Guest Post: Reviewing the Aibocn Power Bank

by David Bock

A while back, Erin suggested I purchase an Aibocn 10,000mAh Power Bank. Unfortunately it arrived after I left for NRAAM this year, so I didn't get to test it then. However, I have had several chances to use it since.

Packaging
The Power Bank comes well-packed in a small cardboard box and includes the battery bank itself, a 6" USB-A to Micro USB-B cable, a basic manual, and a thank you/registration card.

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This cable is fine for Samsung and similar devices, but iPhone users will need to get a proper cable for their device. I'm a Samsung user, so this was fine for me.

Initial Charging
Using a standard cable, I plugged the Power Bank into one of my cell phone charger blocks. I checked on it occasionally, and it seemed to reach full charge in a little over 8 hours. The unit has four blue lights that tell you the approximate level of charge.

I don’t know if the Power Bank had any charge when it arrived. At a later date, I’ll attempt to discharge it completely and monitor the time it takes to reach full charge.

Usage and Performance
Using it to charge my phone was simple: I plugged the provided USB cable into one of the output ports on the Power Bank and the other end into my phone.

There are two ports for charging on the Power Bank, listed at 1.0A and 2.1A. This is pretty much the amperage of regular and fast chargers. With my phone at below 50% charge, I plugged it in but left it powered on while charging. The Power Bank brought my phone up to full charge within a few hours, nearly as quick as the dedicated wall outlet fast charger.

I also attempted to charge my usually very finicky tablet and had no problems. Then I tried charging both devices at once. I still had no problems, although it did charge slightly slower than before. All of this charging reduced the power indicator by one light, approximately 25% power loss.

The final test was attempting to charge a device while replenishing the Power Bank. I didn’t notice any difference in the phone time to charge, but the Power Bank took longer to top off, for obvious reasons.

I also left the fully charged unit on the shelf for a month or so, and when I plugged in a device it hadn’t lost any charge as far as I could tell.

The Power Bank also comes with a single LED flashlight. Beyond map reading or other very close up lighting, I didn’t find it very useful. However the illumination provided will last for a very long time due to the low power draw.

Rating: 5 Stars
For just over $10 (and free shipping with Amazon Prime) this was an excellent investment. I’m thinking of getting another for my go bag.

Thanks for the recommendation, Erin.