TheExplorographerI have to admit, I used to laugh when I saw people lugging these things around to charge their phones. I personally had never had a reason to have to charge on the go. Right up until I took my first non-stop flight across the US from Philly to San Francisco this past September. I did some research and found out that there was no power for the 5.5hour flight. My concern was to keep my iPad charged so I could play Lego Lord of the Rings for the whole flight. Also to take some photos and mess around on my phone. I was pretty sure the phone would make it, but I knew the iPad would not. So I went in search of a device to handle the task. Mainly I had affordability in mind but also wanted the maximum number of recharges for the buck as well. Through quite a bit of research online I came up with the 15000mah Solar Panel EasyAcc Classic Power Bank.
Styling aside (I really like Orange), It’s a well built unit with a little weight to it but not bad at all. It weighs what you expect a battery of this size to weigh. The pack comes with a key ring carabiner and two USB cables with micro USB ends. 1 cable is roughly 6″ and a 2nd cable included is 24″. The unit does not come with a charger. You can charge it up using your standard phone charger and one of the included cables. You can charge the unit and have the unit charge a device at the same time but it is not recommended as it may shorten it’s effective life. There is a charge check button on top and 4 LEDS, each of which represents 25% increments. It also includes two charging outputs both of which will charge at the same time. One of the USB outputs is a 2A port with the ability to fast charge your devices and a standard 1A port for regular charging. Charging of the pack itself by plugging it in to a standard phone charger takes about 10 hours to charge from 0% to 100%. So approximately 10% per hour. Charging by solar is painfully slow and I really can’t see any reason to care. I have to be honest I did not put it on the dash while driving or put it out in the sun…and here’s why. I was able to charge my Galaxy S5 from about 10% to 100%, 5 times. My iPad 3 times, and my Sony a7RII about 8 times! Yes, I can actually charge my camera with this thing. In fact, I have been recharging my camera in between locations and getting a whole day of recharging out of this thing and only using 1 battery in my a7RII. The drain on the pack for doing this was typically about 35%! It also works as a continual power supply for the camera if you happen to forget your batteries. (I would never do that) So basically for the day or so that I was unable to charge the unit it lasted the entire time, as did my mobile devices. Camping for more than a couple of days would probably leave you without power. Generally though, you will have a car with you so you can charge it that way. If you are heading to the back country you are of course going to want a larger solar panel unit such as this one: Anker 14w Dual-Port Solar Charger For most, the EasyACC is all you will ever need in a portable backup battery.
Coming in at only 35.99 over on Amazon.com, I consider this a really great unit. I think if I were to re-purchase this I would probably get the 20000mah version without the solar panel. Maybe the more I use it while traveling I will rely on the Solar panel. Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, I will never laugh at anyone carrying one of these around again! I am finding it hard to live without it now.
Here are my amazon links where you can get both the 15000mah and 20000mah versions.
EasyAcc Classic Power Bank 15000mah Solar Panel
EasyAcc Monster 20000mah Power Bank
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