Ob and how to prepare for the big blackout in the cold winter is currently hotly debated. Even optimistic contemporaries who are far removed from any kind of pessimism are now asking for a power bank for their mobile phones. Maintaining communication is extremely important in times of crisis. During a power outage, there is neither WLAN nor Internet in the house and therefore no landline telephony either. You are therefore dependent on your mobile phone, provided that the mobile phone transmitter station nearby is still running.
The smartphone battery lasts one to two days, and then the hour of the power bank comes. Such an external battery with USB ports can charge the smartphone several times. Inexpensive ones with capacities of 20,000 mAh can be found in stores for just over 20 euros. If you take a closer look at the offers, you will immediately notice that the batteries from brand manufacturers are significantly more expensive. An obvious explanation: the Billigheimer don’t reach their printed capacity.
But it’s not just the amount of charge that counts. The voltage provided is also important, especially when charging quickly or when the battery of a notebook needs to be filled. The USB standard voltage of 5 volts is then not sufficient. Higher voltages are negotiated between the charger and the receiver. The relevant standard is called Power Delivery, PD, both sides must be compatible, and you need special USB-C cables with a chip for PD.
If you want even more speed and comfort, pay attention to USB PD PPS, the three added letters stand for Programmable Power Supply, which allows more effective charging through flexible voltages. PPS is particularly useful in combination with Samsung smartphones.
Speed is everything: The 737 Charger with three outputs and a peak output of up to 120 watts.
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Image: manufacturer
When choosing a power bank, you not only look at the quick charge support, but also at as many connections as possible in order to charge several devices flexibly and at the same time. In addition to USB-A, a USB-C port must also be installed. Additional functions such as a solar panel on the top can be omitted due to the low efficiency, and we also consider a built-in WLAN hotspot to be superfluous. Wireless charging based on the QI standard could be more appealing, for example for the Apple Watch and other small devices. “Could”, because the loss with inductive charging is up to 30 percent, and that doesn’t really fit the topic of saving electricity.
We tried out a power bank for some time, which still fits well in the luggage in terms of physical dimensions and is in the upper class in terms of equipment. The 737 power bank from Anker measures 15.6 × 5.5 × 5.0 centimeters and weighs 630 grams. That’s quite a chunk. With a capacity of 24,000 mAh, it charges an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy about five times or a notebook one and a half times.
Refuel your notebook in no time
With a spectacular fast charging power of 140 watts, the notebook in particular can be refueled in the shortest possible time. This power bank is therefore ideal if you have a power problem and want to fill your batteries as quickly as possible. The 140 watts are distributed over three outputs, two USB-C, one USB-A. The latter outputs 18 watts, if a device is connected here for charging, 122 watts remain for the two USB-C.
A nice detail is the colored display on the top. It shows the respective charging status and the filling level of the power bank. So you can see, for example, that the iPad Pro charges with 15 watts and the Google Pixel Watch with not even two. The remaining charging time can also be read off. We can recommend this power bank, it only has one disadvantage and that is its price of a whopping 150 euros. speed costs. With which charger do you fill up such a power bank? Anker sent us his 737 Charger, which has an output of 120 watts.
The surprise is the compact design of the adapter, which measures only 4.3 × 3.6 × 1.2 centimeters and weighs 200 grams. Most notebook chargers deliver around 60 watts and are significantly larger. Anker’s trick is the use of gallium nitride semiconductors, which allows the production of power switches with a higher efficiency than the usual silicon: smaller, lighter and more efficient. The battery of our MacBook Pro could be charged from 10 to 40 percent in 20 minutes. The Anker power bank was completely filled with 80 watts in around 40 minutes.
The 737 has two USB-C ports and one USB-A. When connecting multiple devices, the maximum power is distributed across the three outputs using dynamic load sharing. It should be noted that individual ports are briefly de-energized for the corresponding measurements. If you use it to charge your smartphone at night, you may hear several times that the charging process has now started. Our tip: There is constant voltage on the upper port with the notebook symbol. With a price of 95 euros you can’t go wrong with this charger. Both devices are therefore not only well suited for blackouts, but also appeal to those who want to quickly fill up on electricity in between.
