Josh
10/25/2023, 12:00:00 AM
This is my review of the Power Bank model HX160Q1 (first impressions) Listed capacity at 30800mAh (113.96Wh printed on the outside of the battery pack) INITIAL ASSESSMENT: It arrived at 19% charge (well below safe range for lipo storage) which has me concerned about the idle discharge rate and that I might have received a returned device. But it appeared to be in good physical condition otherwise. The cable that shipped with it is laughably thin. I don't expect that could carry the amperage the battery bank is rated for. Toss that thing in the garbage or use it as a cable tie for the actual charge cable. When I plugged it in I noted a draw from the charger of 2.5A. After about 4 1/2 hours it was up to 86% I moved it to a charger capable of outputting 9v to see if it would charge faster (not very scientific, sorry). I was done after about 90 more minutes. So charging was reasonable (about 6 hours total from 20%-100%). I didn't notice it getting unreasonable warm on either charger. The screen that displays the battery percentage does not remain on while charging or discharging. Pressing the side button to wake up the screen causes the OUT indicator to appear and the draw rate from the charger drops to just above 1A. So it is impossible to check the charging status without interrupting the charge cycle. This is in addition to the behavior reported by other reviewers who noted power disruptions to devices connected to the power bank as a result of pressing this button. I've also confirmed this behavior with my VR. In fact, after pressing the button to wake the screen the VR did not register that it was charging at all. It likely switched off and back on too quickly and the VR didn't register it came back or protected itself by ignoring it. I had to unplug and replug the cable to get it to charge again. DO NOT USE THIS DEVICE FOR RASPBERRY PI OR OTHER DEVICES THAT NEED CONSTANT POWER. Observed weight using a digital kitchen scale: 331g For reference, a 10Ah battery pack I have used very successfully weighs 211g. It should weigh nearly 3 times as much if it were 3 times the capacity with the same battery chemistry not accounting for the plastic body and electrical components. It only weighs 1.5 times as much. Going by the stated wattage (113.96), the actual capacity should be: 30800 mAh @ 3.7v 22792 mAh @ 5v 12662 mAh @ 9v 9496 mAh @12v It has become common practice to misreport output power as mAh WITHOUT including the voltage, which makes the "spec" meaningless. They also fail to mention wattage because this is the actual metric that can be used to compare devices (Watts / Volts = Amps). I hate it, but I understand why companies are doing it. Once one of them started this deceptive practice the others had to in order to appear comparable in searches and spec comparisons, especially for consumers who don't understand the distinction. My "10 Ah" battery is the same way, it's actually 38.48 Wh which is in fact 10.4Ah at 3.7v, but only 7696 mAh at 5v. It's the weight of this thing that has me the most concerned, you can't get around physics. If this is using LiPo battery chemistry (I strongly doubt it's using LiFe at this price without making a big deal about it) it's probably a little over 15600 mAh, and that's at the cell voltage of 3.7v. The 5v capacity will be limited by the efficiency of their voltage converter circuit, but is probably somewhere in the ballpark of 11500 mAh @ 5v. USAGE: After about 90 minutes of use in powering a Meta Quest 3 under moderate load it reported 60% charge. It was able to keep up with the power draw during use. I did not notice any additional charge gained in the VR unit until I set it down and allowed it to charge while in sleep mode. But even if it can just maintain the charge level, that's enough for me. And based on my past experience with the 10Ah power bank it seems to be in-line with my estimate of 12-16A actual capacity. CONCLUSION: Unless I encounter more serious issues I'll keep it. I was expecting it to be under-reporting the capacity based on reviews and only purchased it because of a discount (I got it for $25). I would not rely on this as my only power bank or travel with it and if a friend asked my advice I'd probably tell them to buy two of the more reliable 10Ah battery banks. I'm also going to be very cautious charging this one, never leaving it unattended or going to sleep with it charging. However, it's a good form factor (like a beefy smartphone in a case) and it seems to put out enough power for my needs, so we'll see how it goes. Overall, this is cheap battery pack, it doesn't even have a brand name. It could be using recycled cells or have QA issues. If you understand the risks and can get it on sale, grab it as a spare. Otherwise look for something that's got a better reputation. I'm hoping the user who reported it catching on fire had exposed it to high heat. ALL Lipo batteries are sensitive to heat and are most likely to fail during charging or if heated. But it's probably a good idea not to knock this thing around in a tool bag too much either.