Best Power Bank (Portable Charger) Under $30? Let’s find out!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ย. 2024
- Power Banks: Anker, INIU, S22 Mini, Miady, LOVELEDI, IXNINE, KEOLL, CFIAI, iWalk, FEOB, Baseus, Durecopow, Erkrist, MREGB, RGVOTA, and GOODaaa. Power banks tested for maximum output wattage from USB and lightning ports, maximum mAh or Watt Hour capacity, and the amount of time to recharge the completely drained power banks.
I bought all of the power banks and equipment used to test the power banks to ensure an unbiased review. So, thank you for supporting the channel.
Hope to see you at the 2024 Matt’s Off Road Games: offroadgames.c...
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➡ Products Tested In This Video (in no particular order):
Baseus: amzn.to/47AMDw9
S22 Mini: amzn.to/48ZquZn
Miady: amzn.to/3tNm60Q
LOVELEDI: amzn.to/3UbzRRL
IXNINE: amzn.to/3U1KuGF
KEOLL: amzn.to/3u58L3N
INIU B61: amzn.to/3vy4ExB
CFIAI: amzn.to/47HzpgU
iWalk: amzn.to/3Sc0tzs
FEOB: amzn.to/3OaBGu9
Anker Slim: amzn.to/3O8lKJ8
INIU B41: amzn.to/48F9DeB
Durecopow: amzn.to/3O7cWmF
Erkrist: amzn.to/3SybzjH
MREGB: amzn.to/3S7dyKl
RGVOTA: amzn.to/3OabYWR
GOODaaa: amzn.to/3S2IgnG
Anker 737: amzn.to/3vIqQ8v
3 in 1 Type C Tester: amzn.to/3SnWKQs
240 Watt USB-C Cable: amzn.to/3SokzaO
45W Fast USB-C Charger: amzn.to/3tUSlev
Electric Load Tester: amzn.to/48BueAp
Videography Equipment:
Sony DSC-RX10 III Cyber-shot Digital Still Camera: amzn.to/2YdXvPw
Canon 70D Camera: amzn.to/31b5Gy0
Azden Microphone: amzn.to/34d3DLE
Go Pro Bundle: amzn.to/3Ca0ZVN
This video is only for entertainment purposes. If you rely on the information portrayed in this video, you assume the responsibility for the results. Project Farm LLC
Here's the list of products reviewed. More details in the video description. Thank you!
Baseus: amzn.to/47AMDw9
S22 Mini: amzn.to/48ZquZn
Miady: amzn.to/3tNm60Q
LOVELEDI: amzn.to/3UbzRRL
IXNINE: amzn.to/3U1KuGF
KEOLL: amzn.to/3u58L3N
INIU B61: amzn.to/3vy4ExB
CFIAI: amzn.to/47HzpgU
iWalk: amzn.to/3Sc0tzs
FEOB: amzn.to/3OaBGu9
Anker Slim: amzn.to/3O8lKJ8
INIU B41: amzn.to/48F9DeB
Durecopow: amzn.to/3O7cWmF
Erkrist: amzn.to/3SybzjH
MREGB: amzn.to/3S7dyKl
RGVOTA: amzn.to/3OabYWR
GOODaaa: amzn.to/3S2IgnG
Anker 737: amzn.to/3vIqQ8v
3 in 1 Type C Tester: amzn.to/3SnWKQs
240 Watt USB-C Cable: amzn.to/3SokzaO
45W Fast USB-C Charger: amzn.to/3tUSlev
Electric Load Tester: amzn.to/48BueAp
And the Anker 737 just went from $92 to $197 in less than 2 hours. Very impressive!
$109 on amazon?
Hilarious comment! Unfortunately, I think it’s the larger 250w model that is $179. The 140w model is $109.
all of them lie about their product so i will not be buying any of them
@@dondon-kw5zx Good on you to stay true to your boundaries and expectations.
$79.99 for me on amozon
This is probably the most useful channel on TH-cam, honest, to the point with no bs, and quality information on everday items people actually use. Thank you sir for all the work and info you put out.
Thanks and you are welcome!
Dishwashers, let's see the efficiency and if it's a waste of energy, water and/or prove they're just a gimmick.
We're gonna test that!!!!
Absolutely live by this channel and many thanks to you Sir!
The handle is 20 years old 🧐
@@ProjectFarm Could you do one on toothpaste? so many types ranging from basic to fancy. Is there a difference though? Thanks for all the reviews :)
I would love to see a comparison of lunch boxes. Which one is the most durable, keeps food cold the best, etc. Can't use our tools on the job if we're not fueled up at lunch!
My Scooby Doo one is pretty awesome
Great suggestion. I have been doing meal prep lately and have resorted to an insulated bag that I stuff in my backpack. Would like something more substantial
Thank you for the video idea!
Motivation I needed for work today! Thanks
Heated ones as well
Electrical engineer here. I have tested every product and charging cable I've bought over the years off Amazon. INIU is the brand I've found most consistent and performs well for the price point. All of my charging cables are INIU. Nice to see the results reflected here as well.
I was going to add the bit about capacity but I see someone else has covered that. "Doman Stuff"
Thanks for the feedback.
@@ProjectFarm I am an EE as well and 'INUI' is a junk brand. i test four of their chargers as a Vine Reviewer on Amazon and while actual A hours capacity new was only a 20% exaggeration, the number of cycles fore failure was abysmal, as low as 100 cycles before failure whereas anker, ravpower and other actual name brands have gone over 500 cycles no problem. if you notice all the long term reviews people have problems with INUI. These are pump and dump companies buying class b or worse cells or quality control fails in bulk. They rely on early reviews that can reflect capacity, but by their nature don't reflect low number of cycles one gets.
Based on Amazon prices, keoll is the better choice at half the price
What’s the best power bank to use when you’ll be traveling by train and plane? Price doesn’t matter, but I feel like you’d have a good opinion.
@@lamma746 watch the end of rhe video
The fact that you have an actual impact on the whole MARKET of a product is mind blowing. Well done! You could become your own testing agency and develop your own seal of approval for products haha. I'm shocked at how not even one power bank you tested reached its advertised rating. What's worst is that a lot of them barely even came close. If that isn't some false advertising, I don't know what is!
Thank you very much!
Cousin Eddie Farm reports...!!!! Ha ha ha...
It would be the honest version of LTT labs!!
😂😂😂
Welcome to capitalism!
I test all my lipo (liion) batteries with an RC hobby charger and if they don't reach at least 90% of their rated capacity I will return them or request a refund. I usually test at 1C charging rate. I haven't tested any if my power banks yet. The amount of lying in the battery market is mind blowing.
Biggest takeaway from this one is how shady and misleading these popup companies are with their capacity ratings, knowing most people will never know. Thanks for the tests!
You are welcome!
Yep, that is why from all chinese brands I chose anker and baseus. They are fairly honest about what they sell, considering how much scam is present in chinese Lion battery market. PF performed 18630 cell tests which shows how far off they can be.
The mah is listed using 3.7v calculation because that’s what all these cells are, he drained them at a higher voltage which means there are some conversion loses which reduce the mah. Calculate the mah using the batteries cells voltage and you’ll see that they all come close to stated capacity. Now in the real world all standard usb-a devices run on 5v, so yes it’s a clever marketing trick to use batteries 3.7v to show a higher mah rating, but if he set his tester to draw 3.7v on all of these, they would come close to mah capacity stated on battery.
