The question of the capacity of portable devices, their “endurance” in work is always relevant. Each tablet or smartphone is charged daily, and sometimes several times a day, depending on the intensity of use. And, you see, it’s not very pleasant to watch how the device you work with quickly discharges and forces you to refuse to work with it. Sometimes this can make you put aside all your business and just “look at the ceiling”. Whether you're on a train somewhere, stuck in a traffic jam, or even waiting somewhere for your turn, this is important.
In some cases, the need to extend the life of your battery by any means becomes even more urgent. For example, this applies to those situations when you work with a tablet, dump some important documents from it, or create a presentation. The success of your work may depend on whether the gadget will function or simply turn off, reporting a low charge.
Therefore, in this article we will talk about a solution that can make life easier for many mobile device users. This is an external battery for tablets, which allows you to increase the life of the device. Thanks to such actual time during which your gadgetwill serve you, it can increase several times. The main thing is to always carry one at hand.
What is an extra battery?
We will start with a general idea of the device described in the article. So to speak, let's just characterize how such a gadget can be useful, how it looks, on what principle it works.
After all, about the internal battery that is installed in all smartphones, we know that this is the power source for our electronic devices. Without it, it is simply impossible to ensure the operation of any gadget. It looks like a flat metal container with miniature dimensions (depending on the tablet model). The internal battery is installed under the back cover, thus, without creating problems in operation.
In addition, there is also an external battery for mobile devices. It can be positioned as a separate device, some kind of addition to your phone or tablet. The form in which such an accessory will be expressed can also differ significantly - some of them are sold as key rings, while others are supplied to the market in the form of a whole bag. There are also a lot of options for such devices, they all have different characteristics and technical data.
External battery for tablets and phones has a number of advantages. By connecting your device to such a “key fob”, you can additionally charge it, respectively, extend its operation time. This is the same as always having an outlet within reach. As you can imagine, this is very convenient, which is whysuch batteries for tablets and smartphones are in demand today more than ever.
Views
There are many classifications of such devices, depending on different criteria. It is possible to distinguish first of all the capacity of such batteries - it can be either 1000 or 20,000 mAh; we can talk about the types of charging of such devices - using a network adapter (directly from charging) or via a microUSB cable; Another difference lies in the voltage that the battery gives to the rechargeable gadget. The last factor, for example, will affect how quickly you can charge the device. This is especially important if you are looking for an external battery for tablets, which, in principle, have more capacious batteries, which means they should be connected to the network longer.
There are separate lines of batteries that run on solar energy. On such, for example, miniature solar panels are installed, the power of which is enough to charge a smartphone. You can also divide devices into those that do not have any interface (they are organized as simply as possible), as well as those that have a separate control panel where charge indicators are located.
In the end, you can distinguish between such batteries by the materials used to create the case, by color, texture, size, and so on.
Cost
If you are looking for an external battery for tablets, you should immediately determine which device from which price segment will be of interest to you first of all. After all, there are different models that are capable ofdemonstrate completely different charging possibilities. For example, the simplest $10 Blacksmith is one thing, and the $50-60 maximum capacity device is another (for example, Incipio Offgrid for Samsung S6).
In this regard, let me immediately define two facets within which you can make a choice. The cheapest are definitely products released for Chinese auctions. There, a portable charger can be purchased for a couple of dollars, making a fairly good deal with the seller. However, one should be careful, because Chinese suppliers often deceive about the actual capacity of the battery: where 20 thousand mAh is indicated, there may actually be only 1000. Such cases, unfortunately, are not isolated.
Another way out is to buy the most genuine, original accessory. For example, it could be a portable battery for your iPad. Due to the fact that such a product is approved by the inspection authorities, its value increases. Not the last role here is also played by the attitude of people to "apple" technologies.
Capacity
One of the most important factors that characterize a portable charger, as you already understood, is the capacity. It indicates how long the service life of a device can last. As you know, the “endurance” of your smartphone or tablet battery is also measured in this value. So what does this mean?
Let's give a simple example to make it clearer. The phone hasbattery capacity of 2500 mAh, while the additional battery - as much as 5000. Theoretically, the charge that the portable battery accumulates should be enough for two “refills” of the phone's battery. However, in practice, this can only be “one and a half charges”, since the rest of the energy will disappear, taking into account the technical features of the device. Experts say that the older the battery, the shorter the period during which it holds a charge.
It turns out to be a simple logic: the more capacious your external battery for mobile devices is, the more times you can "refill" the charge of your smartphone.
True, in this case, you will need to look for a balance between two parameters - the size of the battery and its cost. The more capacious the battery, the larger its dimensions and final cost will be. Therefore, today small batteries are more in demand on sale, which are enough to charge the smartphone battery by 60-80 percent. This is enough to keep the device working until the end of the working day.
Models
In order not to talk about some abstract categories, I would like to turn to specific devices on the market. Thus, we can characterize them and compare them with other accessories of the same kind.
So, we note right away that the manufacturers of gadgets from this line are either companies that produce accessories for smartphones (cases and films on the screen), or brands that are presentdirectly on the electronics market. The first ones include, for example, the Ozaki company with their O!tool Battery T52, made in the original design; the second belongs to Xiaomi Power Bank (10,400 mAh). There are still fairly well-known companies that have at least one additional battery in the line. These are: ZenPower (model from Asus), YooBao, Mophie, Bootcase, PowerPlant, Drobak Trust Urban Revolt and many others. Some of the designated brands represent only one or two models, while others specialize in the production of entire lines.
