Infinacore Pandora Battery 2024 REVIEW

High Promise with lackluster performance.

As I became more involved with the BSA scouts with my sons, I needed more options for portable power.  I have tested several power banks and have found many important/necessary features.  First and foremost, when considering battery efficiency limitations, I want a battery capable of providing at least one extra charge for my 4441mAh iPhone 15 Pro Max, 564 mAh Apple Watch Ultra 2, and 523 mAh Apple AirPods Pro Gen 2 charging/case. Assuming these values and ~70-80% efficiency, I tend to aim for batteries with at least 10,000 mAh.  Beyond simple capacity, I try to find devices that allow USB-C input/output and the ability to charge at least two devices.  Lastly, after my recent 60+ mile trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, I want to minimize weight as much as possible.   

Packaging:

The Infinacore Pandora 8000mAh Powerbank arrived in a clean white, 4 1/8 inches square by 3/8 inches thick retail package.  The cover panel had the INFINACORE name in an avocado-green font along the top right and large side-by-side images of the device.   The images did a great job at showcasing the single USB-C port, dual USB-A ports, LCD screen, power button, grey rubberized feet, retractable Type A wall outlet prong, and magnetic charging ring.  The front panel listed a product UPC barcode, information about the white color, and 8000mAh battery capacity.  The back panel provided a large, bold avocado-green PANDORA name followed by six product feature icons (high capacity, pass-through charging, battery indicator, optimized charging, wireless charging, and global adaptors).  The midsection listed the product contents (charger, EU travel adaptor, UK travel adapter, user guide/welcome card), capabilities (  wireless output, USB-C PD output/input, A/C Wall charging input), and pass-through charging.  Lastly, the lower segment provided product manufacturing labels and a large informational QR code.

Unboxing:

I opened the box and removed the 8.2-ounce, 3 1/4 inches square by 1-inch thick Pandora Powerbank from the thin plastic tray.  Before disposing of the packaging, make sure to remove the thin cardboard overview and the User Guide.  The Overview Card provided a warranty-linked QR code, four feature icons (pass-through, PD, charge percentage, wireless charging), and a brief user appreciation paragraph.  The instruction manual provided a website-linked QR code, packaging/contents, features, and how-to-use panels.  The back panels showed how to charge the P3 device, the operation function, indicator details, a helpful specifications table, and a warnings panel.  The specifications table was the most helpful of the panels (8000mAh capacity, 100-240V 50/60Hz 0.5A input, DC 5V/2A (10W) AC charger, Type C output/input (5V/2.4 A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A), USB-1 QC 3.0 (3.6V-6V/2.4A, 6.2V-9V/2A, 9.2V-12V/1.5A), USB-A2 (DC 3.6-6V/2.4A), Wireless output 10W Max (5/7.5/10), and product dimensions (82x83x28.8mm and 260 grams).  I liked the use of colors, the avocado-green subject headers, and the overall manual design/layout.  I would have liked some information about charging specifications/times, battery efficiency, max output, etc.  However, I was pleased to try out the multi-USB adapter/battery.  

Device:

The silver-colored front panel had a single USB-C output port, a green labeled USB-A port, a blue labeled USB-A port, a 7/16 inches wide by 5/16 inches tall LCD screen, and a white 5/16 inches wide by 3/16 inches tall power button.  A single press of the power button will activate the device and the screen display.  I pressed the button for the first time and noted that the device arrived with 74% power. The posterior retractable Type A wall plug fit snugly within the plastic shell and slid easily/securely into the wall outlet.  I was pleased with the fit and the secure connection once plugged into the wall.  The flat rear panel had two external tabs to accommodate the travel adapters and provided a flat surface against the wall plug.  The product specifications/manufacturing labels were listed on the spine segment just beneath the retractable plug.  The bottom segment had four (1/4 inch diameter) grey rubberized feet and a large 1-inch square QR code.  The top/main panel provided a 3/16 inches wide by 2-inch diameter grey wireless charging pad and an etched battery icon with an infinity symbol.  Before using the battery for the first time, I charged it to full (2 hours) and then completed several output tests. 

