery doesn’t seem to get as hot (peak current of 45A per cell vs 25A of the Sony 18650s in the OEM pack - less internal resistance, less heat?)
Didn't expect to see such a quality content for battery banks ... great work! I haven't stumbled on your channel, will most def check out what else you have there :)
Amazingly comprehensive video! Only thing missing is the lifespan of these products but I image you wouldn’t want to use all of these continuously for two years to find out how long they last just to make a review. I was overwhelmed looking at the available products but this helped me figure it out
I don't see any auto discharge on the battery bank.. I love to have a button to disable the battery connection to avoid auto discharge over time... Great review
I wonder too if the Wh ratings are "raw" vs "useable". As others have said in the comments, you don't necessarily want to use 100% of a battery or you kill them pretty quick. A lot of batteries only actually go down to maybe 20% or so of their capacity before they turn off. You'd obviously want to use the "raw" rating as it's a higher sales number, but that would probably account for why pretty much every battery is only measuring 80-90% of it's stated capacity. Kind of like having a 10 gallon fuel tank, but the pickup is placed high up so you can only actually use 8 gallons of it.
That could be a factor, but some of it is also from efficiency of energy transfer. For instance if you measure the amount of energy needed to recharge a 37Wh battery it will always be significantly greater than 37Wh, even if you can only get 33Wh out of that battery when using it.
It would be really nice if the ones with more smarts, like that expensive Shargeek device, let you set min/max values for charge/discharge so a user could prioritize lifespan. Heck, more phones should do that too.
Very nice comparison, the only problem I see is that you didn't really measure how long do these battery banks sustain their high wattage output. For example, the 100W UGREEN model, will only really do 100W for like 10 minutes then it will overheat and only run at 50W. This is also an issue with the higher end Anker ones - to me, its a bit of false advertising.
Great comparison ,thank you , the problem I have with recent powerbanks is that if the charging current is too low , they shut off the charging , making them useless for powering / charging smartwatches / usb Leds - torches/ diy electronic circuits. the weird thing is this is almost never in the specs / manual what is the min current required to stop the shutdown process.
8:209:48 should increase your sample size to 3-5 results to get a better idea of an average. And if the battery ratings are to be trusted, its nice to see how efficient the DC-DC converters are in these battery banks with the energy loss.
One thing that got cut out for time was that the two trials were done on different loads. One of the loads was a 6w LED load while the other was the maximum 5V load the battery would handle. Most of the batteries had very close to the same results on the two different loads the but the Romoss 20,000mAh, Baseus Blade, and cheap Miady did much worse with the high wattage draw.
THANK YOU ! ❤ thank you so much for doing this video. There’s been several questions about battery banks you’ve answered and you did a great comparison between them. I have been wanting to do some battery testing on the rog ally and I’ve been working on acquiring one or two for testing. This is helpful for picking a few more good ones to try up
Just when I think you can't do a more comprehensive review of something...! You must have been some great and thorough teacher before you found your calling with RUclips.
Love the comparison! I'd like to mention that the TSA actually allows up to 2 batteries with a capacity of 101 to 160Wh (it says it literally two lines below the line you highlighted).
@@TheHookUp Yes, I saw that. But thought I'd specify the capacity since batteries above 160Wh are becoming quite common to own too. I think my original comment might of came off a bit rude after reading it again, so I do apologize for that.
I actually returned it. The fan noise drove me crazy and when multiple devices are plugged in it was constantly renegotiating PD status. I might try out the Baseus one next.
@@TheHookUp It has an app that you use to UPDATE FIRMWARE and had much smoother fan ramp up speeds. I SHOULD WARN YOU - 🫣 I had a Baseus PD charger that drove me CRAZY - whenever I added / removed a device, the charger would freak out and it always disrupted the charging process for all the devices that were already plugged in, forcing all the every single device connected to that thing to wake up ( charging DISCONNECTION / RECONNECTION chimes for every device simultaneously 😧 ) The isdt never did anything like that.
What a lot of work and it looks as if it paid off - you found a gem (the Veektomx). Thanks. On the “wireless charging from a power bank a bit silly” comment, I agree for now but I confess that as an iPhone user I am keeping my eye on this section of the power bank market. I do think that the time will come in the not too distant future when Apple will do away with all ports on at least some of its models and at that point, if one of those models is the one I want to get, I will be forced to go out and get a power bank with wireless charging capability. I could simply travel with a plug in wireless charging puck in addition to a non-wireless power bank but I’m hoping that by the time I am forced to go all wireless an all-in-one wireless power bank will be lighter and more compact than a 2 device solution.
