Using power banks to charge your phone

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soumen.sam

Senior Member
May 14, 2014
189
14
Hi Guys,

I’ve no experience of using Power Banks ever so here is my queries and doubts. As far as I know as much the mAh the power bank have, it can hold more current and charges other device for long. Is that correct?

# My primary question is it safe to Power Bank to Charge your phone?
# Also is it safe to use a higher mAh external charger like 10400mAh? The stock charger shows 2amp output.
# Could it damage the battery for longer use? (I love my phone very much and I scare to use non branded after market stuffs)

I found this product Xiaomi Brand Power Bank 10400MAH (please google it and see the description) and it has 10400 mAh, and looks like best for Note 3’s giant 3200mAh battery. So is it safe to go for this product?

My purpose of using this, like once in every two full charge. Please advice, thanks
 
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RemyL75

RemyL75

Member
Oct 2, 2007
32
7
Chicago
a "power bank" is nothing more than an external battery. Almost every cellphone manufacturer makes one. The bigger the mAh, the more power it holds and the more devices it can charge..

In my experience, it is safe to use them. I have a few that i have used over the years. I would recommend getting one where the mAh is more than the battery in the device you want to charge.

I have a Motorola external battery that is rated at 4000 mAh. I use it for my Note 3, but it will not change the Note 3 t0 100% if it's starting from 0%. Even thought the Note 3's battery is 3200 mAh. But other external batteries I have used have been able to. I assume it's because their mAh is higher (9000 mAh and 10400mAh).

As for the specific one you are looking to get, all I can tell you to do is read the reviews, and if possible, search the reviews for any references to Note 3.
 
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soumen.sam

Senior Member
May 14, 2014
189
14
RemyL75 said:
a "power bank" is nothing more than an external battery. Almost every cellphone manufacturer makes one. The bigger the mAh, the more power it holds and the more devices it can charge..

In my experience, it is safe to use them. I have a few that i have used over the years. I would recommend getting one where the mAh is more than the battery in the device you want to charge.

I have a Motorola external battery that is rated at 4000 mAh. I use it for my Note 3, but it will not change the Note 3 t0 100% if it's starting from 0%. Even thought the Note 3's battery is 3200 mAh. But other external batteries I have used have been able to. I assume it's because their mAh is higher (9000 mAh and 10400mAh).

As for the specific one you are looking to get, all I can tell you to do is read the reviews, and if possible, search the reviews for any references to Note 3.
Click to expand...
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Thanks for your feedback. Yes I’m looking for reviews specificly for Note 3. Just two question, any external power bank charger charging rate/speed is similar to the adapter (If its mAh is higher than the device battery)? Or its more faster or slower to charge full?

The one I’m looking for its specification shows Output voltage: DC 5.1V and Output current: 2.1A (TYP) which is slightly higher than the OE power adapter. So is that safe? However it says it can automatically adjust the output power according to be charging devices. Don’t know how far its true.

My only concern is it shouldn’t reduce the stock OE battery life.
 
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unholyfatman

Member
Jan 29, 2013
23
3
Yeah honestly anything with a 2 amp port and 10000 MAh will charge your note 2 twice I would say maybe a 11000 MAh charger just to make sure since I believe there is a loss of power during the transfer which causes the external battery brick to discharge faster and causes there to be a significant loss of charging capacity at least in my experiences
 
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RemyL75

RemyL75

Member
Oct 2, 2007
32
7
Chicago
soumen.sam said:
Thanks for your feedback. Yes I’m looking for reviews specificly for Note 3. Just two question, any external power bank charger charging rate/speed is similar to the adapter (If its mAh is higher than the device battery)? Or its more faster or slower to charge full?

The one I’m looking for its specification shows Output voltage: DC 5.1V and Output current: 2.1A (TYP) which is slightly higher than the OE power adapter. So is that safe? However it says it can automatically adjust the output power according to be charging devices. Don’t know how far its true.

My only concern is it shouldn’t reduce the stock OE battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I have never had one reduce the battery life of an OEM battery for any phone I have used. I have heard however, that the capacity drops for the external battery over the course of time. The first one i had (Motorola P793) had this issue, but I opened it up and replaced it with a larger battery (THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED!). It lasted for another 2 years and before I opened it up I had it for about 18 months.

As for the Voltage, it needs to meet or exceed the voltage for the OEM charger. Also, make sure the miliAmp (mA) or Amp (A) rating meets or exceeds the OEM charger. That way you will get a similar charging speed. Cannot say it will be exactly as fast, but it will come close.
 
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polzavotel

Member
Feb 5, 2009
26
8
Why use power bank with galaly note 3 when it has removable battery? Spare battery would be much more convinient. No wires, smaller size and you will not have to wait till it charges the phone.
 
