Chinese Powerbanks

vivek.krishnan

vivek.krishnan

BLR~ZRS-TX-1-MX
Skilled
Having been much of the days out of Mumbai, recently, last week, I saw hawkers selling 2600mAh powerbanks in Ghatkopar station. Since I was a bit curious to see what I could get for 150, I bought one.

However, was not in Mumbai for the following week, and returned yesterday, and immediately did a tear down.

The powerbank has a 18650 battery with no markings, the body itself acts as a battery case. It connects to a charging circuit, which has two connectors, one microUSB for charging and one USB port for connecting a microUSB cable to charge your phones. A red LED indication is ON when charging the powerbank. There is no way to find the power levels in the device.

Will be adding pictures and more details once I get the time.

On a side note, had spoken to @pratzgh1 about this, he said you can get them for 100 in Kurla station.
 
150 won't won't even get least capacity power bank online. It sureły
Is fake or something. Like those 32 GB and such USB scam.
Also these are power banks and can be dangerous sometimes I feel.
Although you can try charging it and then using it with some spare device (I suggest not to use with yur primary device).

Do put up pics and test results.
 
raksrules said:
150 won't won't even get least capacity power bank online. It sureły
Is fake or something. Like those 32 GB and such USB scam.
Also these are power banks and can be dangerous sometimes I feel.
Although you can try charging it and then using it with some spare device (I suggest not to use with yur primary device).

Do put up pics and test results.
Click to expand...

If I can buy it for 150 - that means the seller is purchasing it for 50% of that or less from China. So, I expect that it is much cheaper.

It may be a fake - only if the capacity is less than 2600 mAh (which it will - since you usually get about 70% capacity only). I have read up on 18650's, I almost was going to get them from China earlier. However, the charging issue made me skip them out.

AFAIK, they could be dangerous, but not much, since there is only a single 18650 cell.
 
They are definitely fake! May be the powerback tiself will charge fully for initial days---a week or so but after that the it will itself fail to fully recharge itself and then forget about our phones or other devices getting charged.

Gamble it for 150 bucks...no harm to try though.

And if that works great for some more time, create a GO here. :brb:
 
I am not plugging any of those power banks in my phone. They can do more damage to the phone than any good. My device is expensive and quite sure I dont want any of this stuff plugged at home.
 
xtremevicky said:
I am not plugging any of those power banks in my phone. They can do more damage to the phone than any good. My device is expensive and quite sure I dont want any of this stuff plugged at home.
Click to expand...

You are right. An unregulated power supply to the phone can screw it. That is the reason those fake chargers are also not recommended. Original chargers have circularly to ensure that more than required current does not go to the phone/device.
Sometimes I really don't know why some people would buy 40K Rs phone but won't spend 1K to 1.5K on an original charger. I have seen Chinese chargers screw with my iPhone ( screen became unresponsive when charger used) and from then I am ensuring to always use genuine stuff.
 
Exactly mate. I would also prefer to have a standard accessories for my phone. These small things can damage a big thing and there wont be any remedy post that.

Chargers is an interesting one, I for one always never minded spending on them because I knew they would be useful for me in future also since I am sticking to a single ecosystem. (Non-Apple). So using the Nexus 7 charger to charge everything in my sight.
 
I have one experience from lamington road...at one roadside stall saw a nokia new charging pin to micro usb converter connector for 10bucks.
Bought it and when I plugged it to my old nokia charger to charge my usb phone, it displayed some error message though cant recall the exact one..
Warning!! Current/charge overflow. And the charging stopped automatically. So since then the port is lying in my drawer... useless!!!
 
Well. These road side cheap chargers ain't all Chinese. @vivek.krishnan Most of these are actually made in India. Production cost may not even be 20 bucks.

As i shared with you, One of my colleagues had purchased a similar one for 70 bucks. It charged his phone to 15% and died. Wasn't recharging! So he opened up to find out that it actually was a AA battery and the casing was designed to supply the charge through a USB port. Science experiment sold to people at a freaking cost. :D
 
In case of batteries etc it may be prudent to buy from standard makes - even with standard makes we have issues like random explosions/leaks! So would not suggest risking charging the item.
-------------------------------------------------
I remember the 32GB pendrive scam - funnily most of those scammed were "techies" :)
 
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