So my V20 is getting its root in a few days (its finally almost done I am so excited) and with that I decided to now actually invest in the longevity in my phone. Today I bought an Otterbox Defender (before the prices go up substantially. They had them at the local Sprint Store and they were the same price online) and a few days ago I got this battery pack.
Now I’ll admit, there was competition. Next to this pack on the shelf was a 20,000 mAh battery from Tzumi, where this pack is 10,400. Now immediately I have a red flag. Mah is always in square numbers, and if it was 20800 I’d be chill, but everywhere on the packaging and the battery the Tzumi pack says 20000. Now, apparently, according to google and parts resources, the same company makes the cells for the PNY and the Tzumi. The PNY, I assume, is a white box battery, whereas the Tzumi is a straight import. My other problem was that the Tzumi was a wallwort where the PNY is a USB chargeable. But, according to reviews [aside from a few being DOA], both batteries seem to do very well and have the mAh rating that it says on the box. So I walked around Meijers for an hour and asked which one people would buy just by looking at them. I was pretty confident that I was safe with either, and in the end I had 4.5 votes for both, flipped a coin, and got the PNY which is the one I wanted to begin with. 20000 mAh is just really enticing though.
So upon picking it up for the first time I didn’t realize how heavy it is. Its ridiculous. Its so heavy I could break a window with it, or hurt somebody with it. What I like is that it has 3 USB ports, 2 1A, and 1 2.4A, so you can do quickcharge or just charge on the 1A. Either way though, it doesn’t take long for a phone to charge. In about 45 minutes a coworker’s Galaxy S7 went from 19% to 100%, compared to him waiting to the end of his shift or longer for the phone to charge on the wallwort he had. I’d call that pretty good. The unit also has a screen to show battery percentage, whether power is being output or input, and the screen is backlit with either a bright blue or green light. The unit charges with a MicroUSB and takes a good while to charge. Though, to be surprised by this would make me laugh really hard seeing as it has such a massive capacity, or at least massive to me. And to those who need it, it has a flashlight, so I guess you can get the worlds longest lasting flashlight.
Next time you go in to Silent Hill take a couple of these all charged up.
Now, I’ve mentioned my surprise here, right? This actually is blowing my mind in its capacity. Most battery packs I have used so far have been anywhere from 500 mAh little ding dongs, up to a 5000 mAh brick that is about the size of 6 or 7 credit cards all stacked on top of each other. The highest capacity that I knew of prior to this unit was 7800 mAh that was a white label pack bought by whoever was advertising for call of duty Black Ops 2 at E3 in its announcing year. And I only heard about that through the Co-Optional podcast. Hell, this tiny thing the size of my wallet has more battery capacity than my G50VT-X5 and Y40-70 combined, and can hold its charge for 2 weeks, and at the end of that 2 week period can still charge my V20 up in about an hour. Color me impressed.
So ok, its cool, its great even. Whats the bad part? I don’t like the price. Its 50 bucks, I got it for 42 on sale [plus tax]. Now, I understand that this is a huge battery, and in 3 years its going to be something like 35 USD or less, but…… Ehhh, I just wish it wasn’t so expensive. IT ate a good part of my paycheck, and adding the defender didn’t help, but thats also my choice. I could have just as easily waited fro the prices to drop, or got a different battery. But this, even for its price, was still a good deal one way or another. At least for me. I’m getting to a point where I’m not going to be home aside from for chores or to shit and sleep. This battery pack will get used A LOT in the coming months, and I am happy, if a little snippy about 10 or 20 dollars.
So should you buy one? Do you have a spare 50 dollars and are you going on a long road trip, walking trip, or won’t have access to a USB to wall charger for an extended period of time? I will, and when I get home I might even forget to charge my phone and just hook it up to the battery in the morning when I’m on the move again. If you will be in a similar situation, are going camping, or just want a huge battery, sure its totally worth it. If you’re just looking for a battery boost till you get in your car or get home?…. Get any other battery pack and save your money until this one gets cheaper. The 2.4 Amp USB Port might be helpful for you, and maybe thats worth the extra money for you for times sake, I dunno, but at the moment I have this battery in my butt pocket and a USB C cable routed under my belt to charge my phone when I need to be on the move and charge my phone. Maybe that doesn’t work for you, but does wonders for me right now.
I like it. Maybe you will, maybe you won’t. I don’t give ratings, just reports.