What people may or may not know (or think about) is that still being able to use ur phone when it's charging with the power bank gives u twice as much time. Meaning that the battery isn't draining anymore obviously and you'll be able to do what u need to as it's plugged in until the bank is empty. Even if it doesn't charge a lot because u have ur phone brightness up or whatever. I say this cause many of us just need that last bit of power or to have something plugged in where battery doesn't drain so the little extra power banks are perfect for me. No need for the bigger heavier bricks.
I just bought the Veektomx chargers that was tested here, and it feels great and is sized perfectly; I'm surprised that the Zendure SuperMini wasn't tested here though.
Good catch. The issue was actually that the advertised rating says "10,000mAh", but the printed rating is 38.5Wh. I just mixed up advertised and printed. It has 90% of printed rating and 94% of advertised.
If you want the smallest and slimmest 10000mah power bank look at the Nitecore NB10000 / CARBO 10000. But it is not the cheapest. Also you should mention if the Power Bank supports low current mode to charge smart watches or low current device so that the power bank doesn't auto shutdown with low current charging
I would like to see an update to these tests to include a test for charging an iPhone 15 Pro via USB-C PD. I have run into an issue with an Anker Power bank, where because of the iPhone 15s ability to charge other devices the handshake fails and actually discharges the phone. I believe this is due to the combo in an out capability. The dedicated USB-C output ports likely don’t have that problem.
The only thing I wish was included is the watts required to obtain the maximum recharge rates of each of the battery banks to know which charger size would be optimal. The one mentioned was the Anker PowerCore 737 24,000mAh at almost 140 watts. However, I did buy the Veektomx and had a chance to it on a near-dead phone. The recharge speed hits it out of the park, and it's small enough to Velcro to the back of the smartphone, not hang out on any side, and still not even coming close to covering the camera. I agree, it's the only one that makes sense in the phone space. At first I regretted after ordering that I did not go larger. Now I'm glad I didn't and thinking about buying another.
Amazing info. Thank you a lot. I use power banks in the summer when I do cycling trips with a trailer with solar panel on top. I've got an ARM laptop that consumes very little. I do video edits of what I done during the day and upload to RUclips. And watch movies when done. So I power it all with power banks that I charge with my USB solar panels. I want light-weigth but high-capacity. So ordered a Veektomx 10 000mAh to charge my camera and gps during the day. And ordered a 30 000mAh for my laptop. I hope the big ones are as good as the smaller ones. I ordered tons of power banks from Amazon and all except an Anker are very bad and heavy for the capacity. Now the process of sending them back and having better ones instead(I hope). Thank you, cheers. NicoD
I bought a solar power charging one off amazon right before Christmas, so not really looking for another right now. But wow awesome informational video. You're the best.
I've had the anker 737 for over a year now and with a magsafe cable it charges my MBP at about 120W, obviously not for the entirety of the charge but it does reach higher than 100W speeds if the cable and receiving device support it.
Yes and no, there are a few problems with the ROMOSS 40,000mAh that are concerning to me: 1) it is too large for FAA regulations without getting approval from the airline. 2) it is only rated for 65W but will output 90W before shutting off, that seems like poor safety design. 3) It has USB-C PD but it doesn't handshake correctly on all devices. I powered the BENQ GP100A with it and it only offers USB-C Eco mode brightness instead of giving the choice of USB-C Eco and USB-C Normal like the other power banks do. I originally had all that in the script but I ended up trimming for time because the video as first written was over 30 minutes long and a bit of ramble at times.
I found the Romoss really interesting because it's port layout matched a DIY module I recently bought. It's 100w capable but can be programmed to 65w via resistor. Maybe the company skipped that step using the same board. Just my speculation though
Thanks love your channel . We had a few in amazon one was what you recommended so we deleted it and added again using your link so you get your pay out keep up the good work .
Which portable powerbank that wouldn't burn down your house ? With good safety features, temperature sensor, overcharging auto cut off, over discharge auto cut off,etc
In my experience the old anker slim 10k bank has the best longevity of any power bank I’ve seen. And its much smaller than the current anker slim. Comes in at same thickness as the Veektomx. I'd love to see a video on just 20k mAh banks. There's a few "thin" 20k banks on Amazon that i'm curious if are actually accurately rated.
You should also review the Nitecore NB10000 battery bank. Amongst the hiking and light weight travel community, it is considered the smallest and lightest 10,000 mah battery bank. A premium product however, a lot more expensive than Veektomk. The NB10000 is longer, but less tall and wide, it is almost 50% less tall, which is great for sliding into pockets. Also 15g lighter. Of course a lot more expensive and no screen. Veektomk seems like a great value option.
