External Battery Pack Question

[Clint1583]

I know this is the iPhone forum but I figured someone could help answer this question. I'm looking to purchase a large external battery pack for a trip to Europe so I can recharge both our iPads and iPhones.

My basic question is, does a battery pack with the largest size capacity (mAh) give the most power to recharge things or can a pack with 9,000 mAh sometimes give more power than a unit with 12,000 mAh? It just seems like a pack with the highest capacity would be the best pick, true?

 

[Gathomblipoob]

I know this is the iPhone forum but I figured someone could help answer this question. I'm looking to purchase a large external battery pack for a trip to Europe so I can recharge both our iPads and iPhones.

My basic question is, does a battery pack with the largest size capacity (mAh) give the most power to recharge things or can a pack with 9,000 mAh sometimes give more power than a unit with 12,000 mAh? It just seems like a pack with the highest capacity would be the best pick, true?

The more mAh, the more times your device can be recharged. Now, the quality of external battery packs varies, but in general the numbers don't lie.

 

[Radiating]

I know this is the iPhone forum but I figured someone could help answer this question. I'm looking to purchase a large external battery pack for a trip to Europe so I can recharge both our iPads and iPhones.

My basic question is, does a battery pack with the largest size capacity (mAh) give the most power to recharge things or can a pack with 9,000 mAh sometimes give more power than a unit with 12,000 mAh? It just seems like a pack with the highest capacity would be the best pick, true?

There are significant differences (which can be as high as 40%) in the efficiency which the power in the battery pack is delivered to the phone. So a 9k mah pack might have more recharging capacity than 12k mah pack.

Also many manufacturers make up the true capacity of their products, or use testing methods that are misleading. For example I've ordered 3,000 mah packs from china that actually deliver 500 and die within 1 month.

The best thing to do is to find actual back to back tests, or to buy a bunch of high capacity packs and test them back to back, and return the ones that underperformed. The iPad and a lightning extension cable is a good way to do such a test because it takes way more power to recharge an ipad than an iPhone so you don't have to recharge your phone multiple times.

 

[phillytim]

I'm not sure if this answers your question technically, but I will say that I *love* my Anker Astro3 12000mAH pack!

It charges my iPhone as fast as the iPad block charger does, and has 3 ports.

It's really not huge to be any burden to carry around either, especially if you have a sidepack or something.

And, it's Anker quality, so you know you're getting something reliable.

 

[darknyt]

New Trent on Amazon. I have six I love them so much and never want to be without one. I have used them from Africa to Australia, Frankfurt to Fiji, and they have never let me down. The most popular 12,000mAh one has almost 3,400 reviews at 4.5 star avg. That should tell you something.

As an aside, I just went quickly to the Amazon page to check the review count and by the time I came back not 10 seconds later this tab had already reloaded and lost everything I typed. They really have to fix this crap with the iPad air

 

[Candurin]

I'm not sure if this answers your question technically, but I will say that I *love* my Anker Astro3 12000mAH pack!

It charges my iPhone as fast as the iPad block charger does, and has 3 ports.

It's really not huge to be any burden to carry around either, especially if you have a sidepack or something.

And, it's Anker quality, so you know you're getting something reliable.

I second this (you know, in case that matters ). I've used my Anker A3 for over 2 months now and it has already seen 4 continents and a few boat (dive) trips. I've charged my wife's phone, kid's tablets and my iPad air and iPhone (using all three slots at once) at various times.

Not so much as a hiccup and works perfectly. I simply charge it overnight using my 12W iPad air charger and it's ready to go by morning.