Power Tests: 

For the first test, I plugged a Klein Tools multimeter into the battery and then a USB-C to USB-C cable between the multimeter and my iPad Pro 12.9” Gen 5 (10758 mAh battery).  Starting at 26% power at 07:16 AM and battery at 100% (9.05V/2.12A), I noted that the battery percentage dropped quickly.  By 7:37 AM, my iPad Pro increased to 37%, and the battery was at 74% (9.05V/2.13A).  By 7:56 AM, my iPad Pro increased to 48%, while the battery dropped to 51% power (9.06V/2.12A). By 8:22 AM, my iPad Pro increased to 65%, while the battery dropped to 18% power (9.05V/2.13A).  By 8:33 AM, the battery was fully depleted, while my iPad Pro reached 71% power.  I deployed the wall prongs and plugged the battery into a standard type B outlet.  Starting at 10:36 AM, with my iPad Pro at 71% and the battery at 0% power (4.32V/1.18A), I noted the charge rate was halved on pass-through testing.  This likely resulted from diverting some of the power to charging the battery.  At 11:47 AM, I rechecked the status of my setup, and my iPad Pro increased to 82%, while the battery remained at 00 (4.34V/1.15A).  This test allowed the battery to serve as a pseudo-wall adapter but did not increase the battery’s power.  The rate of pass-through power was below a standard wall adapter.

I am unsure if it was a design feature or a defect, but the device did not appear to charge well via a wall outlet.  I tested this several times and noted variable charging rates and battery percentage indications.  Starting at 1:29 PM, the battery was at 0% power.  By 1:45 PM, it increased to 2%.  By 2:28 PM, the battery increased to 10%, and up to 44% by 5:31 PM.  At 5:36 PM, I removed the battery from the wall outlet and plugged it into a 65W USB-C port on my UGREEN USB Hub.  I allowed the battery to charge via USB-C (9.12V/2.05A) and found a superior charging rate.  By 5:58 PM, the battery charged to 58%, and was fully charged by 6:57 PM.  Interestingly, the USB-C power input was faster than the wall outlet power directly.  For a second test, I plugged the battery into my wall outlet at 00% power at 7:39 AM.  By 9:03 AM, it was at 15% and 24% by 9:50 AM.  By 1:06 PM, it was at 60% power, and when I checked again at 2:34 PM, the battery was at 100% power.  The device took approximately 7 hours to charge an 8000mAh battery via wall outlet, which appeared abysmally slow.  For a third and final test, I plugged the wall outlet into a wall port at 1:51 PM at 0% power.  By 2:08 PM, the battery had increased to 04%.  By 2:24 PM, the battery had increased to 08%.  By 3:01 PM, the battery increased to 18%. By 3:24 PM, the battery had increased to 24%.  By 4:13 PM, the battery had increased to 39%. By 4:55 PM, the battery was at 49%.  Like the above tests, I was disappointed that it took 3 hours to charge the battery 50%.  I used different outlets in different locations and found each test provided similar results.

Next, I used the wireless feature of the battery.  I placed my iPhone 15 Pro Max, inside a Catalyst Influence case, onto the wireless charger and attempted to charge it.  Starting at 7:17 PM at 34% power, and battery at 100%, the battery flashed a few times before powering down.  I retried this step several times, noting that there was no MagSafe connection and that my iPhone easily slid away from the charger when bumped.  The raised rubberized ring seemed to lift the iPhone a bit and prevented the battery/phone contact.  When I removed the case from the iPhone 15 Pro Max and placed it back upon the battery, the green LED above the USB-C port flashed regularly.  Even when the phone was removed from the case, the rubberized bumper was not magnetically attached to the phone. Instead, the setup felt rather precarious. 

