Review: EasyAcc 10400 mAh Powerbank

This review represents my personal and unbiased view on EasyAcc Powerbank 10400 mAh. In this test I  evaluated everything I think is important for consumer – consumer experience.

What's in the box:

-          10400 mAh Powerbank

-          2x micro usb cable

-          User manual (read it!)

First impressions: Item was delivered in secure package. Powerbank itself is great looking device. It's made of aluminum body, which gives powerbank very high-end feel. It's very compact built and it fits nice in the hand. The dimensions of the powerbank are: 90x77x21.5 mm. The unit is also fingerprint –resistant. On the front of the unit, there are power button, 2 USB output ports (1x1A, 1x2.1A) and micro USB input port. There are also four indicators, that represents battery capacity. Each indicator stands for 25% of the battery power.

How it works: Powerbank is really easy to use. When you plug device in, powerbank starts charging it automatically. If you want to check battery level, just press power button. Indicator will go automatically off in few seconds. Powerbank must have above 5% of power capacity to charge your device. The powerbank has under 5% of the power capacity when one indicator is flashing. Because there are 2 output ports (1A and 2.1A), you can charge 2 devices simultaneously. I recommend charging tablets with 2.1A USB output port. It will charge them more quickly.

Test:   

• Battery efficiency: with first fully charged powerbank I charged 50% of Nexus 10, 30% of ipad mini retina and 36 % of nexus 7 (2012). All of them were charged separately.  Battery efficiency with first full discharge was 72%, which is great. It takes few battery cycles, before powerbank reach its full potencial of battery efficiency.
•  Charging time: powerbank was fully charged (0-100%) in 6 hours, using desktop charger with 2.1A of output power. This means approximately 1730 mAh in one hour.     
• Charging speed: In one hour, powerbank  was able to charge Note 4 from 13-63%. This is approximately 1610% mAh in one hour.
• Compatibility: I haven't had any problems charging any device I put in the powerbank. Beside already mentioned devices I also charged bluetooth headset, bluetooth speaker, Samsung Galaxy S4, Nokia Lumia 520, iPhone 5S, ipod nano and garmin gps watch.     
• Simultaneous charging: it is working properly, I had no problems charging two tablets simultaneously (ipad mini 1gen, ipad mini 2gen).    
• Overheating: no overheating problems, even when charging two devices simultaneously. When charging battery itself, I also haven't noticed any change in temperature.

Conclusion: I am really satisfied with this powerbank. It's the best powerbank I used to date. Powerbank is great designed and with great performance. I am especially satisfied with charging speed of the powerbank, which is really fast. I most definetly recommend this powerbank to anyone, who looks for beautiful and powerful powerbank. 

Review: Levin 12000 mAh Solar Charger

This review represents my personal and unbiased view on Levin 12000 mAh solar charger. In this test I will evaluate everything I think is important for consumer – consumer experience.

What's in the box:

•  12000 mAh solar charger
•  Carabiner
•  Micro USB cable
•  30 pin Samsung adapter
•  User manual (read it!)

First impressions:

Solar charger is very nice looking device, with rubberized edges which protects charger from accidental drops. Solar charger is also water – resistant. On the front there is 1.7W monocrystalline solar panel, power button and four led battery indicators. Every indicator represents 25% of power capacity. On the side there are 2 micro usb output (1A) and one input (1A), which are sealed with cap, to ensure water – resistant structure. Powerbank has also built in led torch. Led torch has two different modes: normal and flashing light.

How it works:

 There are two ways to charge this powerbank, via built-in solar panel or via external power source, using micro usb cable. Powerbank is really simple to use. Plug in device you want to charge and click on power button. If you want to use led torch, press power button twice, and if you want flashing light, press power button one more time. To turn it off, double press power button again. When battery level on solar charger is low, one blue indicator starts to flash. If you charge it via solar energy, one indicator turns green.

Test:

•  Solar charging: I placed solar charger under sunlight for 5,5 hours. It is December, so the sun isn't as powerful as it is in the summer. From 5,5 hours I was able to get 510 mAh  of power. That means it would charge iPhone 5S around 25%.
• Charging time from 0 -100% via 2.4 A external power source was around 7.5 hours.   
• Battery efficiency: From one full charge, I was able to charge my ipad mini retina from 38 to 100%, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 from 0-100%. Battery efficiency with first full charge was 61%. Here is important to mention, that solar charger automatically shut off, although there is still some battery juice, in order to protect its battery from deep discharge.
•  I have no problems charging two tablets at the same time (ipad mini retina and nexus 7).
• Overheating: There were no overheating problems, even when charging two devices simultaneously.

     Compatibility: I have no problem charging: nexus 7, nexus 10, ipad mini retina,  Samsung Galaxy Note 4, bluetooth speaker, sony headset and Garmin GPS watch.

