There’s almost nothing worse than having to deal with a low phone battery, especially when one is on the move. With various functional apps which get active on an iPhone daily for business transactions, interpersonal communications, and personal use, an iPhone battery drains fast and often needs to be recharged.
Otherwise, workflow and personal information would be interrupted and this may cause loss of information, and certain important calls and notifications being missed.
Owning a portable power bank would be of benefit, therefore, to keep your phone charged and always ready to use. There’s a warning to it though, all power banks are not the same and you could end up wasting money and still missing that important call or message because of a bad power bank.
Here are a few things you should know before getting a power bank for your iPhone.
1. The power output
This is one of the most important detail to look out for in a power bank. Your iPhone, like most other devices, would need at least 2 ampere of electric current to charge it. So ensure the power bank you want to purchase for your iPhone has one of its two ports with a power output of at least 2.1 ampere.
Why this is important is because if the power output from the power bank is lower than the rate of discharging from your phone battery, your phone battery level would keep falling while being charged by the power bank.
2. The capacity
If you must recharge your phone with a power bank, you must get one with high capacity. The capacity of a power bank is measures in milliamperes (mAh). The higher the mAh of a power bank, the higher its capacity, and in turn, the length of time it would last charging your iPhone.
The power bank you choose has to have a capacity that is measurable with your iPhone battery’s capacity. An iPhone with a battery capacity of 1,500 mAh, for example, would be fully charged at a go by a power bank with a capacity of 1,500 mAh or more.
Generally, a 5,200 mAh power bank would charge an iPhone 4 fully two times. The rule is that the capacity of the power bank should be at least 2.5 times that of your phone battery for it to fully charge your iPhone twice.
Note, however, that you can only use 70% of a power bank’s capacity, so if a power bank has a capacity of 10,000 mAh, and your iPhone has a capacity of 3,000 mAh, you can only use 7,000mAh of the power bank’s capacity, which would give you two full charges
3. Quality and Genuineness
The build quality of a power bank is as important as its capacity. The build quality determines the durability of the power bank. The power bank you would eventually select must be strong enough to handle slight falls. Additionally, it should be one that you would enjoy using for a very long time.
Buying a poor quality power bank can be avoided by not buying at low prices, or buying a used power bank. Used power banks already have their capacity and lifespan reduced. Certain environmental conditions such as heat causes the lifespan of a power bank to be greatly reduced, hence avoid a used power bank.
4. USB charging
A portable power bank for your iPhone should come with USB ports and connectors with which you can charge your phone. Not just for its simplicity and ease of use they afford, power banks which have USB connectors are better quality than those which don’t.
Let these few points guide you before you make that critical selection of buying a power bank for your iPhone.
