KPH tech blog

My Kodak 5,200mAh

I’ve had a (now ageing) Kodak 5,200 for about 5 years. It’s light and portable, and has been a reliable source of power when I’m out and about.

However, recently I’ve found it doesn’t charge my phone as efficiently as it used to. Last year on a trip to London, weirdly it was intermittently charging my Galaxy S7 – almost like I was constantly ejecting and re-inserting the USB cable.

I’d initially thought this was down to its age, and wear and tear – one of the 4 blue LEDs (that tell you how much charge it has) doesn’t light up anymore, and the Kodak logo rubbed off long ago – but, maybe it’s actually down to the electrical current.

While my default Galaxy S7 ‘Adaptive Fast Charge’ adapter (ahem, Quick Charge 2.0) provides 9V/1.67A as well as 5V/2A, the Kodak 5200 is listed on the Kodak website as providing a 5V/1A output charge.

I’ve never considered that may be, this isn’t enough of an electrical current for my Galaxy S7, and was causing it to virtually ‘lose contact’ with the battery pack – presumably, because the current is so low, that for a split second it doesn’t know it’s plugged in.

The fact that my S7’s wall charger had a minimum charge of 5V/2A, but the maximum charge speed of my Kodak 5,200mAh power bank was 5V/1A, further supported this theory.

Buying a new power bank

I’d been looking on Amazon for a new power bank, especially now that many of them offer support for Quick Charge 3.0. I’d been looking mainly at power banks by Anker (because they’re the best in the business for cables and power banks), RAVPower, and Aukey.

I’d shortlisted battery packs that only offered fast charging, or that officially supported Quick Charge 3.0, but what I found most confusing was that each company have their own names for charging technology… and it’s only when you read the individual product descriptions, that you find out that most of them don’t support Qualcomm’s Quick Charging tech. Even though they list it as a fast charger.

Such names include: PowerIQ and Voltage Boost by Anker; iSmart by RAVPower; and AI (not that AI!) by Aukey. On top of this, they list how many times it will charge certain phones: for example, 3.5 charges for the Samsung Galaxy S8, or 6.5 charges for the iPhone X. (That sounds superb, but how long does it take to charge my phone?)

Then, there’s the confusing charging speeds – 5V/3.4A, or saying that a dual-port power bank supports a maximum output of 4.8A, with 2.4A per USB port.

Honestly, it’s a minefield, but I was able to compare and contrast different power banks in order to make an informed decision. I shortlisted 3 power banks – 2 by Anker, and 1 by Aukey:

• AnkerPowerCore 20,100mAh – long and rectangular, 2 USB output ports, weighing 356g, supports Quick Charge 3.0;

• Anker PowerCore 10,000mAh – small and squarish, one output USB port, slightly smaller than a credit card, weighing 277g, with Quick Charge 3.0;

• Aukey Quick Charge 3.0 20,000mAh – between the 2 Anker’s in terms of shape/size (not too long but not small either), built-in torch (useful for charging my phone in bed), weighs 458g.

I was considering the 2 Anker’s more than the Aukey. But the Aukey was available on one of Amazon’s Lightning deals for £21.99, knocked down from its normal listing price of £34.99. That meant that it undercut both Anker power banks, without compromising on the features.

So I went for it…

Aukey 20,000mAh Review

So, I’ve been using my new power bank for a few days. Unlike the 10k Anker bank (and likely the 20,100mAh one as well), it didn’t come with a carrying case or pouch. That would’ve been nice, as it’s already suffered a couple of scratches, but it’s not the biggest issue…

Size. Well, it’s big! A lot bigger than what I was expecting, that’s for sure. It’s also really heavy. 458g doesn’t sound a lot, but believe me, it is.

Weight. As I’ve already said, it’s heavy. Considering it’s supposed to be portable, this is an issue. A big one. 458g doesn’t sound much, but it feels like a brick. Literally. I can’t imagine I’ll be carrying this around with me all day on a trip to London, so this is, for me, a failure with the product. If I’m going to leave it at home when I go out, then it’s failed as a ‘portable’ power bank.

The Aukey is an improvement on my Kodak, in that it will charge up my phone without intermittently cutting out. But, it’s heavy, it’s a big slab, and worst of all its weight seems unevenly distributed towards one end – seemingly, a ratio of 80:20% weight distribution. It’s okay for putting in a backpack or handbag, but too heavy and not light enough to put in and carry in a coat pocket – which I would realistically be doing.

Anker 10000 review

Unfortunately, it’s probably too late to send the Aukey back now, but I feel like the 10k Anker, with a weight of 277g, would be better. Half the weight and half the capacity, but it would still be an upgrade of my Kodak 5,200mAh power bank.

And in the end, I went for it. After deciding that the Aukey 20k would be too heavy to take on holiday with me, I also bought the Anker 10k bank with QC3 – which, although 10,000 mAh less than the Aukey, also weighs almost 200g lighter… and comes with its own pouch.

-Chris JK.