Conclusion: Very satisfied with the product and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for dust and shock proof, water resistant powerbank. But if you want to use it just as solar charger I don't recommend it, because solar panel will charge powerbank slowly.  You have to look at this solar charging as an extra feature, which provides you with some battery juice for those emergency situations. For people who want to charge their devices via sunlight only, I recommend looking for  higher efficiency solar panels (10W or more). Also I would like to see, that micro usb would be built in powerbank as an extra feature.

Review: Levin Lightning cable

This review represents my personal and unbiased view on Levin lightning cable. In this test I will evaluate everything I think is important for consumer – consumer experience.

Lightning cable is very quality build and is MFI certified. In my opinion this cabel is better buy than original lightning cable by Apple.

Reasons: 

 -8 pin connectors are the same (both made of single piece of metal, smooth connectors, grey faceplate);

- a hold, just under lightning boot,(look at the picture) which goes around the cable is thicker and more durable. A lot of original lightning  cables break quickly, often the reason is  very tiny hold around the  cable. I have already broken 2 original lightning cables;

- have no problem charging and syncing with this cable. Using ipad mini retina (ios 8.1.1);

- works with the latest iphone 6 and 6 plus and with all ios versions;

- price comparison: £8,99 for this cable vs. £15 for the original cable.

Conclusion: I had no issues with this lightning cable and I totally recommend it to anyone, who are looking for a cheaper, yet better alternative to Apple Lightning cable.

link to the product:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-MFI-Certified-Lightning-Charge/dp/B00PC0YW16/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418319900&sr=8-1&keywords=levin+lightning

Apple lightning cable on the left, Levin lightning cable on the right

Review: Levin 3 USB Port Car Charger

This is my review of Levin 3 USB port car charger in which I intend to provide you with information that matters most – consumer experience.

First impressions: Car charger is quality made, with style in mind. The connectors are high quality and responsive. Charger has  1x 1A USB port and 2x 2.1 A USB ports. At the top of the USB ports, there is LED light, which turn blue, when car charger is correctly inserted in car 12 volt receptacle.  

The product is 7,3 cm long and the side where are USB ports is 4 cm width (at most).  I have no problems charging devices with next cars: Renault and VW. I think there should be no problem using car charger with other cars for European market.

First test: I charged my iPhone via 1A USB port, and it was charging with full speed (equal to charging via wall socket), as mentioned in the product description. Car charger had no overheating problems whatsoever. 

Second test:  Charging 3 devices at once to see, if there is any charging speed decrease.  For this test I charged Nexus 10 (2012), iPad mini 2 and iPhone 5S simultaneously.  Charging three devices at once had no influence on charging speed. Charging time in first and second test were the same. In this test I also didn't notice any overheating problems with car charger, despite using all thre USB ports at the same time.

Conclusion: I am very pleased with high charging efficiency of the unit and had no problems with it during my test. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to have high quality and powerful car charger. And for that price, buying this unit is a no brainer.

Review: EasyAcc 3000 mAh Battery Case for iPhone 5/5S

I have been using power case with my iPhone 5S for the past week and this is my review – consumer experience.  In the box you get: powercase, micro USB to USB cable, headset plug and user manual (read it first!).

First impressions: powercase is made of glossy plastic and feels compact in the hand. On the top of the case is button which serves for opening the powercase. You have to pull the button to the left to open the powercase. This button also serves as power button for iPhone. On the left side of the powercase you have a hole to access do not disturb button on iphone and buttons for volume rockers. On the bottom is headphone jack, micro usb plug and button for powering the battery case on. When you press button once, it shows you battery level with four indicators, each indicator represents 25 % of the capacity. Inside the powerbank is lightning connector which is MFI (made for iphone) certified. I compared it with original apple lightning cable and I didn't noticed any difference between connectors (rounded contacts, white piece is rounded in the corners). Buttons for the power button on iphone 5s and buttons for volume rockers are very responsive.

Using the powercase: Usually I have to charge my iPhone 5S daily. Using iPhone 5s with this powercase (both 100 %) I got three days, before I had to charge my iPhone. When your iphone is running low on battery, just press button on the bottom for a few seconds and it will start charging your iphone from the powercase. With this case iPhone gets pretty bulky. FYI: iPhone itself measures: 123,8 mm x 58,6 mm x 7.6 mm . But when you are using it with this case measurements are: 146,0 m x 66,0 mm x 16,00 mm.                                                                                                     Charging empty powercase to 100 % took 3.5 hours.

You can also use this powercase as a stand, which is pretty gimmick. When you want to use it as a stand, just press the top button to the left and at the same time hold a finger on iPhone, to separate iphone from the frame of the powercase. If you don't do this, iPhone stays in the frame and if you push too strong, lightning connector  could break (lightning connector isn't fixed to the frame).

Dislikes: If you want use headphones with the powercase, you have to first remove iphone from the case and then insert the headset plug.  Another thing I don't like is that you can not charge your iphone with powercase, when  you are charging the powercase.

Conclusion: Overall, powercase is very solid device. It's great for the emergency situations, or when you are going somewhere for a weekend and don't have access to wall charger. I also recommend it to people who don't like to carry additonal  powerbanks for charging.