You're absolutely right that many companies deliberately lie about it. But in many cases it's also semantics. It's like how hard drive manufacturers say 1gb is 1000Mbytes for advertising purposes, but it gets calculated as 1024. Basically these battery ratings are for the ideal max best case. Like the actual power the battery can hold before conversion, heat, resistance, etc, inefficiencies.
@@Dmeech100they are using those magical 9000mAh cells as well. Quite a few of those cheap cells have been proven to deliver 20-30% of their actual rating.
Looking at the packaging of these chargers they appear to be using pouch cells.
Anker’s had a decent reputation for a while, but I’ve had good luck with Baseus and INIU recently and it was cool to see how they did. I’d love to see a second roundup, perhaps with a couple UGREEN models-they seem to be high quality and I’d be interested in how they stack up. Thanks for your work, kind sir!
You are welcome! Thanks for the suggestion.
ive also been using anker and iniu to good success, but I started breaking them all, something to do with the port where the usb part of chord goes in. It wouldnt seat in there right. So I switched to the costco kirklands brand that has built in chords. its been a workhorse for me.
that iniu i have is great
Agreed about INIU. I have 4 of them and they all work amazing
@@ProjectFarmwireless charging is an important factor for many people
You know what's crazy Todd? I've got half a dozen of these things laying around that I find in U-Haul trucks when I work on them. We contact the customers about them but they don't wanna be bothered coming back to retrieve them so finders keepers....
You're quickly approaching "national treasure" status. Got my vote! 🍻
Thanks for sharing.
todd,, when you getting banned,??.. you cant tell the truth on here,, stop it.. i watch history, ancient history, shows,,that get banned,, for telling the truth.. sad world,,eh.. ausie..@@ProjectFarm
Why not share
you know what i love - i watch all your vids but if im in a store or online, need to figure out what im buying. i can just time line my way to your graph and get everything i need to know what to go with. no long write ups, no info delivered in the muck of exposition. excellent content. as always.
Thanks!
Love what you did here...
I have been testing power banks and batteries on sites like TEMU and AliExpress and leaving feedback, trying to save people money because of false advertising.
Thank you so much for helping people avoid the scams, I really wish this kind of false advertising was illegal.
Looking forward to your next video.
You are welcome! Thanks for watching!
Unfortunately if the reviews aren't outright removed, they'll be back under a new name with the same product. I'd wager most of the "brands" from this review will be gone and selling under a new name before long, they're destined for the trash like many of their products.
Any that you’d recommend?
It is illegal, just no one goes after them and most of these companies are offshore Chinese companies. Really need to see some litigation and cracking down on false advertising. Now in all fairness, the output capacity is not the same as battery cell capacity. So its reasonable if the pack only outputs around 80% of advertised capacity. But results like 20-60% of actual advertised capacity is a lie and should be litigated in court.
@@itsonlybrad2278 I don’t understand too much of the electronics, but are there any that you recommend?
I've known for ages that manufacturers fabricate capacity numbers on power banks. I've got a couple of them that claim to be 47,000mAh+ and they're physically smaller than others that are 28,000mAh. It's good to see you shedding some light on those claims, thank you!
You are welcome!
I've been looking for a review of those larger banks that you can take with you camping that aren't gas powered. They have at least 1 full 120/240 W outlit. I don't even know what they are called, and i'm blind so it's hard to sort through search results that aren't relavent. I find these video's incredibly helpful, and i'm sure so many others agree. Keep it up and have a good one. Cheers :)
Thanks, will do! Thanks for the suggestion.
Oh yeah, those lithium power stations are everywhere now and no one knows if any of them are trust worthy. Personally I opted to buy the battery and inverter separately. That way I could swap the battery or add another one if needed, and the inverter never need replacing and will always have more power than those found in the power stations. You can find videos on TH-cam showing these DIY solutions. As for the brands, many solar and lithium battery channels test them regularly. Brands like LiTime or Weize get mentioned a lot and I ended up getting LiTime myself.
@@lanzer22 Oh, kind of like what Ryobi has with their power stations that run off of either the 18v (1800W) or 40v (3600w) batteries?
@@mstover2809 Pretty much, except with those 50Ah or 100Ah LiFePo4 batteries that have much larger capacity and much cheaper in total cost.
We have the Anker. When we go on family trips it's always a challenge when the kids run out of battery and start asking for chargers at about the same time. The Anker can charge two devices at the same time, and fast, and has a large capacity. So for us it was well worth the money. And it is built well so has lasted over time. We first tried one of the cheaper Chinese brands that came with two, but even though they both worked well enough, they ended up falling apart after just one trip, cases breaking or just stopped working.
Maybe tell the kids to put their phones down on trips? You should be spending time with them, not having them stare at their phones all day like they probably do at home. The internet is raising and brainwashing your kids…
Thank you so much for demonstrating how much some companies lie about the capacities of their battery banks. It's insane how off they can be from their actual rating. I've had several banks that I've felt lied about their capacity and I'm so glad you've been able to actually prove something.
You are welcome!
some companies? not a single one made it to their advertised capacity
Yes, this was a very good review and he covered some critically important issues.
@@TheSimba86 apart from the very obvious liars (with the
Happy to see even someone as keen and precise as you manages to get the orientation of a USB-A plug wrong. I feel validated.
Thanks for the feedback.
Once again, why do I waste my time going anywhere else for testing and reviews? This is exactly what I was looking for and with zero fluff in the review. THANK YOU, as always :)
You are welcome!
So many powerbanks out there, and no one knew which one's a good one and which one isn't. Until now, thank you once again! I haven't had a powerbank which lasted longer than three months, until I got the Makita 18V to 5V adaptor, which has been in use for around four years now. Love your channel digging into more and more topics!
Thank you!
Its the batteries in the cheap 18650, they cant handle the deep cycling. I have had an Anker for YEARS now and it still does great. The problem now is - everything is moving to 65w USB-C charging. So its time for me to upgrade... I wont spend a dime on a cheap one - Anker all the way.
While I do enjoy the m18 usb adapters, the airlines gave me grief about using a tool battery 😂
I've been using Anker for years. A 10,000 mah from them was $35 a few years ago, and I've used it on about 25 flights since with no issues.
@@RogerTheJanitor My powerbanks always failed everywhere else than the cells. Mostly, the USB ports broke away from the PCB.
@@leftyeh6495 I don't fly very often, my last time was 6 years ago, as I usually go by train. My Makita batteries have that airplane symbol on them, which means "good for taking it on a plane" or whatever. They're not more than 5AH, so it should be okay. Don't know about the Milwaukee batteries, though.
I scored one of your recommended car jump starter packs on sale for $54. Its a little large for just recharging phones, but super durable and serves two purposes instead of one. On a side note, faster charging is not always desirable as it shortens the overall battery life of your device.
I'd love to see a comparison of larger portable power banks. Also a comparison of small solar chargers. I'd really like to see just how efficient they are.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Maybe like the EcoFlow
@@ProjectFarmEcoflow, Anker, Bluetti, and Jackery are popular brands that offer up to whole house electric and 400 watts of solar. A comparison would be expensive but definitely worth a lot of views.
