There are lots of power banks on the market today and for good reasons too. Since there are a lot of devices that require charging while we’re on-the-go like smartphones, tablets, laptops and lots of other devices that are compatible to charge with power banks. The need of power banks is ever increasing because we use our electronic devices away from a stable source of power and a portable charger is able to solve our anxiety of our smartphones dying.
With that said, with so many power banks on the market, this also means that there are a lot of different kinds that suit different situations and what you may favor over the other. Let’s take a look at these key categories of power banks and see what they each have to offer.
Rugged Power Banks
Rugged power banks are among the most useful because not all portable chargers are built like them. Much like smartphones, not a lot of them are able to withstand water and take falls because if water does get onto them they get damaged and when a phone does drop, then the screen will most likely break. The same thing goes for power banks because ones that aren’t built to take falls or water will end up getting damaged.
With that said, there are Rugged power banks that are built specifically to take the harsh conditions.
Take for example this Rugged RAVPower power bank. The casing allows it to withstand falls from any height, it’s the perfect type of portable charger to take with you when you’re out biking or hiking; since dropping it won’t do any damage. Additionally, when the charging port cover is covering the ports, then the power bank is rated at an Enclosure of IP66 which means that the power bank is dust-tight and also able to withstand powerful jets of water. However, it cannot survive immersion into water.
Rugged power banks that can take immersion into water are ones that have an Enclosure rating of IP67 like this EasyAcc portable charger. It can withstand immersion in water for 30 minutes straight under 1 meter of water. Also, with this EasyAcc power bank, it’s long lasting with its power capacity of 20,000mAh which makes it perfect to use when you’re away from a stable source of power out in the wilderness.
Most of the time these tough portable chargers have a flashlight and a place to attach a carabiner or rope so you can place the power bank onto a backpack. Power banks that don’t have those kinds of features are difficult to keep on you because you either have to hold them or place them into your bag.
Power Banks with Built-In Charging Cables
Nearly every charging electronic will require a charging cable in order to be used. With that said, it can be a tedious thing to always have to remember to grab a charging cable before heading out with your power bank. This is why there are some power banks that feature built-in charging cables and a few other built in things too.
This RAVPower power bank has two different versions; there’s one version that uses a built-in Micro-USB charging cable for Android smartphones and another version that uses a Lighting charging cable to use with Apple devices like an iPhone. So you’ll always have a cable to use with the device that you use the most.
Additionally, a power bank that has a built-in charging cable also has a charging port just like the power bank above, and it also has a built-in AC Adapter that is used to recharge the power bank by simply plugging the AC Adapter into an AC Outlet. It’s very useful to have everything in once place when it comes to portable chargers.
But there is a step further than that.
This iWalk power bank has it all. There’s a Built-in Micro-USB and Lightning charging cable. There’s also a USB charging cable to recharge the power bank. At the side of it, there’s a charging port and a Micro-USB input to also recharge the power bank. Not only can you recharge the power bank using the built-in USB cable, but it can also be used to share files when you attach a device to either the Built-in Lightning charging cable or the USB Output port. The Built-in Micro-USB cable is not capable of File Sharing.
Everything is literally in a single spot for if you want to charge an Android device, an iPhone/iPad, to recharge the power bank and share files between devices. If you want to charge a third device, you can with the USB port. This is the versatility that you get from a power bank with built-in charging cables.
Small power banks are among the most used types of power banks on the market, so I didn’t feel the need to cover them; since most people use them because they’re easy to carry around and generally have mediocre charging capabilities.
With that said, on the other spectrum, high capacity power banks are very interesting and useful to own. This because they have high power capacities and multiple charging ports.
Like this Anker PowerCore II. It’s one of Anker’s latest power banks on the market and it has a power capacity of 20,000mAh. That’s a power capacity that’s going to last for days before it needs to be recharged. It has 3 charging ports, but the amount of charging ports isn’t impressive. Instead what is impressive is that each of the charging ports has a charging speed of 5V/3.0A, and that means nearly all or at least most USB chargeable devices will charge at their max charging speeds. The usual max charging speeds for charging ports on power banks is 5V/2.4A so a high capacity power bank like this PowerCore II is capable of a lot more.
Along with its high capacity and powerful Output charging, the recharging of the power bank is equally impressive because it has two Micro-USB recharging ports. By using two recharging ports at the same time, the PowerCore II and other power banks that use the same recharging methods are able to recharge in under 6 hours. Normally, power banks that have a high power capacity of 20,000mAh take about 10+ hours to recharge to full.
Ultimately, even though high capacity power banks aren’t as small, or lightweight as small ones, they have strong attributes:
High power capacity that can charge devices multiple times over
Multiple Charging Ports
More Powerful charging ports
Faster Recharging Speed to Accommodate high power capacity
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