Big Test of Power Banks: Anker and RAVPower vs Generic Power Banks? Should You Pay Extra?
Only a decade ago, there weren't many power banks on the market. The available power banks were big, heavy, and inefficient. Moving fast forward to today’s time, we have countless options: both expensive and cheap ones.
Brands such as Anker and RAVPower are leaders in the external batteries’ market and provide superb batteries and are significantly more expensive. On the other hand, we can find numerous unknown (or less known) brands, primarily on Amazon. These brands advertise their power banks with nearly the same features, the newest technology and great design, like the Anker’s and RAVPower’s power banks.
In this article, you’ll find a comparison of the Anker’s and RAVPower power banks with multiple cheaper equivalents widely available on Amazon. You’ll find out if you should pay extra for a branded power bank.
Anker
For many there is no need to present Anker. However, some people might not know it. Anker is a Chinese electronics company, founded in 2011 and based in Shenzhen, China. Anker’s power banks are currently the most popular on the market, with tens of thousands of reviews on Amazon and with products sold in millions. And that’s not all. Anker has in its offer phone chargers, earbuds, headphones, speakers, charging cables, just to name a few. In only 10 years, Anker has become a well-known brand with the highest-quality products, and its own innovative technology PowerIQ.
RAVPower
RAVPower is part of the Sunvalley Group. The brand was founded in 2011 in Shenzhen, China. The brand started as a laptop and cell phone batteries manufacturer and soon after started creating the high quality power banks, car chargers, wall chargers, and more. Just like Anker, RAVPower’s products are so millions and they create their own original technology iSmart.
Beginning as a manufacturer of laptop and cell phone batteries, RAVPower soon diversified their lineup to power banks, car chargers, wall chargers, and more.
Generic Power Banks Brands
It’s time to introduce Anker’s and RAVpower’s competitors. There are many out there, but so far Charging Kick has reviewed a few brands: INIU, EC Technology, GETIHU, iWalk, ROMOSS, and Luxtude. Products of these brands are frequently sold at half the price of Anker and RAVpower power banks. On top of that, the quality of the products and their features are not far from the branded power banks. In fact, many times some of the features rarely occur in branded power banks such as battery screen indicator.
The Test
Let’s get to the nitty-gritty. Firstly, let me introduce the power banks that took part in the test. You can click on each one to check out the full review of the products.
The members of Anker & RAVPower Team are (click to read the full reviews):
These are popular power banks that have been at the same level of popularity for years and sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
The members of Generic Power Banks Team (click to read the full reviews) are :
ROMOSS USB-C PD Power Bank 20000mAh LED, 18W Quick Charge QC3.0
INIU Power Bank, Ultra-Slim Dual 3A High-Speed Portable Charger, 10000mAh
Luxtude Power Bank USB C, 5000mAh Ultra Slim Portable Charger
6 different brands, 7 different products with high popularity on Amazon.
If you’re visiting Charging Kick for the first time, you aren’t aware of the review structure. Essentially, we breakdown the most important aspects of power banks:
Real Battery Capacity
Charging Time
Energy Delivered
Recharging Time
Energy Received
All these tests show the real performance of power banks. After all, the main purpose of a power bank is to charge electronic devices. Check About Page for more details regarding the review structure.
Further in the article, you can find charts and graphs with results and interpretations.
You can also check the data from the test at the following link:
Big Test of Power Banks - Data Spreadsheet
Real Battery Capacity & Battery Efficiency
This term might be unknown for many, while it’s crazily important and frequently hidden by manufacturers. Most people buy a power bank with a battery of 10,000 mAh expect 10,000 mAh, right? Technically, these people get a power bank with the right amount of energy.
However, this story has two endings. Most power banks use Li-ion batteries. The average voltage of those batteries is 3.7V. Manufacturers calculate the battery capacity of their power banks based on a voltage of 3.7 volts.
Mobile phones and tablets’ batteries have a voltage of 5V. Due to the conversion to 5V, the amount of energy decreases. On average each power bank has roughly ⅔ of its original capacity. If you want to find out about this process, check out the article: How Much Energy a Power Bank Actually Has? The Real Battery Capacity Explained.
Once the actual capacity is known, it’s possible to find out the battery efficiency by using the following formula:
Actual capacity x 5V / 3.7V x Advertised capacity
Higher the percentage, the better the battery is. I added up battery efficiency from both teams and calculated the average.
Here is the result:
Four of seven Generic Power Banks have battery efficiency over 90%, while only Anker PowerCore Essential 20000mAh can boast this achievement.
Charging Time
This test shows how long does it take to charge the Samsung S8 and Huawei P10 . They have 3,000 mAh and 3,200 mAh battery capacities respectively and represent typical phones owned by many of us. A shorter charging time, it’s the better time.
Here is the result:
Four Anker & RAVPower Power Banks were able to charge tested mobile phones below 80 minutes , while in the Generic Power Banks Team, none could achieve it.