@@Sheepletonyessss if he did that it would be amazing
The solar as of a few years ago didn’t have very good reviews, on the higher end I’ve had the best experience with Luxtude and Anker. Anker has been consistent but my luxtude was well worth what I paid for it.
Yes, would love to see a review of larger power banks! Thank you for creating exceptional objective looks at so many different products---fantastic content and provides great information everyone can make use of
i like this guy. no cringe intro/outro. straight to the point of the video. no ads. youre doing amazing my man keep up the great vids!!
Cringy.
And yes, he's awesome.
@@TehButterflyEffect 🤝🏽
I would love to see an update to your car battery comparison video. Especially with some more expensive AGM style batteries like Odyssey, Panasonic, and Interstate. I enjoyed your older video but I feel like it could benefit from a larger sample size. I have heard that interstate batteries have gone downhill lately and it would be nice to see those claims proven or disproven. Anyway thanks for all the awesome videos you make!
You are welcome! Thanks for the suggestion.
not sure where optima red/yellow/blue go in price? normal? high end? low end?, but I have had so much garbage results from them
I took his advice on a conventional lead-acid for one of my older cars. The advice was good, battery still going strong.
Awesome! I was glad to see you test actual cap/rated cap, although the results were disappointing, yet not surprising. I've been considering getting a power bank for my phone, and if I do decide to purchase one, you can bet I'll be rewatching this great video prior to purchase.
Thank you again, Todd, for all the factual data you give us. You cut right through the manufacturer's BS and give us the straight dope! You rock!
I depated for ages getting one for a disappointing phone battery and got a cheap $10 thing from a store that was useless.
In the end I spent $37 (at the time) on the Anker Slim and loved it. To find they're only $20 now I can't see why anyone DOESN'T have one. One of the wireless ones would be great. Ou could throw it in your pocket with your phone and it would charge! O just got a really short USB c cable and hold them back to back. Fits in my pocket and it's not uncomfortable to hold them both at the same time while watching sport or whatever
Great tech review. I have a zillion USB current testers and a handful of electronic load testers as well. One note: Anytime you start throwing adapters on to convert between A and C (or 5.5x2.1 or whatever flavor) each one takes a bite out of the current draw due to their designs. Many adaptors and short cables can pass only 1 A while others happily do 3-4-A. Stock up on a number and always test them with same load and source and find the ones that lose the least amount of current as they have such a wide range of quality. Also using De-oxit on the connectors can help ensure lower amp loss as well.
Good point. The cables have a big impact.
Should also take into consideration if the charger is actually smart and can switch to higher voltages.
The cables he is using are typical home use application adapters.
For the next round, would love to see some additional tests like short protection, over/under temp behavior, drop testing, teardown to see build quality and cell chemistry. Also with usb-c ports "PD" protocol support is important for determining the charge rates. Would be good to mention and test claims of what PD is supported, like "30w PD" "100w pd" etc.
Thanks for the suggestion.
maybe do a colab with BigClive for the teardown
Go watch AVE, he is great and extremely smart
yeah i would like to know what battery cells are used inside
yea, testing the safety features would be great. Especially overheat protection. But something like, how much charge it loses over time of no use would be useful. For the solar ones, testing how well that charges via solar would be a great, and testing waterproofness and such as well.
Really appreciate you putting the advertised wh capacity vs the actualized wh capacity! Great job as always, still would love to see you order 5 or 10 of an item and see how much performance drift there is, especially if you order the same item say 3-4 months apart
Thanks for the suggestion.
@@ProjectFarm Might be cool to retest your top picks and see if theres any varation, and if they still stand up over the years. Especially over the last 2-3 years companies have been raising prices and lower quality/materials, so would be interesting to see!
Realize these come off an assembly line so with reasonable QC, the variation would be negligible.
Ry/ rt try gt t5 f the t 4ft try t r r r t5 r
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I bought the INIU power bank based on this review. I already owned 8 other power banks including three ANKERs (I bought all these power banks after the deep freeze/one week power loss in February 2020 in Texas, wanting to have lots of power banks in case I lost power again). The INIU power bank is the only one that not only charged my mobile phone, but my Kindle and hearing aids on my trip to Europe in August 2024. I HIGHLY recommend the INIU. The Anker could not charge anything but my mobile phone.
Thanks for the feedback.
I'd definitely love to see a sequel with power banks in the $30-$125 range (and a solar shootout of the ones that support solar recharging). Time is money, after all, and although some of these budget ones did alright, surely there's gotta be something in that range that could give that Anker 737 a run for its money despite its excellent all-around performance. Plus phone batteries are getting pretty big these days...a Pixel 7 Pro could easily hog up some of these 5000 mAh banks all by itself!
I agree. A $30+ power bank should be ideal, especially during family camping or power run out.
@@contidozackthis is purely anecdotal but I have a higher end iniu than the ones he tested and it will charge my steam deck no problem which takes a 45 watt input.
Anker stuff is usually pretty good too.
Solar charging is almost a nonfactpr on those, even a medium tier phone is going to need about 10w of charging and that panel on there probably can't charge the power bank faster than about 3 watts/hour, you really need a bigger solar panel like a foldable one
Yeah and maybe include brand name power banks like Xiaomi instead of whatever showelware amazon has in stock.
Yes, but I'd also like to see which banks support which charging standards and voltages. I dont know if his usb ammeter will show that but my FNIRSI FNB48P has been pretty good so far
Yes, make another video. Id like to say thank you for putting out great videos. Thank you for keeping a positive and happy attitude. Very enjoyable to watch. I don't know if you know just how popular you are but ive seen a lot of other demonstration videos and on every one i seen, Project Farm is mentioned in the comments or the person doing the video. You leave a positive impression on everyone! Thank you!
My pleasure!
you needed a PD/ QC trigger module which will negotiate and get whatever voltage you want from the usb-c port which then can be treated as any other dc source
Great information! I'll acquire one of those for the next review on these!
Agreed here and showing 4.4 volts as acceptable, most devices won't even charge or trickle.
Agreed as it would bypass the typically defective USB meter.
@@ProjectFarm Also important to note that USB spec for 5V is +- 5% so yes you can pull a certain amount of power, but the voltage will dip too low for USB standards to actually be useful and accept a charge.
The only way. up to 100W or even 140W.. and to 240W if you can find it yet!!
I was going to go buy one and then realized...there are a TON of them on the market. Can I suggest a test of Emergency Window Breaker for your car, with I think ease of use to break the glass being the most important since lots of us want one more for our loved ones and parents/grandparents.
Appreciate everything you do on this channel!
Thanks! Thanks for the suggestion.
@@ProjectFarm I think that would be a cool test. Just seeing you break windows and what not. I have watched some comparisons and there is certainly a difference between brands. Some are bad.
I have had multiple Anker power banks over the years. All have lasted 4+ years. Cheaper brands I have had usually last 6-18 months. I have the Anker 737, and it is worth the cost. Charges my laptop and phones just fine. It's perfect for traveling.
I have an anker slim and it charges and gets charged through the same usb-c port. I can confirm , that anker products always last longer
Security Cameras...