Despite the limitation, the wireless charging rate appeared to be reasonable.  My iPhone 15 Pro Max increased from 34% to 41% by 7:32 PM, while the battery decreased to 92%.  By 7:47 PM, my iPhone 15 Pro Max increased to 48%, and the battery dropped to 85%.  By 8:21 PM, my iPhone 15 Pro Max increased to 63%, and the battery dropped to 67%.  By 9:01 PM, my iPhone 15 Pro Max increased to 80%, and the battery dropped to 48%.  By 9:18 PM, my iPhone 15 Pro Max increased to 88%, and the battery dropped to 39%.  By 9:27 PM, my iPhone 15 Pro Max increased to 91%, and the battery dropped to 35%.  By 9:44 PM, my iPhone 15 Pro Max increased to 96%, and the battery dropped to 29%.  By 9:58 PM, my iPhone 15 Pro Max increased to 98%, and the battery dropped to 25%.  

At 10:01 PM, I plugged my AirPods Pro Generation 2 case into my Klein Tools multimeter, which was plugged into USB-C1.  The wireless charging feature stopped while the USB-C power delivery began. When I pushed the power on button again, the device did output to both wired and wireless options. My iPhone continued to wirelessly charge beyond the 98% from above and reached 100% by 10:12 PM (battery 24%).  Starting with my AirPods Pro case at 8% power (5.13V/0.36A) and battery at 24% at 10:04 PM, the device increased to 37% while the battery dropped to 22% (5.10V/0.28A). By 10:46 PM, the AirPods Pro Gen 2  increased to 61% while the battery dropped to 20%. By 11:02 PM, the case increased to 76%, and the battery dropped to 19%.  By 11:21 PM, the case increased to 91% and the battery dropped to 18%.  At 11:42 PM, the case increased to 100% and the battery dropped to 16%.  At 11:42 PM, I plugged my Apple Watch Ultra Gen 2 into the Klein Tools Multimeter and into USB-C1.  Starting at 80% power (5.10V/0.18A) and a battery at 17%, my Apple Watch Ultra Gen 2 increased to 84% by 11:50 PM, 89% by 12:00 AM, and to 100% by 12:30 AM when I checked again.  Interestingly, I still had 14% battery remaining after the above tests.  With the rate of decrease, I did not think I would have enough left for secondary devices after charging my iPhone 15 Pro Max.

I repeated the charging process for my iPhone 15 Pro Max but used the USB-C output. Starting at 2:35 PM at 31% power, my iPhone 15 Pro Max increased to 77% by 3:15 PM.  The battery was at 47% power.  By 3:29 PM, my iPhone 15 Pro Max increased to 80%.  When I rechecked it at 4:06 PM, the iPhone 15 Pro Max was still at 80% power, and the battery had turned off.  I did make a phone call during that time and did not notice that the setup was hot or that the battery had turned off.  I pressed the power button again around 4:30 PM, and noticed that the iPhone increased to 95% by 5:05 PM, while the battery dropped to 26%.  The iPhone increased to 100% by 5:46 PM, while the battery dropped down to 17%.  I found similar results with (5.04V/1.72A) and without the multimeter, testing the process to ensure the multimeter was not causing any extra drain.  I made several phone calls and used my iPhone during the testing process and had a variable experience with the battery turning off. 

I tested the USB-A output with my Klein Tools multimeter and DROK USB-A Multimeter. I charged my Jabra Elite 65e Model HSC070W (5.14V/0.1A) from ~50% to full and dropped the battery by about 8%.  At the same time, I charged my Apple Watch Ultra via USB-C 1 (5.10V/0.14A), while also charging my Olight Warrior Mini 3. Each time I plugged a new device into the mix, the other multimeters would flash on/off a few times.  I activated wireless charging for my iPhone 15 Pro Max, but noted it stopped working wirelessly while also charging three devices by USB output.  My Apple Watch charged at (5.11V/0.13A) via USB-C1, while my Jabra Elite headphones charged at (5.12V/0.10A), and my Warrior Mini 3 Olight charged at 5.03V/0.57A.  I found I could use the wireless feature with USBA1 and USB-C1 powering devices, but the wireless feature turned off once all three ports were occupied.  To evaluate if the wireless feature is activated, look to the green LED at the top of the USB-C1 port to see if it is flashing green.  At one point, the device flashed several times and caused the Multimeter in the USB-C1 spot to stop working, while the USB-A1/2 ports and wireless port remained active.  This seemed to work sometimes, and others caused them all to stop.

