Keep your devices charged with USB-A, USB-C, or Wireless Power.
As we enter into a new year and recover from another Christmas Holiday shopping season, our children will return to school, and our lives will return to a pre-holiday hustle-bustle. Always on-the-go, it seems that my wife and I frequently require a portable power source for our iPhones. Whether we are weekend-camping with the Cub Scouts, taking pictures/video at a school function, or just spending quality time together away from home, we tend to employ portable batteries. We have utilized and reviewed a variety of devices and look for lightweight batteries with roughly 10,000 mAh of power. Assuming 80% efficiency, the available 8000 mAh should charge an iPad Pro at least once, or the newer iPhones ~2.5x. If a battery has less than our 10,000 mAh limit, it needs to have other features to offset the lack of power. While the AUKEY 8000 mAh battery was on the smaller power side, it surprised me in several ways.
The AUKEY 8000 mAh Wireless Charging Bank arrived in a 4 1/16 inches tall by 6 13/16 inches wide by 3/4 inches thick tan brown cardboard box. Similar to my review of the AUKEY PD 18W Car charger, the packaging of the AUKEY portable battery felt a little bland. The cover listed the “AUKEY” name along the top left, Qualcomm Quick Charge QC 3.0 along the top right, and the “8000 mAh Wireless Charging Power Bank with Power Delivery 2.0 and Quick Charge 3.0 product name just under the title. The main visual point of the cover was the 3 5/8 inches long by 1 1/4 inches wide ink outline drawing of the 8000 mAh battery. The top panel provided a short paragraph detailing the QC technology, while the bottom panel was left bare. Both side panels displayed a recycling logo and “GO GREEN WITH AUKEY,” while the bottom panel listed the PB-Y25 model number, typical manufacturing labels, and the companies email/physical address. I removed the outer plastic, lifted the cardboard lid, and then slid the 6.87-ounce, opaque plastic-wrapped, battery out of the box.
Beneath the internal cardboard layer, AUKEY provided a black 20 1/2 inches long USB-C to USB-C cable, a 2 1/8 inches wide by 3 3/8 inches tall 24-month warranty card (with reverse AUKEY key sticker), and a 3 3/16 inches wide by 4 5/16 inches tall hexalingual instruction manual (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese). Before using the battery, I plugged the included USB-C cable into the middle port of the battery (USB-C) and then into an AUKEY USB-C wall charger. The second panel of the instruction manual provided a useful table of the product specifications. The 18W Model PB-Y25, 8000 mAh capacity, 29.6Wh battery accepts DC 5V/2A input via micro USB, as well as DC 5V/2A or 9V/2A via USB-C input. The manual detailed the 5V/3A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A USB-C output, and the Adaptive charging DC 5V/2.4A output 1, the DC 5V-6V/3A, 6V-9V/2A, 9V-12V/1.5A QC output 2, and the 5W Wireless output. The 5 3/4 inches wide by 2 7/8 inches wide by 1/2 inches thick battery ( 147 x 75 x 14mm) had a blue-grey AUKEY stenciled on the front panel, while the product specifications and manufacturers labels were stenciled onto the back. With the cover facing up, the power button and bank of four LED will be along the top of the panel located toward your left side, a micro-USB input port can be found along the top of the panel toward your right side, and you will find three USB ports along the top. The port designated USB-1 was the port located closed to the USB-micro port, the port designated USB-2 (QC 3.0 Port) was closer to the left, and the USB-C port was located in the middle.
After approximately thirty minutes, the four fully-illuminated green LED informed me that the charge was complete. Weighing in at 198 grams/6.98 ounces, the black AUKEY battery promised 8000 mAh of power via USB-A, USB-C, or Wireless options. To test the output of the battery, I plugged a DROK USB-C Multimeter into each of the ports. I plugged the USB-A prong of the DROK USB Multimeter into the USB-A Output 1 port (side closest to the Micro USB-input port), and then a USB-A to lightning cable into the multimeter/iPhone 11 Pro Max. The multimeter read 5.04V/1.75A. Starting at 37% power at 9:44 am, the phone increased to 40% by 9:49. Several additional tests showed an increase of roughly 1% power every 2 minutes. This rate of charge was similar to that found when charging via USB-A Output port 2 (4.80V/1.55A). Starting with 40% power at 9:50 am, my phone had increased to 43% by 9:55. As noted above, the 1% power gain every 2 minutes was quite repeatable. Next, I plugged the USB-C prong of the DROK Multimeter into the USB-C output port and then a USB-C to Lightning cable into my iPhone 11 Pro Max. The multimeter read 5.02V/2.39A and increased the power from 43% at 9:56 to 57% by 10:06am. For the last test, I double pressed the power button and placed my iPhone upon the surface of the battery. I allowed the phone to charge wirelessly from 10:06 through 10:20 and the pattern increased from 57% to 61%. This method repeatedly charged my phone at roughly 1% every 3 minutes. I read several of the reviews on Amazon and multiple stated that the wireless charging shut off after about 1-10 minutes. I was pleased to find that this battery did not shut off as others had encountered.
The 8000mAh battery should charge most modern smartphones from 50% to full about three times and should fully charge the 3969 mAh battery of an iPhone 11 Pro Max ~1.5-2 times. After the above tests were complete, I still had 75% battery power (3 green LED) and I was pleased with the increase in power on my phone from 37% to 70%. If speed is important to you, I would encourage you to grab a USB-C to Lightning cable to pair with this battery. If convenience and portability are the most important aspects to you, then simply pack the battery into your bag and rely on wireless charging. I was quite surprised that there was not an included LED flashlight with this battery, as many similar batteries have that feature. Additionally, I found the lack of a carry bag/pouch to be disappointing. I loved the included 20 3/4 inches long USB-C to USB-C cable but the setup did not provide any method to carry cables with the battery. The charging output for the USB-A and USB-C ports was on par with those promised by the instruction manual and the lightweight 6.91 ounce weight ensured that the AUKEY battery found its way into my carry bag.
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