Disclaimer: I am not in any ways accountable for smashing your powerbank after reading this post. Also, I am not insinuating that Lumsing and Romoss are the only good deals when it comes to powerbanks.

As we all know there are many power banks in the market, but to identify a good one poses a real problem for most people therefore getting disappointed and frustrated in the long run. But I’m here to help on this matter and I will give you some little insights on the secrets behind the banks. Its high time someone spilled the truth about this.
Nowadays we have many sellers claiming to have powerbanks with capacities such as 12000mah, 20000mah, 15000mah, 30000mah and even 50000mah—Lol. Trust me most of these ratings are farce. You know why? Let me pour you the details.

Knowing a fake bank

1. Fake banks mostly come unbranded (yes! That your unbranded bank is fake!). If they re not unbranded, they come rather with an awkward name. e.g there’s one kondovgbia LCD 12000mAH bank ( Lol…can’t remember the name vivdly) that I once fell for too. Hence they sell at a relatively cheaper price to attract customers. A good powerbank will sell for nothing less than 6k or 7k in Naija (Yes! in naija, unless you decide to buy it online and ship it in yourself. What am I even saying, if you decide to buy it online yourself, It will even be more expensive except you know your way out). You know why? Wait for my post on knowing a reliable bank

2. Most fake banks comes overrated. You don’t agree? Ok let’s do the mathematics. Inside fake banks, they usually use 18650 cells otherwise known as Li-Ion (I’m not saying Li-ion cells is bad but is cheaper). 18650 cells are usually rated between 1200mAh to 2600mAh.Let’s say your power banks is rated 20000mAh or 30000mAh (pls open it if you can to see the inside), I am pretty sure the highest number of cells you can find is mostly 6 if not less sef.
Now, Using 2600mAh cell (that’s if they don’t use a less Li-ion cell like 1200mAh, well they won’t tell you), multiply it by 6 equals 15600.
6 x 2600mAh = 15600mAh
Lol…..So tell me how is it 20000mAh, how is it 30000mAh? (I once used this too)

3. Some of them are a complete farce. Like I said pls open your absurdly rated bank if you can, Lol.. did you know some of them are filled with sand bags thus making it heavier (these china pple sef ). You dont believe ?
See below for pictures... Most of these fake banks are shipped from china...

This bank is very common and very cheap. Lol...but some of them are filled with sand bags (like yoruba pple will say, eni n wafa n wofo). The other one uses different cells. So definately, sth is fishy there. smart up Guys!

Another cheap common one. My first experience with power banks. This one claims 30000, 50000mah. with such large capacity i only got 1-2 charge cycles. Choi...fooled by the large capacity (Lol...who no like awoof)

Wow! This is serious!

Preciousone4ril: Wow! This is serious!

Lol...
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Oops..... i finally made FP!
Now how should I celebrate this...
Thanks mods

This is the best (kondogbvia if i'm right, cant remember the name vividly) of the fakes i ever used, very common too. This one is LCD, rated 12000mAh (dem no lie much). I could get just 2 charge cycles as well. meanwhile i use a 2300mAh battery.

Knowing Reliable Power Banks
1. Reliable banks are definitely branded and have support. Ranging from Romoss™, Lumsing™, Ankers™, Xiaomi™, Adata™, Samsung™ etc. But you won’t get them easily, you know why? Their prices are higher than the fakes but there is no doubt they are confirmed quality builds. Another reason is that most of them don’t ship from China but from USA like Amazon. Hence you won’t get them from these our Naija sellers easily. If you know your way out you can ship it in yourself at a cheaper rate. My romoss and lumsing are confirmed products. You can even check their website: www.lumsing.com, www.romoss.com. You will get every details you need to know about their banks (A support page). Google search is another good way to know about a product.

2. Reliable banks don’t come overrated. Most of the good banks are usually less in ratings e.g 7800mAh, 10400mAh (the most common ratings), 12000mAh and some a little higher around 15000mAh I think, they mostly use cylindrical Li-polymer or Samsung cells in making their banks which is between 2600mAh and 3000mAh, just google search.