Energy Delivered
This test represents the amount of energy power banks deliver to Samsung S8 and Huawei P10. If less energy is delivered - while the mobile phone is fully charged - it gives more energy to use later on.
This is the result:
Conclusion of Output Charging
Both teams elicited solid results, providing energy to tested mobile phones in the expected time and efficiently. The Generic Power Banks Team is slightly better, but a 5 minutes difference won’t make a huge difference in everyday usage.
Special mentions for the best power banks in these tests:
Anker PowerCore Essential 20000mAh - 92% of battery efficiency and charging mobile phones between 70 and 90 minutes
RAVPower Pioneer Portable Charger 10000mAh - for charging both mobile phones below 80 minutes
ROMOSS Power Bank 20000mAh - for superb battery efficiency and solid charging speed
Recharging Time
How long does it take to recharge power banks? To find out, power banks have been charged twice: once with a standard charger 5V/2A - which most of us have - and the second time with the RAVPower USB C Charger 65W PD, one of the fastest chargers on the market. The results are divided by power banks’ size, since the bigger power banks are, the longer it takes to charge them. Shorter recharging time is the winner.
Here are the results of the tests:
Energy Received
Last, but not least, we check how much energy power banks receive. More energy received, more energy to use.
The Generic Power Banks Team won this battle in two categories: big and medium power banks. In the small power banks, Anker & RAVPower Team was better, but it’s important to highlight that the RAVPower 6700mAh Power Bank’s capacity is slightly bigger than others.
Conclusion of Input Charging
In these tests, the Anker & RAVPower Team is slightly better. What matters the most in recharging is time, especially in big power banks, which usually need more than 8 hours for a full charge.
Special mentions for the best power banks in these tests:
Anker PowerCore II 20000 mAh - it can be fully charged within 8 hours
ROMOSS Power Bank 20000mAh - fast charger can give a full load in slightly more than 6 hours, the best result amongst the big power banks
Anker PowerCore II 10000 - 3.5 hours and the power bank is full
iWALK Mini Portable Charger 4500mAh Ultra - only two hours for a full load
Design, Material, and Technology
Performance is the most important aspect of a power bank, no doubts. However, the design and construction matter as well. You don’t want to have an ugly and heavy brick for a power bank, right?
Since design it’s usually an individual taste, I won’t pay as much as it’s needed for this part. Instead, I will evaluate the three following aspects:
Construction: material, sturdiness
Features: battery indicator, USB ports, light, etc.
Technology
Anker & RAVPower Team
Both brands are minimalistic in design. Power banks are mostly black with only a few models with different colors. The used material is robust and high-quality plastic. The matte finish keeps power banks clean of fingerprints and lint. All parts firmly stay in place. Anker and RAVPower manufacture high-quality products that will last years if properly maintained.
Unfortunately, in terms of features, Anker & RAVPower provide only the basics. Neither has a battery screen indicator that accurately shows the available amount of battery. Only big ones provide more than one USB port. USB-C PD is only provided in RAVPower 20000. Extra one USB port in medium and big power banks should be added and USB-C for charging and recharging purposes. Despite the small number of USB ports, at least they are high-quality ones with a fast-charging feature.
Generic Power Bank Team
There is more diversity! There are different colors or shapes available. The used material is as good as in branded power banks - robust and high-quality. Surely, you can’t say these power banks are cheap and won’t last long.
There are more features as well! More USB ports, even 5 in the ROMOSS power bank! Most big power banks have an LED screen battery indicator that precisely shows the available battery. INIU has a cute paw print as a battery indicator! Luxtude has built-in cable and iWalk can be plug-in into a mobile phone, so no cable is required. Most of them provide fast charging.
The Generic Power Bank Team won! Both teams provide high-quality power banks, but Anker & RAVPower power banks are minimalistic, but also dull in their design and lacking extra features.
Conclusion
Let’s have a rundown.
Anker & RAVPower won in:
Recharging Time
Energy Received
Generic Power Banks are better at:
Real Batter Capacity & Battery Efficiency
Charging Time
Design, Material, and Technology
Both teams tied on Energy Delivered.
From my extensive experience and users preferences: battery efficiency, recharging time, and technology are the most important. Recharging a power bank 2 hours less will make a bigger difference than recharging a phone in 10 minutes less, right? Having more energy to recharge your devices also will have a big impact. On top of this, if you want to recharge two or more devices simultaneously, which can happen more often than you can imagine, an extra USB port is essential.
That said, the Generic Power Banks Team is the winner of this big test! It proves that there is no need to pay extra, you can get a cheap and high-quality power bank for half of Anker or RAVPower’s power banks.
I found writing this article and diving into all data incredibly interesting. It shows how much big and well-known brands leverage their popularity over the quality of their products. I wonder in how many different kinds of products the same situation occurs...