Recently I've been struggling to find a decent outdoor security/IP camera for my property. TP-Link, EUFY, Xiaomi, Dahua, Reolink, Tenda and so on. With white LED or only infrared, with 360 rotation or static, with cloud storage or not, resolutions and video quality are a mess, how good is the motion detection, is the wireless connection stable and so many other questions.
And thank you for another great comparison!
You are welcome! Thanks for the suggestion.
Could be a future video. Wait for it
LifeHackster does a lot of security camera comparison, tests etc. 🙂
This is exactly the kind of testing we need on power banks. I don't know just how common the knowledge is that some of them will simply give false ratings for their capacity, but it's something I've known for years to watch out for, and it's pretty much impossible to know ahead of time without other people like you reviewing them and putting the information out there.
I would love to see more reviews on power banks moving forward, in both more expensive ones and even in this same price range again. Just to keep a somewhat accurate tally as new ones come out to see what is good and what is not.
I'd also love to see some store brands that are from physical stores, with the store they came from included in the review. (For example, the ONN brand from WalMart.) I'm curious if you would find that they're just as bad at not meeting their advertised capacity or if you'd find an affordable option or two that gives you exactly what they advertise.
Issue is he's boasting about the power output of some devices with aren't compliant with any known standard and may not be communicating with the host device properly. 12W should be the hard cutoff for any device not advertised as having a specialized charging standard (QC2/3, USB PD, etc.) and definitely shouldn't be outputting more than that with an inline tester that isn't advertised as having such. Faster=/=Better with lithium pouches.
I'm trying not to be a wet towel, as PF normally brings the good data, but I feel he may be slightly out of his element with this one. (Evidently the small engine repair god may have low lithium content!)
Your channel is the most scientific and practical channel I have ever seen. The testing and comparing methods used are pretty ingenious and meticulous. Thank you for the efforts.
Could you please compare the friction of tyres with different patterns? This is very helpful in selecting tyre replacements that suit different conditions like rain, sand, sludge and factors like hydroplaning, braking distance etc.
The Anker 737 has increased in price appreciably since you recorded this. I would only buy large power banks, because when I need them I have a lot of things to charge and I'd like to charge them fast. It's amazing how many channels I watch end up working together, and how many of those are going to the off road games.
Thanks for sharing.
Just got a baseus before amazon sees this video and increases the price
The anker 737 has never been under $30, it’s msrp is more like $130
@@ProjectFarm179 now
@@TVCHLORD I guess you didn't watch the video
You should test different rechargeable AA and AAA batteries to see what one is the Best and if they compare to the non rechargeable counterpart.
Thank you for the video idea!
He does have one on rechargeable AAs that I recall. It was from a few years ago. It would be good to see an update, as several new brands have hit the market since then. I suspect most of those brands are... suspect. I use rechargeable AAs and AAAs for most battery-operated items at home, include A LOT of the kids' toys. Fujitsu has been my go-to brand, but it may not be the best value anymore.
He's already made that video. If I remember correctly, he likes the eneloop batteries. You might want to dig through his playlist.
@@lonewanderer3603I think you're right on eneloops being the winner. Here's the story and why I like Fujitsu: Sanyo developed the tech behind eneloops - what made them special is that they don't self-discharge hardly at all just sitting idle, as was very common to nickel metal-hydride battery chemistry. Panasonic bought Sanyo, but due to Japanese anti-trust provisions, the factory that produces eneloops was bought by Fujitsu. Panasonic eneloops are made by Fujitsu. The speculation is that Fujitsu rechargeable batteries use eneloops tech and I've gotten nearly identical performance from them as basic eneloops, but at a slightly lower price.
A few years ago, Chinese made ni-mh batteries often had bogus capacity ratings, didn't hold up, and self-discharged quickly. There were some brands that were good on capacity and durability. With all the new brands, I'd be curious which are legit and whether any have closed the gap with eneloops.
I have used Anker packs for the past 7 years and have always been super impressed with their quality and reliability. In all honesty, they are the one brand I trust to not fry my devices or go up in an Inferno lol... The Anker 737 was no surprise, it's a proper built beast, but I was surprised with the test results of the Anker slim... I expected better there. Great job as always, keep up the great work!
Thanks, will do! Thanks for sharing.
I think the batteries used in the slim models are bad. Had a slim that "only" lasted me 3 years. And some other Anker power banks that still work almost as new, 5 years later. Around 90% of original capacity left.
@@freakyfox5229If you read their product details, you'll note that the slim products are their first generation of LiPo pouch batteries, as opposed to their regular Li-Ion (18650 or similar) batteries.
They work well while they last, and output exactly what's advertised (the safe peak), while having the functions described, but yes, longevity is impacted, particularly if you charge at max speed all the time (heat kills batteries, I'd be surprised if any of the devices hitting 15+ watts over their non-standard charge ports last even a year if you stress them daily.)
@@ProjectFarm You should do a long review to see what brands holds onto their capacity the longests. We all know as you use the batteries with each charge/discharge cycle you lose a little bit of capacity. It would be interesting to see what happens after about 6-12months of constant use.
Anker is a mixed bag.
I love your channel. Anytime I'm looking for something, I look for your videos. I went with the INIU B61. I also bought a portable tire inflator and a car starter power bank. Have used both and they worked great. Thanks for the great time and effort and thought you put into your videos.
Thanks and you are welcome!
Hi, do you mind sharing, the brand tire inflator and battery starter? Thanks.
It's really wild to see so many power banks producing
@73dlbI have one that's been pretty decent. I just leave it out all day when I'm camping and it'll be fully charged by night for my phone. Although the one I have unfolds for additional panels unlike the derka one. Kept my phone charged for 5 days like that
I can't imagine the amount of landfill space these will all take up if they're actually selling 10k plus per month or whatever.
I can't imagine the amount of landfill space these will all take up if they're actually selling 10k plus per month or whatever.
Interesting video, as always! Very important thing to note; most of the time, maker of powerbank states internal battery capacity, and NOT it's output capacity. So... ieg. company states 5000mAh capacity, but it's battery capacity at 3.7V, so it's 18.5Wh. Now multiply it by about 80% conversion efficiency, and you've got 14,8Wh (ieg. = 2,96Ah@5V). Most of the time this calculation works within 5-10% margin of error.
Thanks! Thanks for the feedback.
You're exactly right. The ones that are way lower than that percentage are just lying about the capacity, but the Anker, for example, is spot on what they say it is.
They really should switch to mWh (or Wh and drop three zeroes). And it should be a measure of how much it can deliver over the USB port, not the battery capacity.
The right answer right here.
@@gblarggonly consumer protection regulation would fix this as no company is going to be the first to switch as the average consumer doesn’t understand and just sees bigger number better
Love the addition of the arrows. (20:20)
Thank you for doing this video.
Recently discovered my battery bank stopped working while traveling and you just saved me so much time!
I always trust your reviews, have made several purchases based on your recommendations.
Subscriber for life! You're doing great!
Thanks! Thanks for being a subscriber.
OMG - Always, when I think you can't improve yourself anymore, you're outperforming yourself! 😃👍 Man - I'm out of words. What a structured and systematic test! Thank you! 🤗
What did I learn?
- 70 % of the labeling are false promises.
- Yes, some companies lie by the factor 3 or more.