Amazing test. Thanks. I would love to see one for the biggest power banks such as the one that advertise having 70000mah or 80000mah for example. I know you cannot take them on an airplane but those are so beefy you could charge a laptop a few times. Cheers
I have a bunch of cheap 37 watt Wh power banks, Cost? $1.00 Yes, ONE DOLLAR. They work great, had them for 5 years. USB and wireless charging. They were $20, on clearance for a dollar. Bought a lot of them and gave them out as gifts too.
to be the best one was the romoss 40,000 mAh one, it hit 90% capacity and charged at 90W, not sure what else you could ask for. It's the largest capacity at an affordable price.
bro wastes nobody's time
he gives all the info needed clearly and quickly
this man is a true hero
You're right, but I wish I could hear as fast as he talks! I have a new battery bank and 2 devices that have outputs for charging other things. Have to check their rates...
Those results are not consistent with the ones in this video from my personal tests. I verified with multiple trials and multiple units, take that as you want.
It's true. And I'm so thankful for no sponsorships. Most other creators have so many embedded ads in their videos now it's insane.
Thank you for the comparisons. I bought a Ugreen 100W a few weeks ago and forgot to use the affiliate link. It's been working great so-far.
It only had 80% of the advertised capacity right? How is it holding up? How many times can it charge your phone?
@@fuzailhamid1122 Not sure how many times it can charge my phone, I got it for charging bigger devices, but it can fully charge my Framework 13 laptop's 55Wh battery. It can also run my Steamdeck for 3 hours and have 20% remaining. I use it regularly and haven't had any issues.
You should be given a medal for this video. I think you are the only human in this planet who has the patience to test all of these power banks! 😊
for reallllss lmfaooo easily gave a like!
The amount of time you spent testing all this is incredible. You simply over deliver in all your videos by a huge margin.
PD3 Voltage chart is cherry on top (for silly devices like Philips PicoPix Max which is locked to 15V)
Thanks mate
120% of advertised
Your channel and testing methods are on par with Project Farm. To the point that i gladly watch battery bank comparisons without actually needing one. Awesomeness.
Same here. I love this channel! Thank you for the great work and please keep doing tests in this manner!
I came here to comment the Project Farm comparison. It is high praise and belongs here.
Haha project farm is in a class of his own..
That's a STRETCH. This guy doesn't leave all the testing equipment out while it's running for you to see snippets of. ProjectFarm shows you what the results are rather than telling you. I'm not accusing this creator of anything (in fact, I have zero reason to think he's not being truthful) but the way he presents the info, he could easily fudge the results if he chose to.
Project Farm of electronics. Great video. I always would scroll through battery reviews looking for people who measure them to see if they actually have the capacity they claim to have.
Fyi, Project Farm did a under $30 battery bank video 3 weeks ago.
Love my Anker 737. On hikes where I need to get food in towns, spending less time in towns is always key to me. That 48min recharge time is perfect to get most things done.
48min recharge time was crazy to see.
Agree. The 737 is a great battery. I've since bought a couple of the new Prime batteries from Anker also. I've had quite a few other batteries from different budget brands and the ports seem to wear out quickly. (3 months or so). The anchor's been solid.
I stumbled on this channel. This was one the best and most thorough, yet practical reviews I’ve seen all year. Loved it!
Longevity is an important factor. The banks that have a BMS that charge to 100% and discharge down to nearly 0% (of the actual internal capacity, not displayed capacity) will not have a long lifespan whatsoever. Li-ion batteries sitting at 100% for long periods before use will degrade quickly. Of course, that isn't easy to test... it takes a long time. My family has gone through so many of these that have lived a short life. Counterintuitively, the batteries tested with the worst % of advertised capacity may be a better product by having a greater lifespan. But that isn't a certainty. It's hard to tell how many are lying about the batteries vs how many are babying the batteries for a longer lifespan.
Yeah, as with all things, longevity is almost impossible to test for 20 power banks and still put out a relevant RUclips video. I'll be putting the UGREEN into service for all of my travel needs and my wife will be keeping the Veektomx in her purse, so I'll definitely update with a pinned comment should anything go wrong with those.
The negative reviews tell a very important story...they are not dependable over time and in some instances, are downright dangerous. They also don't accept returns after 28 days which is actually illegal! @@TheHookUp
@@TheHookUpYou could at least check the individual cells, for signs of unbalanced charging and with that, the ease of repair or at least separate the components.
