Frequently Asked Questions
1) Will this charge my device?
a. Check with the manufacturer or technical specifications and compare them with the power bank or usb charger claims. If they match, then go for it.
2) Can you review this product?
a. Submit a form with the product you’d like to review and it will be added to the list, it does not mean it will make it or that it will be soon.
i. The list is long and a voting tool will be coming soon…
3) Can you give me a recommendation on a charger for this device?
a. No, see question 1 to learn how to figure it out how to determine what charger works with your device.
b. USB C sometimes won’t work with some devices that have USB C ports, the device is made to work with a USB A charger.
4) How many times can I charge my device?
a. Look up the Wh of the battery of your device (the end device being charged).
b. Add 25%.
c. Divide the total output watt hours of the power bank by the device Wh+25%.
d. This result is the number of times you can recharge.
Device (tablet, phone, laptop) Battery 15 Wh + 25% = 18.75 Wh
Power Bank OUTPUT energy (not battery storage): 75 Wh
Number of Charges is 4 = 75/18.75
5) Is this charger safe to use with my device, like too many charging watts?
a. The charger does not decide how much power to supply, the device connected to the charger makes the decision. For example, a phone will negotiate for a USB mode, or if that fails, use 5V, or not charge at all.
b. If the negotiation is successful the device will only use as much power as it knows is safe to consume. The temperature is measured and monitored and charging is adjusted accordingly. This does assume the product is not just some random junk that doesn’t follow any best practices…
c. There are of course exceptions to this where some devices are not being implemented correctly or safely but in general larger manufacturers are adhering to safe rules meaning you can use any PD charger with any PD device as long as the charger can achieve the minimum required power level.
6) Is this charger safe to use with my device, like electrically safe?
a. Check your device for a safety listing, this may come in many forms, some common ones are shown below. You can always look up the listing on the listing companies website to verify that they actually have done the work. If you don’t find anything there is a chance it’s not genuine.
b. These marks are risk mitigation, it doesn’t mean the device is perfect or efficient, only that the device is proven to be less risky versus a non-listed device.
1) Will this charger hurt my battery life?
a. There is only one camp here: Only charge at the lowest and slowest rate possible and the battery will last a lot longer. This may be true of very high charge speeds versus very slow charge speeds, but I haven’t found any evidence to support this claim on reasonable charge rates for popular devices. Yeah, iPhones.
b. If you have a study send in a form with the name of the study that shows the data, bias, and uncertainty. The fact is charging generally works fine, the batteries last about as long as the devices, modern devices do a better job of managing this as well.
c. What about charging temperature?
i. This matters, charge your device indoors at around 20 degrees C or 70 degrees F if you can. When it’s hot this can cause permanent damage, when it’s cold, it likely won’t be able to function but shouldn’t cause damage. Of course any extremes are bad for batteries.
ii. Wireless charging does tend to be hotter, slower, and less efficient for phones. This could cause battery degradation. Again, no studies…
d. ALL charging and discharging degrades the battery. Every cycle does a small amount of damage to the battery as well as the normal passage of time.
e. Does it matter if your lithium ion battery lasts 10 years? Sometimes, for a tool or other device, which probably has an interchangeable battery, for a phone the device has long passed it’s normal service life at this point.