My google-fu has been defeated, I'm on the lookout for a power pack that has a "quick charge" function, but not for the device it is charging, but for the device itself.
I'm currently planning a few adventures which would include spending some nights away from power sources, but would be visiting cafes etc where I would like to try and top up a power bank to charge phone/watch for navigation/GPS purposes, but obviously don't want to be waiting for hours for it to charge.
Any suggestions or recommendations?
Cheers
Sorry, can't answer that question but if it's only 'some nights' do you not have the option of a very large battery?
Otherwise I would look at the Anker stuff. Of all of the batteries I have used they tend to be the best. You might find specs on their site as a starting point
+1 for Anker - their batteries are good.
This has proved useful as I already have quite a few 18650 batteries for bike lights.
Takes a usb cable.
Go for a large capacity power pack. A decent one will be able to fully charge a smartphone 3 - 4+ times. Charge the devices quickly when in cafes and use the power pack when necessary.
Another vote here for Anker kit - this one claims to be recharged twice as quickly as normal.
Go for a larger capacity power bank if you're concerned about gaps between charging points vs projected consumption.
I'd also look to Anker first, really good bit of kit although I only have a 5200 size, it suits me fine for a phone charger.
Assuming my phone is fully charged to begin with, it'll give me about one 100% charge, and then maybe about another 50-75% charge.
The Anker stuff isn't the cheapest but they do seem to be ahead of the game when it comes to mobile battery recharging with the fast charge features and stuff. Once mine is tired out I'll have no qualms buying a new one.
I'd look at your power consumption and try and reduce it as much as possible first then look at roughly how much you need per day. My phone is on "airplane mode" unless I'm actually making a call and I've turned on as many power saving options as possible on the GPS. Not looking at the screen every five minutes helps, try and remember some of the route ahead.
I know people are wedded to their phones for everything but dedicated GPS units tend to be much better in terms of power consumption - I've a Garmin Oregon 600 and with care I can get 20hrs of usage out of one charge of the rechargeable AAs. For most that's two day's worth of riding. A 10,000mAh powerbank can recharge it about four times so if I start with the batteries fully charged I've something like nine or ten days' worth of navigation before needing to recharge the powerbank.
I wouldn't go for a single large battery but two smaller ones: if one gets damaged then you still have the other plus you can charge one up whilst charging your devices with the other. You lose out slightly with the weight of the extra packaging for each battery. Mine are Anker.
I have one of these and it will easily last a weekend/4 days.
You can also charge it from 2 x 2A sockets at the same time so can be charged twice as quick.
I've had this one over a year now, easily keeps my iPhone going for several days..
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007TSRDCO
I've got a load of Anker stuff for work, wouldn't actually recommend it. The power they produce is really noisy (we've checked it on an oscilloscope and they're all the same so it's definitely an Anker thing) which some devices don't like.
On the upside they have two usb-in ports so can be charged off two wall sockets simultaneously.
wouldn’t actually recommend it.
What's better then?
Got a 20,000 mah one. Not sure of brand but it's got standard usb and quick charge and usbc with little green led showing battery percentage. Took it camping and charged my phone twice with heaps of juice left.
Actually just looked. 54% left. Made by Vinsic,
https://www.gearbest.com/power-banks/pp_599148.html
We've got three of these in the house - seem to last for ages! Not quick charge though...
wouldn’t actually recommend it.
Pretty much everyone else does - I’ve yet to see a poor review of Anker products in tech articles.
Got the power add pilot as above, fantastic bit of kit.
Got some big Anker one as above, looooooads of capacity.
Was a refurb one from amazon so a bit cheaper.
I have a powerbank that appears to be called a juice squash xl which will charge my phone 4 times and is surprisingly small and light. that will do me for wel over a week as like whitstone above I conserve the power in my phone
Pretty much everyone else does – I’ve yet to see a poor review of Anker products in tech articles.
To be fair if all you've got to base a review on is "does this battery charge another battery, how quickly and how many times can it do it" then they work fine.
It's only if you plug something sensitive into it like sound recording kit, go-pro syncbacks etc that things go off the rails. So they're fine, until they're not.
As an example hero7's crash after an hour or so when plugged into the Anker. Now to be fair the hero7 crash's all the time anyway, but they definitely seem to do it more often with Anker batteries.
So do you have a better recommendation TINAS?
The issue with small electronic items, especially batteries, is that there are loads of manufacturers, probably far Eastern, popping up selling any old junk in a nice case, and you've no idea if it's decent or a con. What we need is one name to rise from the thousands that we can identify that brings with it a good reputation. So far, Anker is that name.
A couple of other manufacturers that get good, real world, reviews are Zendure and RAVPower. I've a RAVPower.
Sportpursuit always have offers on power banks - could be worth a look (note, check delivery dates)
https://www.sportpursuit.com/accessories/batteries-power