Review: INIU Power Bank, Compact 20000mAh Dual 3A
INIU’s 10000 mAh power bank has a big brother (check the review)! Equally well-designed and powerful portable charger as its smaller brother, but with a twice bigger battery. All of these for a reasonable price. Read on to find out more.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
Great design and material
4 USB ports
Capability to charge up to three devices simultaneously
Great simultaneous charging speed
Cons:
Slow individual charging speed
Relatively slow recharging speed
Rating
Power & Performance (1 to 5 stars)
Design & Build (1 to 5 stars)
Technology (1 to 5 stars)
Overall Rating (average of above)
Key Product Specifications
Key Specs:
Capacity
20000 mAh / 72 Wh
Dimensions (LxWxH)
5.2 x 2.7 x 0.9 in / 13.3 x 7 x 2.4 cm
Weight
12.5 oz / 356 g
Output & Input Charging:
Average Charging Time of a Mobile Phone (average battery capacity 3000mAh)
1 hour and 35-40 minutes
Average Recharging Time (from 0% to 100%)
11 hours
Ports
- Micro USB Input: 5V/2A
- USB-C Output/Input: 5V/2A
- 2 x USB-A Output: 5V/2.4A
Charging Technology
INIU’s exclusive UPower+ technology: optimize charging to all your USB devices, even AirPods, smart watch and heated vest.
12-layer SmartProtect safety protection and the strongest anti-impact casing combined build the most durable and safest charger ever.
Flight Status
Under 100 Wh
Safe to take on board.
Other Features
3 years warranty
Ideal For?
Traveller,
Businessman,
Adventurer,
Student,
Commuters.
What’s Inside?
INIU 20000mAh Power Bank
USB C Cable
Travel Pouch
Welcome Guide
Power & Performance
Battery Capacity
Battery capacity in mAh and Watts
INIU Power Bank 20000 mAh has a battery capacity of 20,000 mAh / 72 Wh. This amount of energy should be enough to charge most phones 4 or 5 times.
Capacity test: discharge the fully charged power bank
Have you ever wondered whether a power bank has its battery capacity? Does it really have 5,000 mAh or 10,000 mAh, as advertised? What is the real battery capacity?
To check the actual battery capacity we need:
The fully charged power bank
A USB tester that shows the current, voltage, mAh, and charging time.
The USB mini adjustable load receives energy from the power bank and releases it safely via the fan. This is the safe way to discharge a fully charged power bank and measure the real battery capacity.
I connect the dummy load (amperes are set to 2) to the USB tester, then plug it into the fully charged power bank. Once that’s done, I wait until the power bank’s battery goes flat. The screen on the USB tester will display the Watt-hours and the amount of mAh consumed. data show the real battery capacity.
Using the aforementioned procedure, tested INIU 20000 mAh. Here are the results:
Capacity Test
Results:
Time - 3 hours and 36 minutes
Watt-Hours - 69.7 Wh
Ampere hour - 13,593 mAh
The real battery capacity is 13,593 mAh. This mAh measurement shows you the energy you will fully use to charge your mobile phone. It’s not 20,000 mAh because the unit is converting energy from 3.7V (the power bank’s battery voltage) to 5V (USB voltage). This loss occurs in every power bank.
When you know the advertised and real battery capacity, it’s possible to measure the battery efficiency, which in this case is 92%. Manufacturers frequently don’t share this information. Efficiency above 90% is considered very good. This power bank has an exceptional battery efficiency, one of the best you can get.
Disclaimer: Every test can produce different results, but only small variations.
How many times can you charge the most popular mobile phones in 2020?
To put the battery capacity into perspective, I will use a formula for Real Battery Capacity and calculate how many times the INIU 20000 mAh can charge the top 10 most popular mobile phones in 2020. Perhaps you own one of them, or at least you know your mobile phone’s battery capacity.
From the previous test, we know the real battery capacity is 13,593 mAh.
Once we know the real battery capacity, we simply divide it by the enlisted mobile phones’ battery capacity to find out how many times it can be charged.
Mobile Phone Model | How Many Times Can It Be Charged? |
4.61 | |
3.05 | |
2.88 | |
2.88 | |
3.24 | |
7.13 | |
2.88 | |
4.13 | |
3.09 | |
2.60 |
The INIU Power Bank 20000 mAh should charge all mobile phones with batteries smaller than 3,000 mAh at least four times, closer to five (e.g., Google Pixel 4a). Mobile phones with batteries larger than 4,000 mAh should get at least three charges. Usually phones can be charged more than these numbers, since most of the time they are not charged from 0% to 100%.
Output Charging
Charging Time & Power Usage
Power banks are used mainly to charge devices. Therefore, this review would not be completed without testing output charging. For this, knowledge of the device’s charging time is crucial. Frequently it is one of the most important factors in the purchase of a power bank.
For these tests, I used two mobile phones:
Huawei P10 with a battery of 3200 mAh (Huawei SuperCharge)
Samsung S8 with a battery of 3000mAh (Adaptive Fast Charging)
Both phones support fast-charging technology.
