Power Bank is a very common product nowadays. With so many electronic devices from phones, tablets, smartwatch and other wearables, it is only natural that at some point people will need to charge their devices on the go when they do not have access to wall power. The question now is, which power bank should we choose? What makes a good power bank? Is it just about the large capacity? Or are they other factors to consider?
After good and bad experiences with different power bank / backup battery from different price range, I generally choose to stay away from cheap non-branded power banks because of safety reason. After having a super scary experience of exploding battery (completely destroyed my wall charger, luckily there was no fire, just a charger turned black with burnt smell), I believe anyone would make the same choice if they were in my position. So far I am regularly using power bank from Sony and Legion.
When I saw a limited time promo for a branded power bank with 10,400 mAh capacity and costs USD 13.50, I simply could not resist. Xiaomi Power Bank 10,400 mAh (also known as Mi Power Bank) promises some interesting features I could not find in other products at similar price level. First, we do not need to press any button to start using it, and we do not need to press any button when we finish. A button still exist on the battery, and we only need to press it to check the remaining power left in the battery. Pressing a button was never a big issue for me, but apparently it matters for some people, including my wife.
Next, Xiaomi Power Bank promises temperature resistance, over voltage protection, short circuit protection, over charge protection, over discharge protection, over current protection and optimised charging efficiency. It comes in a very nice-looking design (simple with anodized aluminum casing). There are 3 capacity options available: 5000, 10400 and 16000 mAh. I choose the 10400 mAh simply because it was the only model offered with discounted price.
My first impression upon opening the box of Xiaomi Power Bank is that this battery has a very solid build. Since its output current is rated 2.1A, it can charge my iPad mini with the same speed as charging using wall charger. What I really like from this battery is the fact that it can accept 2A input current. This makes the process of recharging this battery twice as fast compared to many other batteries that can only take 1A input. For this particular model, I can fully charge it in only 5.5 hours if I use 10W charger.
The automatic detection of plug-in and plug-out device works really well. I like that this power bank does not become uncomfortably hot when in use.
As a bonus, this power bank offers an official accessory: silicone case. It is kinda funny because I always consider power bank as an accessory to my devices, yet this accessory has its own accessory. With silicon case, we can provide better protection for the battery, or maybe just to make it look better with our choice of color.
Beware that there are many fake products being sold everywhere. I have confirmed that my unit is genuine, thanks to its 20 digits security code. In every box of genuine Xiaomi Power Bank, there is a sticker with Mi logo and scratchable area to reveal the security code. We need to go to www.mi.com/verify and enter the code to find out if our product is genuine or fake.
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