Comparison
It is best to compare different versions of batteries with each other to understand what they are capable of. Here, for example, there are two identical models: Nomi A052 and Xiaomi Power Bank. Both devices have a capacity of 5200 mAh (as the internal battery for the Samsung tablet), and the cost of the first is slightly lower: 10 and 13 dollars, respectively. What about the comparison?
First of all, these are body materials. No wonder the “Chinese” Nomi is cheaper than the same “Chinese” opponents. The second point is reliability. If Mi products are presented in the eyes of the buyer more successfully than Nomi, then the latter is something rather risky (because you don’t know how long it will serve you).
Another example of creating such “bundles” of models is OnePlus Power Bank and FrimeCom 6SO. The first device will cost 17, and the second - 21 dollars, although the capacity of each is 10 thousand mAh. True, the second one has a small competitive advantage, which in some cases can become really lucky:the presence of a panel for charging the device using sunlight. This battery is suitable for tablets (Samsung Galaxy - including), and you can work with it at home and in the office by placing it on the windowsill.
From the compact ones, one can note the “keychain” Mophie (capacity 1000 mAh) and Trust Urban Revolt (4400 mAh). Obviously, the second device (made in the form of a "finger" rectangular accessory) can be called more voluminous. However, the first option will be more unobtrusive in everyday life. In addition, you can use such small batteries to temporarily recharge your gadgets.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to compare a large number of models within the framework of this article, as it will take too long. Let's just say that the entire portable battery market is divided into large batteries that can “keep” your gadget in an active state for several days, and into small “key chains” in order to carry them in a bag and use them in the right situation. There are also original solutions, such as batteries built into the case. The latter are especially popular with Apple iPhone owners.
How to choose?
Let's say you're looking to purchase one portable battery for your tablet or smartphone, but don't know where to start in your search for the perfect device. We recommend that you first of all familiarize yourself with the technical data of your device.
For example, batteries for Chinese tablets are one thing (the battery capacity of which reaches 6-7 thousand mAh), and the other isfind the best solution for your iPad mini. Be sure to read the instructions (or description on the Internet), which will indicate the capacity of the batteries. Knowing this information, you can calculate which external battery is best suited, and how many charges it should be oriented.
Tests
The second step is “testing”. Do a miniature test with the battery you are interested in: hold it in your hands, see if it fits in your bag, if it fits your weight. This can also be done directly in the store. And to find out how quickly it will charge your tablet battery (you have Samsung or some other company - it doesn’t matter), check the characteristics of your charger. It should indicate the voltage that is issued when connected to the network.
It can be from 0.7 to 2V (average). If the characteristic of the portable charger is higher than marked, this means that the charging process will be faster (and vice versa). This will provide an opportunity to find out how the process of interacting with such a portable battery will differ from working with a familiar network adapter.
Finally, you can read the reviews on the websites of online stores, where the portable battery for the tablet you are interested in is described in more detail. Explay, Xiaomi, Lenovo and a number of other manufacturers publish some tests of certain gadgets on their equipment. Thus, by finding the same model, you will be sure of compatibility and excellent interaction in practice.
Advantages and disadvantages
In general, we can talk endlessly about the advantages of the gadgets that we describe in this article. This is a real way to increase the battery life of your device, make it non-volatile and truly portable. In addition, such accessories can be your real salvation somewhere on the road or at work, if the tablet had important information or documents.
Among the shortcomings, their “wear and tear” should be noted. It is expressed, of course, not in physical damage to the device, but in the fact that over time the battery holds a weaker charge, due to which its service life is reduced. For this reason, respectively, the ability to charge other electronic devices (tablet or smartphone) is reduced.
Such processes are normal, they occur with absolutely all batteries. The solution may be perhaps the use of some devices with solar panels. Imagine charging your tablet with solar power!
Conclusions
The electronics market has a huge number of models of external or portable batteries. According to their purpose, they are positioned as those that serve to work with a smartphone, and chargers for tablets. This characteristic is determined by their capacitance and the level of output voltage.
Choosing a device that suits your device is not so difficult. First of all, you should pay attention to its charge and compare it with the data from your device. Measure the battery capacityto know how long such a battery will last you. Next, decide on the current strength (which affects the charging speed).
The rest is purely a matter of taste. Since external batteries come in different types, have different colors and are literally made in a wide variety of shapes, you can choose an accessory for yourself based on your own wishes. This is very easy to do - think about which pocket of the bag you would like to carry it in, how often you will need it in everyday life, and so on. Another question to think about is possibly choosing a solar-powered device to be able to recharge your smartphone or tablet with energy from a natural source.
Where to buy?
Batteries for charging on the go are sold everywhere: in all electronics stores, in subway crossings and even in communication stores. We would recommend, of course, ordering such a device in some online shop, and there are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, you will have a wider choice if you buy the right model on the Internet. Secondly, such sites, as a rule, set a lower price markup than real electronics supermarkets, so here such a product will cost you less. Thirdly, you can always order from abroad (for example, from Chinese auctions), where the cost is even lower.