- Fast charge often doesn't work as advertised.
I have 2 powerbanks, both from promotions and in this pricerange; 1 with a 20,000 mAh rating, quite fast charging, a heavy brick. The other 16,000 mAh rating, slower charging but with a 4-fold high quality solar-panel. Both are sufficient for my needs. 😉
Thanks and you are welcome!
What is cost of recharging of power banks.
I know anker charges faster but is it costing more quicker or does slower charging banks cost more due to longer time needing plugged in?
I know electricity cost vary depending on location.
A little curious
I have bought about 4 INIU power banks and they have never let me down. They are all still working after long term use. They hold charge, fast charge (without fail) have excellent construction and are true to their capacities. I already called it that INIU was winning this test once I saw the lineup. Their sales and reputation is legit, definitely going up after this review too. (1 for me, 1 for my wife, and 2 as gifts)
I bought a power bank with 45w PD output from INIU and have been very impressed with it. Powerful enough to charge my XPS 13 and even my 16" MacBook Pro for work. It also holds its charge seemingly forever when not in use which is great
@hellsfavoritesaltyberserke4724 it's important to note too that the anker is only "good" on this test because it charges the fastest... most of the time you charge a powerbank overnight so it literally doesn't matter, also lithium batteries perform worse and degrade much faster when they are quick charged opposed to a slow, steady charge. Just my 2 cents.
Good comparison and useful to a wide range of people. A suggestion for any subsequent comparison - it would be more useful to compare power banks of similar capacities as the different sizes/weights have different use cases - the lighter/smaller ones you would probably carry in a backpack/purse/messenger bag while walking around town/hiking; while the heavier ones maybe would be stored in a vehicle or at home for emergency uses.
Thanks! Thanks for the suggestion.
Just about the time we are looking at buying new phones Project Farm comes out with a cell phone battery bank video. If I didn't know better I would think you had a spy camera in my house!!....Another reason why I believe my monthly subscription membership is worth every cent!!....Thanks again Project Farm for what you do for us!!
You are welcome!
Wondering if Project Farm has done any solar power comparisons?
Your smart tv and fridge watch every move you make 👀😆🥸
I bought a 25000 mah iniu battery bank about 6 months ago and it has been fantastic. I mostly bought it because i liked that it showed battery percentage as a number, not just 4 bars but it easily charges my higher end devices that require 45-65 watts. At the time it was on sale for about 35 bucks but is normally $60
Thanks for sharing.
Most important timestamps for those that want it quick: 13:33, 16:43, 20:04, and most important 21:01. Anker is name brand for a reason. Thanks to Project Farm for all the testing!
Hello. It's been awhile for me. :) I was watching you back in the days of all the lawn mower fun and oil/additives tests! It's awesome to see you're into more categories now! I've needed a good charger for awhile. I'll have to get one of these.
Thanks for sharing.
Would have been nice to see how the solar recharging battery banks performed (on recharge).
Great video.
Suggested video: Best TACTICAL PEN - Water resistant, glass break capability, retainer clip and overall durability test, can it write down on paper in freezing temperature - 32F or less, compare extra functionality if it may have, like: integrated screw driver or flashlight, as an example
Thank you for the video idea!
Rite in the Rain/Fischer Space Pen for the win
Great idea!
why not use a pencil?
break glass with finger rings/carkeys..
@@cancatcannothazI do prefer to have actually an item that can easy break window in case of emergency, I mean vehicle window, you might will need to struggle with key or ring to do so. I do part time gig delivery work, on the road most of the time and this tactical pen is a must for me, other than a regular pen, also can be used as a self defense....
Take your time on this suggestion, cause it is expensive af: I'd like to see a comparison between Battery Backup systems or portable power stations, since they're becoming more common & in some cases essential. See if that Bluetti brand holds up since they've taken up sponsor spots on TH-cam.
Been watching since 2019, and have made purchases based off your tests. Good to see you still going, stronger than ever.
Thanks! Thanks for the suggestion.
Great video. I'm sure this one took a while to film. Thank you. I have a B61 in my cart now! For a future video idea, I'd love a similar piece on handwarmers. Pitting various electric handwarmers against each other, with maybe a traditional white gas model for comparison. As always, awesome channel!
Thanks! Thanks for the suggestion.
Once again, perfect timing. We were just discussing about updating our power banks. We have 3 older ones that just isn't getting it done anymore. The Anker surprised me and not in a good way. I use their cables and the quality is on point. The brand seems to be highly respected. Apparently not for their power banks though.
Thanks for the review and video brother, it is much appreciated.
My pleasure!
I have a few Anker powerbanks, only one that failed med was a slim model. I don't think the batteries used in the slim models are that good. try and go for the ones using the 18650 batteries.
Another GREAT video!!! I've had one "solar recharge" power bank and it was more a "gimmick" than something useful. I forget the brand, it's long since "died" and has been disposed of.
Of ALL the content creators here on "the tube", YOU sir, are the only one I respect enough to have subscribed to.
PLEASE keep up the GREAT work.
Paul
Thanks, will do! Thanks for sharing.
Project Farm!! Please do a diesel motor oil showdown contest like you did with gas engine oil!! I know I'm sure it's a lot of work but us diesel guys would love to see it between popular brands like Shell Rotella, Schaeffers, Amsoil diesel, Motorcraft, Delo, Valvoline, etc. Would very much appreciate it Todd, thank you for all your hard work!!!
You are welcome! Thanks for the suggestion.
The TDI guys would bow at the altar of project farm, ending the generation of forum questions; what oil do I use?
This is the most useful video you've ever released *for me.* My only wish would have been that you rated banks under $50-60 instead of $30.Your price range put rapid charging power banks with 20k+ wh just out of reach, and I think that's what most ppl are looking for. The Anker 737 is a bit more than I'd want to pay, but I definitely would spend 50 or 60 to get a Samsung-rated fast charge and a more than 20,000wh bank.
Thanks! Thanks for the constructive feedback.
Video Idea: Best COMPACT/FULL SIZE UNBRELLA. Water resistant, weight, moisture wicking, deploy force, etc. Since the rainy season is coming up soon, I think it’d be a good idea!
An umbrella video would be a great idea!!
Thank you for the video idea!
Please!
I suggested an umbrella comparison about a year ago. This windy rainy place that I live has destroyed so many. 😢
Don't forget the force for the thing to flip inside out.
Feedback on this video:
I was curious on how a more-tech centric video would go! I feel like this topic is relevant to many of us and a good choice. I would have enjoyed if you mentioned whether the battery banks you tested claimed to support advanced charging specifications like Quick Charge 2.0 and Quick Charge 3.0, and USB Power Delivery (PD). A lot of times that's what separates the good chargers from the mediocre. "Fast charging" is kind of nebulous sometimes. Actually hooking up the bank to a phone to see if fast charging was displayed with included cable would have been a nice touch. The power draw meters were good but this is something a lot of consumers care about. Or maybe breaking down what the charge numbers correlate to inregards to charging standards? For example, the Erkrist port is labeled as PD, but it only put out 13W. Following the spec? Etc
You showed a cable that I assume was tested known good at that capacity (because you're extremely thorough in everything you do) but in the future I'd add a blurb like "I've verified this cable is capable of pulling X watts". Also, with regard to methodology, did you fully charge and discharge before doing capacity tests etc? Verifying that the cables were capable of fast charging etc would also have been nice - some are complete crap. Checking to see if they actually supported continuous super low power draws (like Anker) and pass through charging (like Voltaic [edit: and Feob -- was this verified?]) charging would also be cool and have elevated this video a lot (most probably don't, of course). Glad to see you will test the solar chargers in a future video - a lot of units I've seen are gimmicks and charge too slow to be used etc.
