Powerbank

QrizB

I've got an Asda branded 20 Ah (20,000 mAh) power bank. It's a bit of a brick (almost 3x as thick as my Moto phone, and significantly heavier) but it does the job.

A couple of times I have run to very low and been conscious of managing battery towards the end of the day

A typical mobile phone has a 5 Ah battery (5,000 mAh) so mine should be capable of charging a phone from flat four times. In practice it's a bit less than that but it's still three and a bit times.

For your purpose a 10 Ah power bank should be sufficient; Mrs QrizB has one that size and I don't recall her needing more than that. You might even be happy with the 5 Ah one that's been mentioned. I only went bigger because the extra cost was small.

So, can I just buy this from Amazon and it'll do the job?

As others have said, unbranded power banks are a bit of a wild west. I wouldn't buy that particular one. Mine came from a supermarket but if I was buying online I'd look for Anker, Belkin, or one of the other recognisable brands.

What are the 20,000 mAh powerbanks at £50, £75, £100 or more doing that the one above won't do?

The expensive ones typically offer much higher outputs. Ones with USB-PD can often charge a laptop, for example. This isn't necessary for charging a phone.

If you travel by air check the latest limits on capacity, both at airports and your preferred airlines.

The limit for air travel is 100 watt-hours, which for the usual 3.7 volt power banks is 27 Ah (27,000 mAh).

outtatune

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82127074#Comment_82127074

Don't leave it plugged in unattended!

RavingMad

For charging your phone during the day, a 10000mah battery will do the job. Amazon do loads. Pick one with decent ratings and you'll be fine

Grumpy_chap

There didn't seem to be much between the Anker and the Belkin units so I ordered the Belkin and saved the cost of a coffee 😊

Thanks to all for the advice and information.

531063

Say the built in power cable gets damaged can you still charge it and charge a phone with it ?

elsien

you can on mine - just use the cat A adapter instead although it could be a bit slower. You couldn’t charge the power bank and the phone through it at the same time, but you shouldn’t be doing that anyway.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82128877#Comment_82128877

I don't know - it has not arrived yet. I suspect that Elsien's response would be fairly generic to most of these devices.

I guess, ultimately, having gone for a £15 rather than a £50 or more option, if the device got damaged I can replace (twice) and still claim a "win".

john1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6682252/powerbank

Ref re your use of What3Words - have you looked at the recently release "pro version" may save some time /battery use .

Grumpy_chap

W3W PRO has a monthly subscription which I was hoping to avoid.

QrizB

Do you have to use W3W at all? It's a shonky system with well-known flaws and shortfalls.