Lets do the mathematics
2600mAh x 4cells = 10400mAh

But be rest assured if any of these brands says such ratings is the ratings of their banks, then it’s definitely the ratings. My Romoss and Lumsing are both 10400mAh, Yes! Low ratings and expensive but they out performs your awkward 12000mAh, 15000mAh, 30000mAh and whatever. The battery last longer, I am surprise I must confess. What if I decide to buy higher ratings, oboi naa comfirm backup be this. See below for pictures

3. Like I said there are many other good power banks out there like Xiaomi™, Ankers™, ADATA™, Samsung™, PowerAdd™ and many others, They come mostly with a year warranty. My fellow nairalander do your research well, don’t fall for desperate guys who want to make money selling you fake banks all in the name of selling you cheap banks. Anyways it’s your money, you can either buy banks with quality build and use it longer, or buy cheaps then get frustrated and come back to buy another cheap(uninformed people never learn). Wise up!


Another thing I want to shed light on is knowing the actual charge cycle of your bank i.e how many times can you use your bank to charge your phone? There is usually a wrong conception that lets say my bank is 12000mAh and battery is 3000mAh, then I should get like 4 charge. That’s a complete farce! It doesn’t work that way bro.

For rough calculation of the total charge cycle, use this formula
Real capacity x conversion rate x phone battery health / phone battery capacity = total charge times

EXAMPLE: 12000mAh bank x 0.8 x 0.8 / 1500mAh phone battery = 5.12 charge times (subtract 0.5-1 times, which is lost due to power loss)

What’s conversation rate? Conversation rate is the remaining percentage of the battery
What’s phone battery health?
In simple terms, it’s mean how‘healthy’ your phone battery is. Phone battery storage capacity will be lower and lower as the phone use increase in days. That’s also the reason why our phone can last longer when it’s newly bought than after 3-6 months we used it. Different mobile phone models also will affect the calculation as some phone drain battery faster than the other.

dastranger: This is the best of the fakes i ever used, very common too. This one is LCD, rated 12000mAh (dem no lie much). I could get just 2 charge cycles as well. meanwhile i use a 2300mAh battery.

I have that one. the battery depreciates really fast within a short period and now I can no longer charge full unless I don't use my fone whole charging. it's a 2500mah battery. although when I first got the power bank 5months ago it was amazing.

Fufu stuff

i own this romoss sense 4 10400mAh. sleek in design. you can see the packaging too, nice one!. I hope we can see the big difference between original packs and cheap banks

i love this lumsing 10400mAh most, very beautiful. I bought this for my mum actually. charges well above your 30000, 20000mAh banks. you dont agree? google is your friend

You guys need to check this top 20 banks to recommend by Drippler.com

http://drippler.com/drip/updated-best-portable-chargers-20-we-recommend

1. Jackery Giant
2. Lumsing Power Bank (LUM 008-01)
3. Lumsing Power Bank (PBJ-6200)
4. Juno Power Hue Plus
5. IOGEAR GearPower Ultra Capacity Mobile Power
Station
6. ZAGGsparq 6000

With an unbeatable price tag, a high-powered 10,400mAh battery and moderate weight of 8.35 ounces, the larger capacity Lumsing Power Bank (LUM 008-01) is debatably one of the best portable chargers on the market.
The sleek white eggshell color (which also comes in black and champagne gold) and ergonomic design is thick but smooth to the touch, with edges accented in a silvery finish. On its side, the device has two USB ports at 1A and 2.1A, and one Micro USB 5V input used to power up the device itself. Press the oval button on the LUM 008-01's side, and four blue LED lights illuminate, each indicating 25% battery life.
We put the LUM 008-01 to the test by dual charging two different smartphones at the same time: our iPhone 4 at 70%, and our HTC One (M8) at 60% with the Spotify app running in the background.
The LUM 008-01 used 25% of its total charge, powering both phones to 100% with an average of two minutes and thirty seconds for each 1% recharge. When testing alone with our iPhone 4 at zero percent on standby, the LUM 008-01 used about 15 to 20% of its total energy and took an average of 51.5 seconds per one percent recharge.


