How to buy a power bank?

Yes, your modern gadgets have gone smarter and faster but are they strong enough to withstand the daily grill? Frankly, very few modern gadgets completely serve the long-lasting battery needs and with increasing dependency on smartphone/tablets it has become crucial to find help. Power banks, these days, are underlined as the necessity to survive through the day. Not only Power Banks help you stay connected but also are an ideal solution to SOS situations — not letting your gadgets run out of juice.

Understanding this, Power Banks have come a long way. Not only are they available in several sizes, shapes, styles, colors but also several value-added features. With this begins the dilemma on How to choose the right Power Bank that shall understand your needs? It’s not always the price that helps you decide. With the current technological innovations, it goes beyond. Here’s the list of key things to remember while buying a Power Bank –

To begin with, the most crucial among all is the capacity of the power bank. The capacity comes in mAh - we suggest bigger is always better, go for the highest mAh you can afford, it’s always better to have extra juice rather than running out of it. However, if you are one of those who is always around sockets – we suggest a mid-size, however always pick the mAh which could be two times the output capacity of your mobile battery or the total gadgets which need to be charged.

Next with growing innovations power banks these days come in lightweight and durable build, avoid bulkier cases which is where pay attention to the type of cells — Lithium-ion or Lithium-polymer — used in the power bank. Li-poly cells are more compact and also provide higher charge density per unit weight.

One needs to also keep the usage in mind along with the ‘current draw’ to charge the batteries. Next, people looking to charge multiple devices simultaneously need to opt for a power bank with two or more slots. But with the increase in slots, the price of the power bank increases as well.

For improved safety and performance, buy a model that comes with over voltage protection (OVP), over charge protection (OCP) and over-temperature protection (OTP) that ensure its longevity against spurts in current, and overheating during charging and discharging.

Lastly, while making your buying decision, do ensure that you buy from a reputed brand which will ensure superior quality and longer life. With many duplicates, available, the type available on the streets could also explode due to heating from over charging.

So, don’t forget to browse through the checklist while buying the right Power Bank.

— Ashish Mutneja, CEO - Quantum Hi tech.