I feel like most times you come up with crazy jigs and tests and feel like this one was more on the simpler sides - no offense meant, just feedback.
Great video as always. Thank you!
Edit: After reading the comments, you can see that techy nerds are wanting much more specific and detailed tests compared to your typical video subject. Tech stuff is harder to test and review IMO - the market is heaver and nerds are all over it :V
Thanks for the constructive feedback.
Also after sitting on the shelf awhile, sometimes it takes a couple of good charge/ discharge to get them up to spec.
Great video. I'd be interested in seeing some of the little bit bigger ones as well. Anker has some that'll power small tools and appliances, just iffy on which is better in that range.
Anker has been my go to for banks, cables, bricks, most everything. I have 2 older 10K banks, one I carry with me in my EDC bag daily, sees all weather here in PA, 0⁰-100⁰+, even after not touching it for months, it hasn't gone under 90% from just sitting.
Thank you for sharing!
Love love LOVE the grading chart at 21:11 it’s so helpful to see all the data laid out that way. Thank you!!
You are welcome!
I'm a simple guy, I see that you upload, and I automatically like the video, keep up the great work, it's very much appreciated
I appreciate that!
Same here. Thumbs up before even watching because I know it will earn it easily.
Sooooo old comment dudeee.
I thumbs up after actually watching the video because I've heard that it's better for metrics.
Also, I actually watch his videos. I don't just spam like his videos.
@@runed0s86 that is good information. I'll start waiting for the thumbs up until after I finish watching the video. I always watch it anyway, so it's an easy adjustment.
I gave up powerbanks when I bought a 2xUSB adaptor/ Light convertor, for my Milwaukee batteries . . . It fully charges a large samsung phone from flat in a couple hours, and has enough capacity (5ah) to repeat this several times, it has become an essential item in my emergency kit, a comparison of the performance of those for the leading brands all using a similar sized battery would be interesting, mine has survived about 3 years in an trades/installation/farm environment used nearly every day! For about $20usd, Very Impressive! :-)
Thanks for sharing.
I made a jobsite radio that runs off 18v Milwaukee batteries and wired in a couple usb buck converter boards. They seem to charge my phone quite fast compared to several of these.
ever thought of getting an inverter, with 1 solar pnl.. or fit 2 batteries.. with an inverter, 2 batts, solar pnl. i run a 2200 wtt power saw.. charge my ph, micro wave meals, run power tools, drills, ect. lights at nite.. ausie.. generators here have to be taged, grounded.. p.i.a. pain, in, ass,.
I loved this comparison. If you do another video like this see if Rav Power falls in the criteria as a competitor. I also would love to see a graph of power put in vs power output to see which bank losses the most due to design. Thank you for all your hard work
Thanks and you are welcome! Thanks for the suggestion.
A few thoughts from a serious power bank user; 1. The major factor to categorize the units would be their total power output. If you want to charge your laptop, a 20 or 30 Watt charger is just out of equasion. 2. The Next factor would be the battery capacity in miliamp hours because that is the most important contributing factor to the weight. And then the density of that per gram of weight. could be ranked. If you want to have lots of juice you simply exclude small batteries, unlesss there is a significantly efficient model 3. The UI charging standard gives them the flexibility of output and input based on the conneced device, so this would be an important certificate to to carry and test.
Suggestions: Please include name brands in your next review with higher output powers separately. You may include Lenovo's and Dell's 65 W units.
Thanks for the feedback. Thanks for the suggestion.
Yes a usable 65 watt portable power bank for a laptop would be a great comparison. I agree
This is perfect timing. About to buy two new ones. One for my work bag and one for camping.
A sleeping bag or sleeping pad video would be awesome! Walmart v Coleman and Amazon brands.
Thank you for the video idea!
Spend the extra on a good anker charger and cable. Cables are very important for charging speeds. As ypu can see in this video his cable is capable of 240 watts I have the same one and it's a beast.
Charge cycles, while completely impractical for you to test, is for me the second most important feature after capacity. (I don't care how fast the charging is, in fact I prefer slower for better battery health). It would be great if you could include the battery type/chemistry to help give at least some idea of how long they should last.
Thank you for the suggestion!
It would take years to do that on your own
@@TheOriginalGenghis Well aware, which is why the rest of my comment after "charge cycles" was written.
People will probably disagree with me but I would suggest if cycle count is important, consider giving LiPo products a miss. Instead go for something based on several 18650 or 21700 li-ion cells.
Hey Todd, i know you've done testing on clothing like denim jeans, gloves, boots etc. It would be great to see you test socks. Whether the value brand can compare to a set that costs $20-30 per pair.
Great work as always!
Thanks! Thanks for the suggestion.
I was just looking at braided fishing lines and thought man it'd be nice to see Project Farm do a line comparison for all his fishing fans. Different types of braided line, mono line and fluorocarbon. You can do strength tests friction test like through the eye of the rod and even get a pro fisherman to come and do a castability test 👍
Thanks for the suggestion.
Love the video. I would open the ones that had a very poor watt hour rating and check if the batteries were actually real (also curious of the brands/capacities of the batteries in the better performers). My wife got a very cheap 10k mah pack when she was in China and two of the 4 batteries in it were actually filled with sand/cement :).
I'd wager maybe a fifth of them would be outright lying (IE claiming 5Ah, and having 2 x 2Ah cells, or cells that claim 2.5Ah but test out at 1.8Ah etc) and, the rest just have really crappy step up boost thingies - so they might legit have 2 x 2.5ah cells, but the boost converter is cheap garbage.
The ones around 80% rated capacity are actually using decent hardware, getting beyond that when doing boost conversion is a bit of a dark art, I believe.
Great video,I have a 50.000 one from Amazon it's big and heavy I change it like once a month use it all the time it cost under 60 had it over a year, would love to see a video of some in that category, and my co worker used it all the time,and loved your video on paper towels, like that George Pacific brand, not because I work at one of their plants 🎉
Thanks! Thanks for the suggestion.
I have one as well that I bring out to the field with me for military field training! It's nice with the small size but the huge capacity so I don't have to worry about charging it often.
Would love to see fire extinguishers tested. Thats not something we ever can test really. Love your videos. Thanks!
Thanks! Thanks for the suggestion.
Thank you for such a no nonsense source of product reviews. Your channel is always my first stop if I'm looking for reviews of a specific product. Since you've asked for suggestions, how about a review of ultrasonic cleaning machines? Thanks again.
You are welcome! Thanks for the suggestion.
As usual, phenomenal video! I'm a little disappointed there weren't more unexpected tests, but then again it's a power bank and they're pretty simple anyway.
I'd love to see you test out Foam Cannons (for auto detailing)
Thanks! Thanks for the suggestion.
It's a powerbank and it does not need to be simple. You have many models with many features.