@@goiterlanternbasenobody will repair them
@@mostlymessingabout That is the only thing you read? Poor creature🙄
Your comparisons are so good. I love your testing methodology and presentation format. :)
Your video is packed with technical fundamental value to me and all other consumers without all the blah blah blah that I found around so far. Your communication is essential, precise, punctual. I like your charts. I wish there were more people making videos like yours. Thank you! 😃
Great review! In v2 of the review please include information on whether the power banks support pass-through charging and whether they can charge low-draw devices, as most power banks tend to shut off in such cases.
Good idea. Add longevity and reliability to the list as well.
pass through charging and the ability to use as a UPS for a small device would be nice. Some cut the output power for a few seconds when disconnecting the charging making it unusable as a mini UPS for raspberry Pis
Forgot to comment so here's another $2. Just wanted to say I really appreciate the thoroughness and no-nonsense nature of your video. I didn't even buy anything based on it, but it's so rare to see I wanted to drop a tip.
Thanks!
Awesome! Need an episode two with more battery banks!! Maybe even do one on the big portable power stations like the Jackery, EcoFlow, etc!!
Much appreciated research on battery banks as there so many out there in the market as you hardly scratch the surface. Fascinating test results. Thanks!!
I watched your video last night and immediately ordered the Veektomx which will arrive later today! Choosing a power bank can be a little daunting with so many different ones on the market, but watching this made my decision so much easier. I thank you for that!
Last time I was looking to buy a Beamer, now a powerbank. You pop up in my RUclips feed and my search ends after watching your video. Keep up the good work, I now subscribed.
I don't know why I was looking for the 20000mAh Baseus 65w Charger to be on the list since it's so highly recommended for Steam deck content creators, but we can't have them all. I'm glad you included the FAA limit as I almost bought a battery that wouldn't have met the requirement.
I'm not surprised that the popular Anker slim power back is slow. It takes *forever* to charge and I won't recommend that one.
Also, I *love* my Anker 737 power bank. It makes using the Steam deck on the go last longer than the recommended content creator one.
Hi! I'm a new subscriber. I usually don't subscribe to any vlogger or content creators, but you are very good in what you're doing. Thank you so much for not wasting our time. Hats off to the effort you put into it!
Went straight to Amazon and bought a Veektomx. Great review, and thank you.
I don't know how you keep putting those freaking awesome testing.
one of the best comparison reviews, and I'm not just counting powerbank reviews, I mean overall. Your meticulous testing and easy-to-view diagrams made going through this 21 minute review a breeze!
Kudos
You sir are a genius! This has to the most thorough video on power banks that I've seen yey. It is indeed the ultimate battery bank comparison.
I appreciate your testing and information, but the biggest issue I have with power banks (especially Anker) is that they die after several months. We've gone through 5 power banks in 4 years - each time they refuse to take a charge after maybe 40-75 charge-discharge cycles (most of them from ~100% to something well before / above 0%). Would love to see a long-term review test of these power banks next year, if you could. Thanks.
I'll be putting the UGREEN into service for all of my travel needs and my wife will be keeping the Veektomx in her purse, so I'll definitely update with a pinned comment should anything go wrong with those.
I would like to report, I have 3 anker 737s. my oldest has 213 cycles and still is retaining 97% capacity and full functionality. and it gets fully cycled almost daily charging phones and my surface laptop as well as serving as power for testing 3d printer boards with a usb-c to adjustable DC power output board.
I can atleast attest to their longer term usability.
You just earned a new and loyal subscriber. Hats off to the effort you put in this project.
Stunning tests and summary - congrats on a truly wholesome review, commentary and presentation. Thank you
Please consider reviewing the Nitecore powerbank. It is often recommended by hikers/backpackers due to its size to capacity ratio. I'd love to see how it fares in your testing!
This, this needs to be tested and compared.
Agreed, really impressed with Nitecore stuff
Have some nitecore s carabiner, gear tie, and some of those multi keys 👍
Thank you for testing them rather than just list the advertised specs with generic music.
The prigrammable DC barrel jack on the Shargeek Storm2 is a standout but niche feature. I was part of the Kickstarter for that battery and have picked up a couple others when they went on sale. They make excellent hobby batteries for on-the-go custom power supplies and I've found them to be pretty great overall.
A couple of additional test ideas:
* Pass-through charging: can you charge devices and charge the power bank at the same time?
* Port independence: Does plugging in or removing additional devices cause charging to reset?
