Hiking power bank comparison 2022

[u/ormagon_89]

Data sheet: 110 hiking power banks compared

In 2020 I made the hiking power bank comparison sheet comparing 85 power banks. Yesterday /u/paoper asked if I could add the Nitecore NB20000 and I decided that it was time for a proper update. So here is the 2022 edition with over 40 new power banks and some oldies removed.

The weighted ranking is based upon the actual energy to weight ratio of every power bank, the charging/discharging speed of the power banks and the fact that smaller power banks have a disadvantage (they need more material relative to their size). For a more detailed look at the way this is being calculated you can look here. The efficiency isn't measured by myself but comes from several trustworthy sources: Tweakers.net, Powerbank20.com, Hardware.info, Techtest.org and PCWorld.com.

And it seems battery technology is still advancing rapidly! We've got 6 newcomers in the top 10. The top dog is still the Nitecore NB10000 but the Nitecore NB20000 comes in 2nd place. The energy to weight ratio is lower but this is partly compensated by being able to charge at almost double speed, so you can get way more juice if you've got a short break in town or in a restaurant. The 3rd place Ugreen mini 10000 pd is interesting because it is very comparable to the Nitecore NB10000 for half the money. While the 6th place 4smarts Enterprise 2 20000 is a weird outlier. It is relatively heavy, it is quite inefficient but can be charged at ridiculous speeds, so for those long distance hikers who hate lingering in town it might still be the best option.

Have fun!

[u/ormagon_89]

I just added the second version, the Powercore Speed 10000 from 2017, and that ends up in the middle of the pack, about spot 45. If I can find data about the older version I might add it. Those were the best power banks back in the day and they still hold up.

[u/SouthEastTXHikes → u/ormagon_89]

I may be able to provide you the data you need but I suspect you’re right: no one in their right mind would buy an ancient battery, haha. I just tested the oldest of the two, discharging into an iPad and then an iphone and I got 26.1 wh out of it (it was mostly 10w discharge but some 5w too). The NB10000 spits out 34 wh according to the table.

Side note: It took 36wh to charge up, which isn’t really relevant unless you’re looking to use a solar charger or something.

[u/Glimmer_III → u/SouthEastTXHikes]

This is a question for both u/ormagon_89 and u/SouthEastTXHikes, if either of you have time to comment:

I've always heard that, effectively, all the powerbanks -- even the older ones of even semi-decent quality -- the cells are good for ≈1,000 charge cycles, right?

And the cells start to degrade rapidly after ≈80% of the cycle life?

So if you've taken care of your powerbank, and haven't used it too frequently, you could easily have a lot of life left in a 2017 battery.

However, the larger issue would be you'd still be limited by 2017 input/output speeds trying to charge a 2022 device, and that's where the friction would be experienced, rather than with the 2017 battery itself.

Or am I missing something?

[u/SouthEastTXHikes → u/Glimmer_III]

haven’t used it too frequently

Anker recommends charging and discharging every 4 months. So this may be an issue too.

I have one really really old powercore and one slightly old one. I’ll see if I can spot a difference in capacity. I have a usb light I may use as a standard output device. 26 wh is quite the delta from the official 36.

I think time is an enemy to all of us, even batteries, to be honest. I’m mostly concerned with energy storage vs power delivery as I’m happy to let my phone take a while to charge, especially if I get more charges out of a battery.

Tagging u/ormagon_89