Very Impressive! Love you Todd! Keep up the awesome work!
I would absolutely love to see a solar powered power bank match up! I've had some horrible experiences with some of them.
Thank you very much!
Not sure if you have done this, but would love to see a USB charger review. There are so many out there and knowing which one maintains its rated power output as you start to load the charger as well as what happens with its built in current protection would be great. It is always worrying when you charge a $1000+ device on a unit that could send a current surge that can destroy the device.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Yes, i second this!
I concur also, I've seen a huge dropoff/increase in charging times with age.
I do feel properly reviewing chargers/power supplies is kind of a speciality thing. Not easy to do well if you only do it occasionally.
Checking how safe a unit is long term might involve destructively opening it and analyzing the circuitry. This requires quite a bit of knowledge and experience on that specific subject.
Then there is the maze of protocols, things like QC, PD (ERP), PPS modes, and whatever some manufacturers tend to come up with.
Then there are the USB cables. For certain protocols to work they need the proper identification chip in them etc.
I'm not saying he can't do it. But I'm not sure he can do it any better than some other specialized TH-cam channels while also maintaining a good balance between effort and result.
I really liked this review. Not only did you give us a great comparison of < $30 chargers, but you provided us with an aspirational charger to show how good things could be if we want to spend more $$$. That way, you have a great idea of what you're going to get for what you're wiling to spend. Thanks!
Also, as of today, the 737 is on sale for $88.95! For that price, I might have to "spend up".
Thanks!
I really appreciate all of your videos and methodical testing. I would love to see a follow-up on the gasoline tests regarding which fuel stabilizer works the best on both ethanol-free and E-85 gas.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I loved this episode! I really hope you revisit it again so you can test the solar capabilities. As someone who is in the outdoors a lot, I depend on the ones that have solar chargers. Would be wonderful to see them compared so I know if I need to buy a better one, and which one is better. Thank you so much!
Thank you for the video idea!
Would love to see more reviews in power banks! Especially the plethora of solar charging types, since it seems like a really cool feature that maybe doesn't work all that well (or at least compared to dedicated portable solar panels).
The solar panel doesn't charge the power bank more than 5%.
Thank you for the video idea!
The solar panels are gimmicks. The only ones that can really be useful have multiple folding panels, and even those needs very direct sunlight to produce a reasonable charge rate.
Hint, they all suck. That little solar panel might charge up that power bank in 2-3 weeks worth of sitting out in the sun.
Great video as always,, but if I may give a suggestion for a powerbank (also applicable to USB chargers):
Most powerbanks nowadays offer different standards than just the standard USB charging (up to 5V @ 2.4/3A), such as Quick Charge (QC), Power Delivery (PD), etc. Those modes allow for higher voltages and currents (marketed as Fast/Turbo Charging), but for testing those, you'll need either a USB trigger/decoy device or a USB test device like the FNIRSI FNB48P/FNB58 that can trigger those. Some USB load testers also offer this feature.
Another suggestion is testing the standards that the manufacturer's put into the model's specs. Some manufacturers like Baseus even gives information about the specific maximum rated cross-loads between ports.
A cool feature of Power Delivery (PD) trigger feature is that you can use a powerbank or USB charger as a regular charger for stuff that don't use a USB interface, like external HDDs, portable electronics with barrel jacks, etc. There are even custom cables with built-in PD triggers, so you can use a modern charger with a laptop that uses a barrel jack or non-standard plug.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Not being able to charge from USB c is crazy. Cars are already not coming with USB a... it's time to change!
Would love to see the solar charging in the summer. You could test these power bank capacities after a few months of use and see how they last
Thanks for the suggestion.
I'm a backpacking/Mountain guide and would like to see a comparison of some larger (20,000 mAh), more premium power banks, and with some durability testing and emphasis on weight vs. power.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I've had the 737 for over 6 months now and absolutely love its capacity, high power output, and rapid charge time. The detailed display is icing on the cake - well worth the high price.
Can vouch as well, I've used it not just for charging but soldering and powering 12V devices like my handheld 3D scanners (you'd need to step down from 20/15V PD to 12 because Anker doesn't support 12V PD)
That is just damned odd... Why in the heck won't it support 12V PD? Firmware bug, or design oversight. @@hughjassstudios9688
I got that big boi Anker 'cause I needed something that could charge my laptop too (as it has dual input with a classic barrel input and PD input at 100W), glad to see it performed very well in those tests, in line with my experience!
Another great review, love seeing the data, I would have maybe enjoyed seeing a price per Wh comparison though, after all while certain brands love to overstate the capacity, they could still be a decent value for their real capacity!
Hope to see another review of battery banks around summer to see how (badly) those solar equipped batteries perform for "in the wild" power generation. (Fairly certain it's not great for most if not all, with what I know)
Thanks! Thanks for the suggestion.
I was suggesting this test, Thank you!
Thank you very much for supporting the channel and for suggesting this one too!
Please make this electronics test as a series! Youre saving thousands of peoples wallet with these tests!
Could you test 2 stroke oil the way you test 4 stroke oils. I'd be interested to see the wear and flow. I use Polaris gold in everything 👌🏻
Thank you for the video idea!
Agreed, would like to see amsoil dominator and klotz
@ProjectFarm It's a great suggestion for a video. Would like to see Ipone included in the test as well.
I would recommend echo red armor
I went though about 5 powerbank comparison/review videos on YT and yours is the first that actually tests them and isnt an AI generated, specs reading waste of time. Great vid 👍
Thanks!
@@ProjectFarm hi, it's emergency please reply...
Supposed my power bank is rated as INPUT 12V and 2A, so can it be charged using the car cigarette lighter port with engine running???
Obviously, the port output will be 13 to 13.8V?
I love these kinds of reviews, and I would also love to see another review going over some of the bigger banks out there, similar to the 737.
A couple things, though: I don't think the USB spec is rated to allow more than 2.4A through a single A port, and to be "within spec", a USB charger has to output 5V +/- 5%, meaning 4.75V - 5.25V. Might be something to take into consideration given more than a few of these banks were outputting their peak wattage at around 4V.
Keep up the great work though, PF! Your videos are absolutely invaluable.
Thanks, will do! Thanks for the suggestion.
Also the voltage is being mesuared at the load side of the supply cable. The voltage as its leaving the PCB in the power bank will be much higher, possibly within 5v spec in some of the tests (but not all).
Good day everyone!!!
You’re first! Hope you enjoy the video!
Please feel free to test as you wish. We're going to watch either way
Thanks for the feedback.
Excellent review, as always.
I bought the Anker 737 for $92 and it is a beast. It just destroys anything in this review, but then, it costs more than all of the other power banks. I ended up returning the Anker 737 because I wanted more capacity to charge my laptop, and so I bought the Anker Prime 27,650 mAh power bank, which is even more of a beast than the 737 is. I can highly recommend both the Anker 737, which you tested, and the Anker Prime 27,650 mAh power bank. I can charge my Anker Prime power bank using TWO chargers in 33 minutes if needed. Normally, I charge it with a 100W charger, and it charges from 10% to 100% in a little over 50 minutes. The Anker Prime will charge my HP Envy laptop from 20% to 65% in about 45 minutes (it charges it at 96W because HP limits the Thunderbolt 4 port charging to 100W).