UGreen used to be terrible about renegotiating charge voltage when plugging or unplugging devices into other ports. This was especially annoying while powering a Raspberry Pi from a power bank and having them reset because I plugged in a portable monitor. Battery banks tend to "reset" when changing what's plugged in.
The Storm2 supports both flawlessly.
Passthrough chargimg and port independance are key for what ibjist bought an anker for. And it failed.
Resets the output when the input is removed amd cant handle passthrough.
I want a 5v ups for an ethernet switch. I ended up using an old freebie powerbank that works perfectly.
@@spr00sem00se Exactly this. The Storm2 supports this provided you don't use the DC barrel jack as an output. I have only found one other power bank that supports this but isn't sold anymore. I was able to use it on a Pi 4, ran it for 6 hours in a duration test and had no issues with passthrough power even if the port configuration changed.
Anker == Ugreen in their lack of support for either feature.
The other power bank I had was listed as this on Amazon a couple of years back:
"ZMI PowerPack Ambi 10000mAh Dual USB C UPS Power Bank"
If the batteries die on the shargeek, would the batteries be easily replaceable, aside from soldering anyway? I've wanted one for a while, and the slim is on sale for $109 right now
@@roboteen The batteries on the Shargeek Storm2 are not easily replaceable. It was in the FAQ during the Kickstarter campaign and has been repeatedly asked since. I would have LOVED it if they were but without the tools and experience to safely tack-weld contact strips onto new cells, they aren't considered replaceable.
This fact and the unfortunate limitation that the DC Barrel jack cannot be used in "output mode" while charging are my key Cons for that pack. It does everything else right and has been one of the best packs I own.
A comment for the algorithm. A perfect comparison video, really appreciate your hard work.
Brilliant content, straight to the point and no fluff.
Great video! Your production quality is impressive, reminiscent of Project Farm. I appreciate your deep dive, and I have a two suggestions to enhance your future tests and comparisons, especially as devices increasingly support higher voltage USB-C Power Delivery (PD) profiles, battery pack voltages increase, and the efficiency of the battery bank's DC-DC converters become more critical. For example: I saw effective capacity drop by *DOUBLE-DIGIT percentage points* in my testing _just by tweaking the voltage_ profile output used on my test loads.
For the uninitiated, vanilla USB _typically_ operated at 5 Volts, 1 Amp to 2 Amps. But, to enable higher speed charging without thicker cables, manufacturers needed to increase voltage. USB-C PD (and some other “quick charge” protocols) can go to 9, 15, 20, even 48 Volts!
Take the Anker 523 PowerCore Slim 10K PD. It has a 37 Watt-hour (Wh) rating (3.7 V battery, 10,000 mAh capacity). The bank outputs up 5V at up to 3A (15W) or 9V at 2.22A (~20W).
No battery or output circuitry is ever 100% efficient. But - the voltage boost converters have to work harder boosting the 3.7V battery output to 9V than 5V.
When I tested a *10 Watt load* (5 Volts, 2 Amps out) on the *USB-A* port, I pulled about *31 Wh* of energy from the battery, or roughly *85% efficient*.
When I tested an *18 Watt load* (9V, 2 amps out).on the *USB-C* port, the bank tapped out at merely *16 Wh*, or *ONLY 43% EFFICIENT!* That is a _HUGE_, purchase-impacting difference! USB-C load testers and protocol emulators have come down dramatically in price, and picking one up will help hold manufacturers accountable to their marketing-speak.
Also - communicating capacity: I prefer to speak in *Watt-Hours* rather than than *milliamp hours*. For example: the Anker 523 bank has a *10,000 mAh* battery. The Anker 737 battery (great choice, BTW) has a "mere" *4,000 mAh* battery (per the regulatory sticker). So, according to mAh alone, the 523 _should_ store ~150% more juice...right?
We know that's not the case: the 523 Power Bank has a *3.7V* battery (i.e. *37 Wh* of capacity), while the 737 has a *21.6V* battery (i.e. *86.4 Wh* capacity).
These more nuanced tests could provide more depth to your already excellent reviews, helping viewers make more informed decisions. Keep up the great work, and I look forward to seeing how your content evolves!
For all the devices that could support 20V I also did a 20V 2A drain to see if there were significant differences but didn't include it in the video because they were all within 5% of the 5V drain tests.
Thank you, that’s solid info. Based off the PD spec (which admittedly has been a slowly-improving crapshoot…), the 20V profile range is 2.25-5A (~45-100W), in my experience used by notebooks and up and not commonly-supported in smaller banks.