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soumen.sam

Senior Member
May 14, 2014
189
14
Lorettaa said:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Xiaomi-Power-10400mAh-batteries-Sensation-Silver/dp/B00IL7VD1Y

Is this the powerbank you are planning to get one? Looks good.
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Yes this is the one I’ve selected, it has 10400MAH so I think it should charge the Note 3’s 3200mAh giant battery twice. Also it has kinds Apple looks and I will get it here at around $28USD

But actually I was looking for something which I can carry with the phone attach or I can still use the phone when it charging the phone even if can charge single time. That would be great user friendly. I really liked this one (attached image) but it has only 2200mAh which cant do a full charge sadly.

I just dislike when I’ve to leave the phone away for two+ hours for charge and I missed calls and messages.
 

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soumen.sam

Senior Member
May 14, 2014
189
14
RemyL75 said:
I have never had one reduce the battery life of an OEM battery for any phone I have used. I have heard however, that the capacity drops for the external battery over the course of time. The first one i had (Motorola P793) had this issue, but I opened it up and replaced it with a larger battery (THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED!). It lasted for another 2 years and before I opened it up I had it for about 18 months.

As for the Voltage, it needs to meet or exceed the voltage for the OEM charger. Also, make sure the miliAmp (mA) or Amp (A) rating meets or exceeds the OEM charger. That way you will get a similar charging speed. Cannot say it will be exactly as fast, but it will come close.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Ok, thanks for the details, I will keep those in mind. And yes I heard too these power banks performs good for 1st 6months as its battery quality is not great like the OEM phone battery.
 
S

soumen.sam

Senior Member
May 14, 2014
189
14
polzavotel said:
Why use power bank with galaly note 3 when it has removable battery? Spare battery would be much more convinient. No wires, smaller size and you will not have to wait till it charges the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Yes that was my most preferred way, I love to stick with OE equipment. But the issues are:
I use this leather flip cover and I love it too, I have to remove this and then again the stock back cover, also power off the phone. Those will be long process to replace the battery, not a convenient way for me.

$_12.JPG
 
ShadowLea

ShadowLea

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Dec 3, 2010
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Enschede, The Netherlands
www.aquilasol.com
HTC Leo
Asus Transformer TF700
I'm using the 15600mAh A-Solar XSTORM Power bank. I use it to charge my Note 3 and my NotePro. http://www.xtorm.eu/EN/xtorm-power-banks/xtorm-power-bank-15600-646.html

So far I've been using it intensively for 5 months and it hasn't started degrading yet.

You appear to be mistaking mAh for Ampere charging rate. The Note 3 battery is 3200mAh, it charges at 2A. Basically, it's an 80 litre gasoline tank and you can fill it at 0.5 liter per second.

- Yes, you can use it safely. There's no damage risk.
- Pick one with a 5V 2A port, because anything lower than that is not powerful enough to charge the Note 3.
- No, it can't damage your battery. The phone doesn't draw more power than it can handle.

Anything below 10.000mAh is not worth the money, in my opinion.

I also have an additional battery. Which is wonderful, but not very useful when you're in the middle of something. Changing the battery during a call is not convenient.
 
sfb14

sfb14

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2007
195
47
SFO
I was using the Rav Power 10400mah power bank since last year and it helps when I am out on the road or on a plane (13 hour flights.. yeah it helps!) Thats 2 to almost 3 charges for my note 3.

I gave it to my wife so she can use it, I got the Zerolemon for my note 3 now so I dont need it as much :)
 
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DrawnToLife

DrawnToLife

Senior Member
Jun 2, 2013
985
1,612
Toronto
The reason why a power bank makes sense, at least to me, is that it's not device specific. I'd rather buy a power bank and share it with my iPad or my Nexus or whatever phone my friend may have, rather than having to randomly carry around a spare battery that can only help me (and it's kind of hard to justify carrying around a battery when I could carry around something that could charge multiple devices simultaneous). It is also one hell of an inconvenience to have to find a safe place to take my case/cover off and swap out the batteries. To each his own, right?
 
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gutlessmerc

Senior Member
Nov 5, 2012
88
14
DAvid_B said:
Unless it's big enough to fully charge it twice I don't see the point in getting one.
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lol! The zerolemon 18000 mah charges my note 3 atleast 3 times. I bought it a month ago. Charged the external battery all the way once and probably charged my phone it 3-4 times by now and i still see the portable pack to have 1 bar out of 4 left on the charge meter . This thing is a beast to the max

---------- Post added at 06:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:39 PM ----------
polzavotel said:
Why use power bank with galaly note 3 when it has removable battery? Spare battery would be much more convinient. No wires, smaller size and you will not have to wait till it charges the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

If you are into good case covers for the phone, then you know it sucks to have to replace batteries. If you're gonna be out for the whole day and you have no access to outlets and still need to use you phone a lot, then you'll need a power bank.
 
S

soumen.sam

Senior Member
May 14, 2014
189
14
Thanks for all your feedback. Yes definitely higher mAh power source should charge multiple times. Like gutlessmerc said, if one can do full charge 3 times then definitely that is worthful.