If Lumsing has anything to be proud about, it's this.

continue reading the reviews...
http://drippler.com/drip/updated-best-portable-chargers-20-we-recommend

Those re examples of banks you should look at when buying power banks

henry007: I have that one. the battery depreciates really fast within a short period and now I can no longer charge full unless I don't use my fone whole charging. it's a 2500mah battery. although when I first got the power bank 5months ago it was amazing.

Sorry it happens

The funny thing about dz power banks is they are excellent performers during the first few weeks of purchase.. After then, they become crap in the hands of d user!
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Hurray!!! M on FP!
TGIF

Damn!

I've always suspected that this my 12000mah power bank is a farce!

Its has 4 blinking lights that's suppose to tell you the level of power left in it. Now if I use it to charge my 1800mah battery, one light will go off. Going by that rate, 1800 x 4 = 7200. Can someone tell me where the remaining 4800mah (12000 - 7200) is?

Na wao..... Chinko will always be chinko.

Mention: The funny thing about dz power banks is they are excellent performers during the first few weeks of purchase.. After then, they become crap in the hands of d user!

Yh, most of em

timbros: Damn!

I've always suspected that this my 12000mah power bank is a farce!

Its has 4 blinking lights that's suppose to tell you the level of power left in it. Now if I use it to charge my 1800mah battery, one light will go off. Going by that rate, 1800 x 4 = 7200. Can someone tell me where the remaining 4800mah (12000 - 7200) is?

Na wao..... Chinko will always be chinko.

hehehehe.....

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Online purchases doesn't entirely solve the problem. I purchased an contact portable from a UK store and never used it for once.

Lovely writeup.....what do you have to say about the Pineng and Xiaomi powerbanks?

Personally, I have used the Applesoft brand,4400mAH for over a year without any issues.

XuteSleeks: Online purchases doesn't entirely solve the problem. I purchased an contact portable from a UK store and never used it for once.

That is probably because you didnt research well before you bought it bro. Know the right brands to buy!

dastranger:

hehehehe.....

No be small thing

aieromon: Lovely writeup.....what do you have to say about the Pineking and Xiaomi powerbanks?

Personally, I have used the Applesoft brand,4400mAH for over a year without any issues.

I learnt xiaomi banks are good ones too. i havnt used one before though, but there are good reviews about them online . Concerning pineking, i dont know about them. I even google searched them and ddnt get any information bro.

dastranger: Concerning pineking, i dont know about them. I even google searched them and ddnt get any information bro.

Its actually Pineng.

http://www.pineng.com.my

timbros: Damn!

I've always suspected that this my 12000mah power bank is a farce!

Its has 4 blinking lights that's suppose to tell you the level of power left in it. Now if I use it to charge my 1800mah battery, one light will go off. Going by that rate, 1800 x 4 = 7200. Can someone tell me where the remaining 4800mah (12000 - 7200) is?

Na wao..... Chinko will always be chinko.

Despite the fact the OP took his time to explain this part, you still came down to write this rubbish.

dastranger: This bank is very common and very cheap. Lol...but some of them are filled with sand bags (like yoruba pple will say, eni n wafa n wofo). The other one uses different cells. So definately, sth is fishy there. smart up Guys!

. I av spoilt my fingernails tryn to open mine.( Its made of aluminium tho). Do you have any idea of thing I could use to budge it open





And 5000maH is meant to charge a phone 2 times or 2 and a half

careytommy:
Despite the fact the OP took his time to explain this part, you still came down to write this rubbish.

I'll ignore the insult. Thank you.

But do me a favor - Don't quote me again.

Mine is written 16,800Mah but barely goes 3times on a 1300Mah battery.

Thanks for this post Op. I no go fall mugu again

Am using iwo 10,000mah it charged my 2200mah battery 4 - 5Times full whenever its low

careytommy:
Despite the fact the OP took his time to explain this part, you still came down to write this rubbish.

Bro, he had already written this before the OP explained.

weezii: Mine is written 16,800Mah but barely goes 3times on a 1300Mah battery.

Thanks for this post Op. I no go fall mugu again

don't fall for cheaps next time. Go for quality

Mods!!! Pls move this to FP and let the uninformed be informed