In that case, I think an interesting test - especially on the (physically smaller) and cheaper ones might be a 9V test - that should really push the cells and DC-DC converters to their limits, and the heat generated might reveal any build-quality/reliability issues.
Another cool topic might be the DIY power bank kits from Ali. You can spec the charging boards in them and bring your own cells - it might be fun to see what you can do in terms of features/output quality/capacity against an off the shelf product. I recently assembled a Dyson V10 battery with Molicel P45B 21700 cells and, compared to the OEM Dyson battery, it nearly doubles the runtime and the battery doesn’t seem to get as hot (peak current of 45A per cell vs 25A of the Sony 18650s in the OEM pack - less internal resistance, less heat?)
Now that's what I call a review.. Expectacular job!
Very nice testing as always! Those ones that hang off the charging port terrify me
Didn't expect to see such a quality content for battery banks ... great work! I haven't stumbled on your channel, will most def check out what else you have there :)
Amazingly comprehensive video! Only thing missing is the lifespan of these products but I image you wouldn’t want to use all of these continuously for two years to find out how long they last just to make a review. I was overwhelmed looking at the available products but this helped me figure it out
I don't see any auto discharge on the battery bank.. I love to have a button to disable the battery connection to avoid auto discharge over time... Great review
I wonder too if the Wh ratings are "raw" vs "useable". As others have said in the comments, you don't necessarily want to use 100% of a battery or you kill them pretty quick. A lot of batteries only actually go down to maybe 20% or so of their capacity before they turn off. You'd obviously want to use the "raw" rating as it's a higher sales number, but that would probably account for why pretty much every battery is only measuring 80-90% of it's stated capacity. Kind of like having a 10 gallon fuel tank, but the pickup is placed high up so you can only actually use 8 gallons of it.
That could be a factor, but some of it is also from efficiency of energy transfer. For instance if you measure the amount of energy needed to recharge a 37Wh battery it will always be significantly greater than 37Wh, even if you can only get 33Wh out of that battery when using it.
It would be really nice if the ones with more smarts, like that expensive Shargeek device, let you set min/max values for charge/discharge so a user could prioritize lifespan. Heck, more phones should do that too.
Great review! Would be interesting to test storage/longevity life. How much capacity is left after sitting on the shelf for a mo. etc. 👍
Very nice comparison, the only problem I see is that you didn't really measure how long do these battery banks sustain their high wattage output. For example, the 100W UGREEN model, will only really do 100W for like 10 minutes then it will overheat and only run at 50W. This is also an issue with the higher end Anker ones - to me, its a bit of false advertising.
Just ordered your top pic, thanks for the in-depth analysis!
Great comparison ,thank you , the problem I have with recent powerbanks is that if the charging current is too low , they shut off the charging , making them useless for powering / charging smartwatches / usb Leds - torches/ diy electronic circuits. the weird thing is this is almost never in the specs / manual what is the min current required to stop the shutdown process.
Anker has trickle mode which solves this.
8:20 9:48 should increase your sample size to 3-5 results to get a better idea of an average.
And if the battery ratings are to be trusted, its nice to see how efficient the DC-DC converters are in these battery banks with the energy loss.
One thing that got cut out for time was that the two trials were done on different loads. One of the loads was a 6w LED load while the other was the maximum 5V load the battery would handle. Most of the batteries had very close to the same results on the two different loads the but the Romoss 20,000mAh, Baseus Blade, and cheap Miady did much worse with the high wattage draw.
THANK YOU ! ❤ thank you so much for doing this video. There’s been several questions about battery banks you’ve answered and you did a great comparison between them. I have been wanting to do some battery testing on the rog ally and I’ve been working on acquiring one or two for testing. This is helpful for picking a few more good ones to try up
You did a tremendous job once again! Thank you!
Just when I think you can't do a more comprehensive review of something...!
You must have been some great and thorough teacher before you found your calling with RUclips.
Your review read my mind. As I was thinking, you proceeded to answer my questions. Plus we have the same profile photo. Subscribed!
Love the comparison! I'd like to mention that the TSA actually allows up to 2 batteries with a capacity of 101 to 160Wh (it says it literally two lines below the line you highlighted).
It literally has that printed on the screen in white text in a black box on that same screen.
@@TheHookUp Yes, I saw that. But thought I'd specify the capacity since batteries above 160Wh are becoming quite common to own too.
I think my original comment might of came off a bit rude after reading it again, so I do apologize for that.
I am going to japan on december and since my battery is at 70% capacity i am getting the veektomx thanks!
THIS IS SURELY THE BEST CHANNEL FOR TESTING POWERBANKS. THANKS !