One of the most important things about Anker power banks is that they last for years. They are extremely well made. I have a 10,000 mAh Anker power bank I bought for something like $22.00 over seven years ago, and it STILL charges like new. The Anker power banks are just amazing quality and they last. My seven-year-old small Anker 10,00 mAh power bank STILL fast charges my S22 Ultra smartphone (but not Samsung's "Super Fast Charging 2.0").
Another key feature of the Anker 737 and the Anker Prime power banks is that they "negotiate" the proper charge voltage for each device they charge. For my S22 Ultra, the Anker Prime power bank charges it at 29.4W, which is Samsung's "Super Fast Charging 2.0" charging speed (it's called 45W charging speed by Samsung, but the phone never charges at 45W for some reason; even with Samsung's 45W charger). If I charge my Bose QC Ultra earbud case, which has a tiny battery, the Anker Prime power bank charges it at 9W. If I charge my laptop, it charges it at 96.4W (as mentioned earlier). So it adjusts the charging power to avoid damaging your battery-powered tech accessories. ALL of the ports on the 737 and Anker Prime negotiate the correct power delivery for your tech devices. This is an incredibly important feature to have in a power bank. Cheaper power banks may or may not charge your devices at their correct power levels. This can damage your devices. The Anker power banks do charge them safely.
Another important feature that you didn't mention is having PD 3.1 functionality. Having this specification allows you to charge all your tech devices at their maximum charging speed, provided they are also PD 3.0 or 3.1 compatible. It is an extremely important function for any power bank to have. If you think about it, NONE of these power banks is worth having if all they do is charge your devices at very slow rates. Both the 737 and the Anker Prime power banks have PD 3.1 certification.
Another really cool feature with the Anker Prime power bank is that it has a Bluetooth app that tracks how fast you are charging each device and how much power is being drained from the power bank in real time and how much power is going to each device. It uses beautiful graphic pictures to keep you informed about what is going on.
I would suggest that you include the Anker Prime 27650 in your next power bank review. Nothing even comes close to it. It simply is the best power bank in every way. I picked mine up for $144.00 with a 20% discount. It will charge the average laptop once at speeds up to 140W - which is lightning fast for any power bank. It will charge smartphones at their specified fastest charging rates, including iPhones. It will charge other small battery devices safely. And when you are done charging other devices, you can recharge in mere minutes.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Hey man! Fan of the channel here.
Love your mechanical stuff but this is like comparing apples and one gigantic orange. PD specifications allow for different voltages and current capability. 5/9/12/15/20/28/36/48 volts at 5 Amps max for PD 3.1, which is the latest revision. These power banks have different PD specs, at different price points, hence the variance between the anker one and the others. This would have been a much better comparison and a product guide if it had mentioned different PD specs. Baseus also has a pd 3.0 power bank capable of delivering over 100 watts, so does Shargeek storm 2. These power banks can do 20V at 5A but the other ones you've tested can do 12V 2A or so. They are not for the same use cases.
In order to test properly, you would need a pd protocol tester, power-z from chargerlab, which is another youtube channel, is good. Voltage drop, for which you need a multimeter, and ripple test, for which you need an oscilloscope, are also useful. These power banks employ switching buck/boost converters, so the output might be noisy if the filtering circuit is not adequate, which is not great for devices, hence the need for a ripple test.
You just don't stop amazing me one video after the other.
I purchased 2 power banks 2 weeks ago, which I see have come out as #1 and #2 picks on the scoring sheet at 21:10.
The power banks I bought (almost 2 weeks before seeing this video) were KEOLL and INIU-B61.
My 3rd choice (which I ultimately did NOT buy) was Anker-737. But I just couldn't justify to myself coughing near 100 bucks for a power banks which I was not then sure if it will work well or not. I also felt that Anker was a little too bulky to carry around. I kept in my shopping basket for a while, but ultimately deleted it and bought only the other two.
I really think it is time for manufacturers/sellers to start stamping their stuff with "Project Farm Ratings". An "As-Seen-On-Project-Farm" sticker, with per piece royalty to you.
Thanks for sharing.
@@ProjectFarm I don't know if you have done it before, but why not try to find the best Hidden Camera Detector.
A truckload of different devices are being sold online, of course each boasting to be the best, yet all prove to have a weakness one way or another. Either that the camera has to be on or it has to be transmitting wirelessly. Some suffer huge interference, etc.
In short, which one is the best. The answer is Project Farm tests. I myself would not believe any other.
Nice video, however it misses some very important aspects.
For USB charging (both type C and type A) you really need a USB tester to check protocols and/or trigger these protocols (they change the voltage and as such also amperage), as the max output power will depend on the voltage and amperage, but your load testers only test 5V on the type A ports (fast charging protocols do more), and your device may not accept the max output power of the type C especially depending on the device's charge level.
These USB testers aren't very expensive - a "good enough" one costs about 20-30€, but for comparasions like these you might want a better one, which are still below 100€ as far as I've seen.
Also, you need to make sure to test multiple cables, as some might not support specific charging protocols. For charging devices (so in this video, testing max charging power of the power bank itself), I like to start by measuring without usb tester, and just using a normal wall power meter, to see if fast charging is working (>5 or >10W usually), then switch to a usb tester, to get more accurate results, however they should be in the same ballpark (a usb tester can make it not fast charge sometimes).
While I agree with triggering different modes to see the max output, max wattage is max wattage regardless of the amps / volts. Unless it is missing a mode that allows for higher amperage at any given voltage then the output in wattage is the proper way to measure. There really is no other standardized way to test with there being so many protocols and variables though and could miss a good output mode on any specific unit.
@@D3M3NT3Dstrang3rWattage is the best way to measure. But it’ll be capped depending on the output voltage. The max output for most USB-A ports is around 2.4a at 5v so just under 15w. The protection circuitry may be set a little higher, as seen here, but that’s all that should be expected (unless using QuickCharge which can negotiate higher voltages over USB-A). USB-C is where most of these wattage claims will be seen. In theory, USB-C can do over 20v and 5a, so 100w+ (up to 240w with some equipment). All he’d need to do is hook up a Power Delivery trigger to his load tester and trigger the various higher voltages to see the theoretical wattage outputs of these devices.
I have a phone which can charge with maximum 65W. Provided, that it has a charger AND cable which supports its protocol.
Guess, how many cables I bought by the time I figured this out XD
@@NateSF1 Appears that the type C tester he is using between the banks and the load are triggering some PD/QC modes. I agree he could have tried using it on the A ports as well to trigger any modes available on those too. Most seemed close enough to rated output though to have been tested in the maximum available output mode.
@@RelakS__ That is the biggest problem I have seen is finding cables that support the higher charging speeds. The 65w charger I have has built in cable so no worries there although my phone doesn't seem to always trigger it's max charging modes reliably even for 15w.
If the charger with the solar panel is anything like the one I've got, it would take days (many, perhaps) to charge it that way. Nice idea, but not surprising given the rather small size of the solar panel. I'd be surprised if it generates 1W under ideal conditions.
Love your videos! I've been thinking it would be nice if you could do a test on shears. People on forums are always recommending ones with ridiculous price tags ( in my opinion).
Thanks! Thanks for the video idea.