It’s con/festival/camping/theme park season, which means it’s time to talk about portable chargers. While most modern phones can easily hold a charge for a full day, that may not be enough during these events. Throughout a festival or trip to a theme park, you may find yourself browsing or uploading to social media more frequently or playing Candy Crush as you wait for lines to let in to the attraction (or bathroom). While camping, your outlet access may be limited and watching downloaded content from Netflix or reading an e-book during your much deserved downtime is going to be draining on your battery. Of course, if you’re a hardcore convention goer, it could be more than 24 hours before you even see your expensive hotel room again and shoddy reception, picture-taking, video recording and minimizing the boredom of endless queues means you’re definitely going to need a boost before you have access to an outlet — because who really wants to be tied to that one spot on the wall with a plug when their battery finally reaches critical.
There are countless portable chargers out there so it’s expected some will be better than others. We’re going to strictly look at Aukey’s 20000mAh Portable Charger with Quick Charge 3.0 Power Bank. To start, let’s state the obvious: it’s a beast. This isn’t an everyday, in case of emergency, backup battery — it’s relatively larger than many chargers (16 x 10.2 x 3 cm or 5.9” x 3.2” x 0.8”) and has a fair bit of weight (454 g or 13.7 oz) to it. Most recently, I was disappointed to discover it doesn’t fit into any of the compartments of the nifty cable organizer I purchased for travelling. But if you’re not going to be carrying it around a lot or don’t mind tossing it into a backpack with other “survival” gear, it does include some benefits.
Charging the power bank overnight before embarking on your journey seems like the best strategy as it does take a few hours to fully charge — but based on the capacity that’s to be expected. Fortunately, once it’s full, it doesn’t seem to lose much energy if it’s not used immediately. The dual USB charging ports allows for universal compatibility and the option to charge two devices simultaneously, which means you only need to carry one charger for you and your companion/family. The other feature that may also justify the size is you can charge your phone multiple times before having to recharge the battery pack, which is a huge bonus if you’re not going to be near an outlet for an extended period of time. Moreover, the indicator button keeps you informed of the battery level so you don’t suddenly run out of juice.
It doesn’t include any cables to connect your devices (unless you’re able to use a micro-USB cable), but this leaves it up to you to choose whether you prefer a 6” cable that won’t get tangled in your bag or an ultra-long 10′ cord that allows you more freedom to move around. And if you find yourself looking for something in the dark, the power bank also has a built-in flashlight.
This portable charger has become a staple when I’m attending fan conventions, film festivals and theme parks with an associated, battery-draining app (looking at you Disney). Sure, I’d love if it was a little smaller and/or lighter, but I accept the trade-off for more power and not having to charge it after a single use. This tiny brick of power won’t be right for everyone, but it shouldn’t be overlooked.