14:21 Can we get a product link to that 48W USB-A cable 🙏 please good sir?
Please test Nitecore 10000 mAH power bank because that's the gold standard for everyday carry, the slimmest and lightest.
Great video summarizing so many battery banks! Thank you!
Wow! Who’d of thought? Though I really only use promo ones that I got for free and have never paid for a battery back up
17:22 i bought that same model charger early 2023 - isdt power 200x model. Love it. ❤❤❤
I actually returned it. The fan noise drove me crazy and when multiple devices are plugged in it was constantly renegotiating PD status. I might try out the Baseus one next.
@@TheHookUp It has an app that you use to UPDATE FIRMWARE and had much smoother fan ramp up speeds.
I SHOULD WARN YOU - 🫣 I had a Baseus PD charger that drove me CRAZY - whenever I added / removed a device, the charger would freak out and it always disrupted the charging process for all the
devices that were already plugged in, forcing all the every single device connected to that thing to wake up ( charging DISCONNECTION / RECONNECTION chimes for every device simultaneously 😧 )
The isdt never did anything like that.
What a lot of work and it looks as if it paid off - you found a gem (the Veektomx). Thanks.
On the “wireless charging from a power bank a bit silly” comment, I agree for now but I confess that as an iPhone user I am keeping my eye on this section of the power bank market. I do think that the time will come in the not too distant future when Apple will do away with all ports on at least some of its models and at that point, if one of those models is the one I want to get, I will be forced to go out and get a power bank with wireless charging capability. I could simply travel with a plug in wireless charging puck in addition to a non-wireless power bank but I’m hoping that by the time I am forced to go all wireless an all-in-one wireless power bank will be lighter and more compact than a 2 device solution.
Thanks Rob. Merry Christmas to you and yours. 👍🏻🎄❄
Merry Christmas Ron!
I'm so glad someone made this video.
Im curious to see if the 50,000mAh Veektomx sells is any good as well
Thanks for sharing your Ultimate Battery Bank Comparison!!!🥰😍
What people may or may not know (or think about) is that still being able to use ur phone when it's charging with the power bank gives u twice as much time. Meaning that the battery isn't draining anymore obviously and you'll be able to do what u need to as it's plugged in until the bank is empty. Even if it doesn't charge a lot because u have ur phone brightness up or whatever. I say this cause many of us just need that last bit of power or to have something plugged in where battery doesn't drain so the little extra power banks are perfect for me. No need for the bigger heavier bricks.
I just bought the Veektomx chargers that was tested here, and it feels great and is sized perfectly; I'm surprised that the Zendure SuperMini wasn't tested here though.
Nice video dude 👍
Incredibly thorough and well done. Thank you!
Dangit! I bought battery banks yesterday!
Good test. Please note, if no-one has yet mentioned, 34.84 is 94% of 37 not 90% 7:16
Good catch. The issue was actually that the advertised rating says "10,000mAh", but the printed rating is 38.5Wh. I just mixed up advertised and printed. It has 90% of printed rating and 94% of advertised.
OMG you're like Project Farm but for tech 🧡
If you want the smallest and slimmest 10000mah power bank look at the Nitecore NB10000 / CARBO 10000. But it is not the cheapest.
Also you should mention if the Power Bank supports low current mode to charge smart watches or low current device so that the power bank doesn't auto shutdown with low current charging
Nitecore does look great (but expensive). I hadn't heard of it before publishing this video, but a few people have suggested it in the comments.
Wow dude The thoroughness in this video is amazing. I very much sub and am very thankful
The problem I have with my Anker power bank is it overheats so fast. Thanks for the recommendation on an alternative.
loved your videos! it is straight to the point
Thanks Rob, another great video! Merry Christmas to you and the family!
Merry Christmas!
One of the best comparisons i have seen in long time. Good video a+ 10+ mega 😊
I would like to see an update to these tests to include a test for charging an iPhone 15 Pro via USB-C PD. I have run into an issue with an Anker Power bank, where because of the iPhone 15s ability to charge other devices the handshake fails and actually discharges the phone. I believe this is due to the combo in an out capability. The dedicated USB-C output ports likely don’t have that problem.
I strongly considered buying an iPhone 15 Pro for this video, but in the end I couldn't justify it.
The only thing I wish was included is the watts required to obtain the maximum recharge rates of each of the battery banks to know which charger size would be optimal. The one mentioned was the Anker PowerCore 737 24,000mAh at almost 140 watts.