The ability to wirelessly charge was already limited by the need to remove my phone from the case.  When I had variable ability to use wireless/wired charging, the feature became even more finicky.  When I removed my iPhone 15 Pro Max from wireless power and pressed the power button again, all three ports activated.  

Conclusion:

During the testing process, the battery never felt hot to touch. Using a Nubee infrared thermometer, I found the surface/side panel reached 115.4 degrees Fahrenheit (46.33 degrees Celsius), which was still comfortable to hold.  The wireless charging rate seemed to be reasonable, but the battery efficiency seemed on the low side.  Assuming the iPhone 15 Pro max has a 4441 mAh battery, my wireless test started with ~1509mAh remaining.  The device charged from 34% to 88% in two hours, which suggested that the battery could deliver ~2400mAh output, while using up ~60% of the battery (~4800 mAh).  I am aware that wireless charging is wasteful but a near 2:1 output to charge ratio seems to be below the 70% efficiency seen with many wireless chargers.  When charging my iPhone via USB-C, I noted it increased from 31% power to 100% power (3064.29mAh), while the battery used 83% (6640mAh).

I would have loved for the instruction manual to include more detail about the output, charging duration, etc.  I did not mind the rate of charging via USB-C but felt that the wall charging feature was faulty.  I compared a Ventev Powercell battery to the Infinacore Pandora and was taken aback by the data.  Starting at 10:54 PM, I plugged both batteries into a standard outlet on my UGREEN charging cube.  Starting at 48%, the Pandora battery increased to 49% by 11:04 PM, while the Ventev battery increased to 57%.  By 11:13 PM, the batteries were at 52% and 66%. By 11:37 PM, the batteries were at 59% and 89%. I tried to limit the variables as much as possible and used two outlets from the same charging block. 

I loved the shape, the modern design, the features/promise, and I was actually impressed with the USB-C output. I was disappointed with the lackluster wireless charging, lack of MagSafe technology, and the charging rate. Even though I could get a full charge for my iPhone 15 Pro Max, AirPods Pro Gen 2, and Apple Watch Ultra, the numerical battery indicator LED seemed off.  I did play with the universal charger adapters and found that they easily slid over the external prongs/wings.  However, I could not test them as I was not traveling while writing this review.  I perused the internet to see if my take was similar to others, and I found a mixed review for the device.  The website showed nearly 100% 5* ratings.  I thought this was odd and read several of them.  They commented about the fast charging rate, the convenient wireless charging, and it felt like they got a completely different device than the one I reviewed.  When I navigated to the Amazon page, I noticed 12% 1* ratings, 4% 2* ratings, and 6% 3* ratings, and a whopping 69% 5* ratings. Again, I found this interesting and read through many of the reviews.  The 1-3* ratings provided nearly identical reports to my experience.  

Summary:

From a tech perspective, the battery is unreliable, and I would not recommend it.  Additionally, for the money, you can purchase two very reliable Anker Powercore 10,000 mAh batteries (no wall outlet or wireless charging), or an INUI 25000 65W USB-C Powerbank (no wireless/wall outlet).  Neither of these will provide all of the features promised by the Infinacore Pandora, but unfortunately the Pandora did not provide them either.  If you are looking for a wall adapter, I would recommend you find/use a wall adapter and buy a battery to be a battery.  In this instance, the jack-of-all-trades approach likely hurt this device.  I have used the Anker Powercore 10,000 mAh on backpacking trips and found repeatable reliability.  I have the INUI device in my Timbuk2 bag with my MacBook Pro and have enjoyed the backup option it provides.  That device will provide approximately 2-3 charges for my iPhone 15 Pro Max, which could keep my phone active for several days.  I was most disappointed in the wall charging rate. Since, I could not rely on the wall charging ability, I would need another outlet/adapter for USB-C input charging anyway.  The lack of MagSafe attachment and the need to remove my iPhone from the case also limited that feature.  Ultimately, I was left with a low mAh triple USB port battery with lower than ideal mAh, and slow charging speed.    

Learn more about the Infinacore Pandora and X (Twitter).