Actually while traveling except Flight I don’t have power issues, I mostly use my car for traveling and use car charger. But the great thing would be if I could carry the power bank in my pocket when its doing its job. That would be great for me. So I don’t have to leave the phone for charging. So beside the mAh I’m also looking for a slim one. Not a bulky stuff.
 
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    spark001uk
    spark001uk
    Hi all
    I'm an electronics engineer, and I'd like to point something out about using power banks / non-standard chargers etc that a lot of people seem to overlook, and to explain why your device may not be charging as fast as it should be. I know it looks long-winded, but bear with me! :)

    Basically, a mains/car/powerbank charger with a standard USB port has four pins. Two of these obviously carry the 5 volts and ground. The other two pins, called D+ and D-, which normally carry data on a PC, are utilised in dedicated chargers to 'tell' the device that you connect to it what sort of charger it is, and the maximum current it can supply. This is normally done by the charger setting a small voltage on each of the data pins.

    This is where the trouble starts. There is no fixed standard that every manufacturer goes by. Some use their own combination of voltages to 'talk' to their devices. Samsung and apple are examples who set funny standards. So, if for example you plug a recent Samsung phone - one which charges at 2A from its native charger - into a powerbank, if it doesn't get the correct 'talk' from the data pins, it will not charge at 2A, it'll fall back to something much less, usually 1A, or even lower. I personally have a GP powerbank, which can dish out 2.1A on one port, and 2.4A on the other. But - because the data pin voltages are wrong for my Samsung phone, it will only draw 1A, whichever port I put it in.

    Another thing some devices might be fussy about, is the voltage arriving at the device. For example, Samsung's newer 2A chargers put out slightly higher than 5V (I believe it's 5.3V off top of my head). Once again, a lot of power banks may not be this high, in fact some drop below 5V when charging some devices. This voltage drop also gets further affected with poor quality cables, as the flimsy wires in them lose voltage. This is probably in part a safety feature as it stops cables that aren't up to the job overheating with full current.

    Then there are the 'fast' chargers coming with some newer phones, which use a more complex 'talk' to bump the usual 5V up to 9V, or even 12V. But that's another story altogether!!

    For those of you tech savvy, here's some of the data pin voltages I found with a bit of digging around online. These are usually set on each data line by means of specific value resistors configured in a basic pull-up/pull-down voltage divider, and/or shorting the data pins to each other.

    D+ at 2.0V, D- at 2.0V = Low power, about 0.5A
    D+ at 2.0V, D- at 2.7V = Apple 1A (eg. iPhone charger)
    D+ at 2.7V, D- at 2.0V = Apple 2.1A (eg. iPad charger)
    D+ at 2.7V, D- at 2.7V = High power, 2.4A
    D+ shorted to D-, and both at 1.1V = Samsung 2A

    The only way I know of to get round this if your device isn't drawing the full current it should, is either change the resistors in the charger to suit your device (can be difficult, electronics expertise required), or make a little adaptor up from a male and a female USB connector, and interrupting the data pins to set the voltages with your own resistor setup (again, can be difficult unless you're electronics minded).
    Obviously with both of these measures you must be careful you don't inadvertently set it to tell the device to draw more than the charger is capable of supplying, and bear in mind it may only correct things for one particular device.

    By the way I accept no responsibility for damages, the data I've provided may not be gospel, don't blow yourself up, blah blah blah!

    Anyway I hope this helps you have a better understanding of things! ;)

    EDIT:
    Seems I went thhrough this a couple of years ago with the Samsung S4, I'd completely forgotten!
    http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2274321
    View
    2
    eukleklein
    eukleklein
    anker 30000mah is really powerful device. I'm using it around 1 month, works great. :good:
    View
    1
    S
    soumen.sam
    Hi Guys,

    I’ve no experience of using Power Banks ever so here is my queries and doubts. As far as I know as much the mAh the power bank have, it can hold more current and charges other device for long. Is that correct?

    # My primary question is it safe to Power Bank to Charge your phone?
    # Also is it safe to use a higher mAh external charger like 10400mAh? The stock charger shows 2amp output.
    # Could it damage the battery for longer use? (I love my phone very much and I scare to use non branded after market stuffs)

    I found this product Xiaomi Brand Power Bank 10400MAH (please google it and see the description) and it has 10400 mAh, and looks like best for Note 3’s giant 3200mAh battery. So is it safe to go for this product?

    My purpose of using this, like once in every two full charge. Please advice, thanks
    View
    1
    D
    DAvid_B
    Unless it's big enough to fully charge it twice I don't see the point in getting one.
    View
    1
    C
    ciribic
    Has anyone tried this combination?

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/400541343713
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2-4-6-8-1...-Ionen-Wiederaufladbare-Akku-HP-/131152525573

    4x 6000 mAh = 24000 mAh

    doesn't sound bad for 16$
    View

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