I travel a lot, and as of last WordCamp San Francisco, I realized I needed a way to charge my phone on the go. The issue was that I wasn’t always in a place where I could easily use a plug, and outlets didn’t always work. So I wanted something I could carry with me, plug in while at a restaurant and charge when I wasn’t using it.
After asking around, I picked up an Anker, which claimed it could charge my iPhone 5 twice. I’ve tested it at 1.75 charges, but that’s usually good enough for me. This year, I got two more types. An Anker from WordCamp NYC and a PowerBank from WordCamp Miami.
Hands down, the Anker wins. The PowerBanks don’t hold as much of a charge as the Ankers, and they don’t retain their charge quite as well. They’re smaller, so this makes sense to me. Less battery capacity. But the fact that they lose their charge faster means I have to always remember to charge them up. The Anker? Well I didn’t charge the WordCamp NYC one after I got back from NYC, and when I went to charge it up almost 2 months later, it was still half charged. In the same time span, the PowerBanks were dead.
The downside for all chargers is I have to remember to charge them, which is why they’re pretty useless for my wife who never remembers to charge her phone, and asking her to remember to charge another device won’t work at all. But for me, I toss the two Ankers into my purse and about once a month I charge them up. Or if I’ve used one, I charge it right away. That way, when I get stuck in an airport for god knows how many hours, I’m doing just fine.
Comments
4 responses to “Portable Charging”
I consistently fail to remember to charge my phone as well. To the point Ron just goes and does it for me.
@Andrea_R: That may be what I do with my wife… Except she’s actually really good about charging when she’s in the car. O_o
The anker looks about the same as one of the small PowerGen chargers. I have one of those and a similar Jetpack branded version which is roughly equivalent. They work swell., but slip out of a pocket too easily, as I found out in a Chicago cab.
@Otto: I remember asking people what the Jetpack one was under the cover, and it’s an Anker (or it was at the time).
Also I find it’s great for in the purse charging. You should try that. 😉