To record data (current, voltage, mAh, time) I used a USB tester.
Real-life examples of test-charged phones demonstrate what you can expect after purchasing a power bank.
The INIU Power Bank 20000 mAh as you already know has a superb battery, with a high efficiency, four USB ports and is able to charge up to three devices simultaneously. All that said, the expectation bar is high. With all this given data, the power bank should provide a decent charging speed, unlikely a fast-charging. Enough said, let’s check the tests’ results.
Charging via USB-A (Huawei)
An hour and 48 minutes to charge Huawei P10. An acceptable time, but not as good as expected. The power bank delivered 2,070 mAh / 10.4 Wh of energy.
Charging via USB-A (Samsung)
An hour and 27 minutes to charge Samsung S8. It’s a good and expected time. The power bank delivered 1,873 mAh / 9.6 Wh of energy.
Charging two phones simultaneously
Due to the lack of space for two USB testers, only one was used. It took an hour and 48 minutes to charge two phones simultaneously. It’s a surprisingly good result in comparison with the previous tests. It seems that two phones are charged at the same time as a single one. The delivered estimated energy two both phones was 4,400 mAh / 22 Wh in total.
Roundup of output charging
The same as its smaller brother, the tests’ results are ambiguous. The power bank performs better than most portable chargers in charging two devices simultaneously. On the other hand, the charging time of a single device is below the average. The power bank doesn’t use all its power while charging a single power bank. It’s something that must be improved.
Input Charging
The INIU Power Bank has two ports for input charging: Micro USB and USB-C, both rated at 5V/2A. With this specification, the power bank should be charged within 10-11 hours.
I charged the power bank twice. The first test, via a standard charger rated at 5V/2A charging speed; a charger most of us have. For the second charge, I used the charger rated 65W, the fastest type of charger, able to charge compatible laptops.
Recharging via Huawei Charger 5V/2A
The standard charger needed 9 hours and 45 minutes to charge the power bank to 100%. It’s a good and expected time. The power bank received 17,506 mAh / 87.5 Wh of energy.
Recharging via RAVPower Fast Charger
The RAVPower fast-charger needed over 13 hours to charge the power bank. It’s significantly more than expected! The power bank received 18051 mAh / 92.4 Wh of energy.
Roundup of input charging
Overall, the power bank charging’s capability is good. Surely the manufacturer overestimates the device’s potential, but for a half price of a branded power bank, it will satisfy most users.
Score
Design & Build
Dimension & Weight
Weight in ounces and grams
12.5 oz / 356 g
Measurement in inches and centimeters
5.2 x 2.7 x 0.9 in / 13.3 x 7 x 2.4 cm
The INIU power bank is relatively small and lightweight for its battery capacity. It's small enough to slide into your pocket while charging your mobile phone. However, the weight might be uncomfortable.
Design & Material
The INIU power bank has something special that distincts it from other power banks.
The used material is different from any other. It’s slightly smooth and pleasing in touch, but still firmly sits in hand. It’s resistant to scratches and scuffs. The manufacturer used a 12-layer SmartProtect safety system. It’s apparently the strongest and the most durable anti-impact casing available. Surely it’s robust, but it’s not a rugged power bank and unlikely it would survive multiple drops on a hard surface. It should be enough for daily use.
The unique feature of this device is a cute paw print. This feature itself differs it from others. Not only it looks great, but it has a practical function - it works as a battery indicator. Each paw’s toes indicate 20% of battery.
On the top edge, right above the paw, are four ports and a built-in LED torch. The ports’ layout is spacious enough allowing to use them all simultaneously. There is a built-in light that can be turned on by quickly pressing the power button twice. The light is poor, only to use indoors e.g. to find items in a dark room.
The device comes with a flexible-shafted plug-in light - a great addition for a night reader. Furthermore, a protective pouch is included to keep everything safely in one place.
The power bank is only available in black.
Score
Technology
Ports
The INIU Power Bank 10000 mAh is equipped with four ports. It’s a good number for this battery capacity, allowing it to charge multiple devices at the same time. The maximum output of all ports is 3A and the maximum input is 2A. Two USB-A ports and USB-C ports can be used to charge external devices, whereas to charge the power bank itself, you can use either Micro USB or USB-C.
Micro USB Input: 5V/2A
USB-C Output/Input: 5V/2A
2 x USB-A Output: 5V/2.4A
Tech
The only technology this power bank has is INIU UPower+ technology , which enables optimized charging of devices. The carried out tests showed that this technology doesn’t work properly and the power bank doesn’t charge devices at their fastest speed.
Score
Conclusion
Overall Opinion
THE INIU Power Bank 20000 mAh is one of the best power banks you can get in terms of quality to price. For a small price you can get a beautifully designed and fairly powerful portable charger. If you want to get a decent power bank and don’t spend a fortune, this could be your ideal option.
Final Score