However, I did buy the Veektomx and had a chance to it on a near-dead phone. The recharge speed hits it out of the park, and it's small enough to Velcro to the back of the smartphone, not hang out on any side, and still not even coming close to covering the camera. I agree, it's the only one that makes sense in the phone space. At first I regretted after ordering that I did not go larger. Now I'm glad I didn't and thinking about buying another.
13:55 It's 15% - 80% for Samsung devices.
This video is amazing man, so much work. Respect!
Thanks, it was a really good info. Pair this with a video about chargers would be nice. Getting from Colombia
Amazing info. Thank you a lot. I use power banks in the summer when I do cycling trips with a trailer with solar panel on top.
I've got an ARM laptop that consumes very little. I do video edits of what I done during the day and upload to RUclips. And watch movies when done.
So I power it all with power banks that I charge with my USB solar panels.
I want light-weigth but high-capacity. So ordered a Veektomx 10 000mAh to charge my camera and gps during the day. And ordered a 30 000mAh for my laptop. I hope the big ones are as good as the smaller ones. I ordered tons of power banks from Amazon and all except an Anker are very bad and heavy for the capacity. Now the process of sending them back and having better ones instead(I hope). Thank you, cheers. NicoD
I bought a solar power charging one off amazon right before Christmas, so not really looking for another right now. But wow awesome informational video. You're the best.
I appreciate your work. Great job!
I've had the anker 737 for over a year now and with a magsafe cable it charges my MBP at about 120W, obviously not for the entirety of the charge but it does reach higher than 100W speeds if the cable and receiving device support it.
Based on your test the Romoss 40,000 is cheaper than the ugreen 20,000 and provides more watts, so the Romoss is the best bang for buck!
Yes and no, there are a few problems with the ROMOSS 40,000mAh that are concerning to me:
1) it is too large for FAA regulations without getting approval from the airline.
2) it is only rated for 65W but will output 90W before shutting off, that seems like poor safety design.
3) It has USB-C PD but it doesn't handshake correctly on all devices. I powered the BENQ GP100A with it and it only offers USB-C Eco mode brightness instead of giving the choice of USB-C Eco and USB-C Normal like the other power banks do.
I originally had all that in the script but I ended up trimming for time because the video as first written was over 30 minutes long and a bit of ramble at times.
I found the Romoss really interesting because it's port layout matched a DIY module I recently bought. It's 100w capable but can be programmed to 65w via resistor. Maybe the company skipped that step using the same board. Just my speculation though
Amazing video, straight to the point and with objective data. Thanks
Thanks love your channel .
We had a few in amazon one was what you recommended so we deleted it and added again using your link so you get your pay out keep up the good work .
Which portable powerbank that wouldn't burn down your house ? With good safety features, temperature sensor, overcharging auto cut off, over discharge auto cut off,etc
In my experience the old anker slim 10k bank has the best longevity of any power bank I’ve seen. And its much smaller than the current anker slim. Comes in at same thickness as the Veektomx. I'd love to see a video on just 20k mAh banks. There's a few "thin" 20k banks on Amazon that i'm curious if are actually accurately rated.
This is easily one of the best review videos.
Well done! Thank you for this video. Would love to see you do comparisons of true and certified MagSafe batteries.
No one has a detailed video about the 100w 20k Ugreen battery pack thank you!
This video deserves more views. Good work!
Good video, lots of information thank you
You should also review the Nitecore NB10000 battery bank. Amongst the hiking and light weight travel community, it is considered the smallest and lightest 10,000 mah battery bank. A premium product however, a lot more expensive than Veektomk. The NB10000 is longer, but less tall and wide, it is almost 50% less tall, which is great for sliding into pockets. Also 15g lighter. Of course a lot more expensive and no screen. Veektomk seems like a great value option.
Amazing test. Thanks. I would love to see one for the biggest power banks such as the one that advertise having 70000mah or 80000mah for example. I know you cannot take them on an airplane but those are so beefy you could charge a laptop a few times. Cheers
Great video! Can you also test the Anker 521 Portable Power Station versus other competitors?
I have a bunch of cheap 37 watt Wh power banks, Cost? $1.00 Yes, ONE DOLLAR. They work great, had them for 5 years. USB and wireless charging.
They were $20, on clearance for a dollar. Bought a lot of them and gave them out as gifts too.
Another important factor is how long the battery can stay full once charged.
to be the best one was the romoss 40,000 mAh one, it hit 90% capacity and charged at 90W, not sure what else you could ask for. It's the largest capacity at an affordable price.
Great work. For the next round a summary of lifespan differences, possibly due to chemistry differences, would be helpful too.
I love a thorough and scientific review. Nice one!