Evaluating the Mi portable charger is not complicated by the difficulty of finding this model, but rather by the difficulty of getting an external battery from a reliable source. Xiaomi has established itself as one of the best manufacturers of low-cost equipment, but due to such popularity, the market is now awash with fakes, which are very difficult to distinguish from the original. An example of this is the Xiaomi Piston headphones. Fortunately, there are a number of online stores that work directly with Xiaomi distributors and sell original licensed products. Therefore, the choice of Mi Power Bank 20000 mAh reviews is advised by reliable sellers, this is necessary to guarantee a genuine product. In addition, Xiaomi provides each released instance with a 20-digit code, the validity of which can be checked on the official website of the manufacturer.
The so-called Power Bank with solar panels should not be attributed to such products. User reviews warn that this device has nothing to do with Xiaomi and is not suitable for charging smartphones.
Unpacking and accessories
The model is packed in a small white box without fancy graphics and colorful images, with a modest Mi logo on top and a Chinese specification on the side. It is worth mentioning separately the sticker confirming the authenticity of Xiaomi Power Bank. Feedback from users with sufficient experience in this matter suggests that these protections are often faked and you can only trust a trusted seller.
Equipment
Together with a box that is not rich in appearance, the buyer receives the only accessory of high quality and a very durable flat micro-USB cable in all white. The product style, made up of simple white packaging, a simple white external battery, and a simple white USB cable, recalls Apple products. However, the reviews of owners of Mi Power Bank are called incomplete. There is a lack of a network adapter and a USB-C cable. You don’t have to guess about the need for the latter, if you don’t read that the battery is capable of recharging new MacBook laptops using this type of cable. This is not meaningless, given that the portable charger supports an output voltage of 5 V and a current of 3.6 A. It is unclear why the company does not directly advertise such a feature, because this Power Bank reviews the technology is called the main marketing advantage of the battery. The USB-C standard is implemented, for example, in the latest models of Google Chromebook Pixel, MacBook and Nexus 6P.
Design
Minimalist packaging smoothly transforms into a minimalistic white design of the device itself. Above is the inscription Mi. Even the label at the bottom bottom is printed in light gray on white, which makes it difficult to read and continues the laconic style of the model. But if you look closely, it becomes clear what is behind this. To achieve a surprisingly light weight battery with a capacity of 20,000 mAh, equal to only 338 g, Xiaomi used a strong but environmentally friendly combination of propylene carbonate and ABS resin with small tubercles that prevent the surface from slipping and protect it from scratches. The device is lighter than the 16,000 mAh model of the same manufacturer, which is impressive. The Power Bank 20000 plastic case reviews are rated higher than the slippery and scratch-resistant aluminum used in previous versions of external batteries. The coating withstands external heat up to 90 ° C (the device itself does not heat up to this temperature when charging). Rounded edges and textured surface provide a secure grip. In addition, despite its huge capacity, the size of the energy storage is only 142x73x22 mm, which makes it one of the smallest and lightest in the world.
Connectivity options
On the side of the battery there is a power button, when turned on, the 4-LED indicator lights up, which indicates the remaining capacity. However, to start charging the phone, you do not need to press the switch. The device automatically activates and deactivates when you connect a rechargeable gadget. On the top panel are 2 full-sized USB ports, 1 microUSB and 4 LEDs indicating the battery charge level. Owner reviews call such a number of indicators in Mi Power Bank a step back, since this allows you to evaluate this parameter with an accuracy of only 25%. For example, an Anker battery uses 10 segments for this. Owners do not quite understand why Xiaomi decided to install such a simplified power indicator, although they assume that this was done in order to maintain the minimum size of the device.
Specifications
Obviously, the manufacturer did not anticipate the worldwide sale of this battery, because all instructions are written exclusively in Chinese. Therefore, it becomes clear why sites such as Gearbest provide the most information on their web pages. Reading specifications and some marketing images helps you understand what’s inside the external battery.
First of all, it is a micro-USB input for replenishing the energy of the power bank itself. 20,000 mAh is a huge capacity, so you should forget about using any outdated network adapters with a current of 1 A. According to Xiaomi, the external battery supports fast charging with direct current with a voltage of 5, 9 and 12 volts with a current of 2, 2 and 1.5 amperes, respectively , which indicates support for QC2.0. Of course, the device also provides the usual fast 2-ampere charging at a voltage of 5 V, but it's nice to have both options. In any case, the full recovery time of Power Bank 20000 reviews is estimated at 7-8 hours, which is not bad for such a high capacity. The energy bank is able to automatically adjust the level of current and voltage, adapting to the needs of the charged device.
Performance
Two USB output ports support 5.1 V with a maximum output current of 3.6 A, which is equivalent to an output power of 18.36 watts. With a typical smartphone charging, its value is 2 A, the use of USB-C increases the current to 3 A. The last possibility of Power Bank batteries is considered by owners reviews as a guarantee of the demand for batteries in the future. And compared to other dual-ampere models, this portable charger works no worse. The conversion efficiency is close to 90%, which is a very high indicator, given the transition from the Mi internal battery to a USB port, and then through a USB cable to the phone and back from micro-USB to the internal battery, which is associated with some losses during transformation with 3.7 to 5 V. Therefore, the actual capacity of the device is about 18 thousand mAh
Travel Insurance
With a capacity of 20 thousand mAh, the battery can charge 2 devices at the same time, and there will still be enough energy for others. Power Bank external battery performance is highly rated by user reviews. Nexus 4 and iPad mini can be charged a little more than 6 times, Xiaomi4 - 4.5 and MacBook - 1.2 times. With such a capacity, an energy bank is an ideal choice for people who travel often, as the model gives a feeling of confidence that there will always be enough energy, even on the road. In addition, Mi can be used to charge large devices such as iPad or Android tablets. According to owners, on average, an energy bank can charge a smartphone daily from 30 to 100% for a week, which takes about an hour. After that, the portable battery itself will need a charge recovery. Considering the capacity of the external battery, it will take him 11-12 hours. Fortunately, the input port supports the Quick Charge 2.0 standard. When using a 18 W charger, the charging time of Mi Power Bank is estimated at 8–9 hours. If you leave the power bank unused for a long period of time, this will hardly affect its performance.
Batteries
The power supply consists of 6 high-quality lithium-ion batteries manufactured by LG and Panasonic, each of which has a capacity of 3350 mAh, and is equipped with 9-level protection electronics manufactured by Texas Instruments. The S9 system constantly checks the power supply parameters to ensure the safety of the charged devices and to prevent short circuits or input and output overloads. The temperature sensor allows you to disable the output current of an external battery. All this makes it quite safe and reliable.
Conclusion
Xiaomi Mi Power Bank batteries user reviews are positive. This is one of the smallest and lightest portable batteries with a capacity of 20 thousand mAh for today. Although it does not have an aluminum case or a more informative indicator of the charge level, which forces it to put up with plastic and 4 LEDs, the model is notable for its high quality assembly, great functionality and capacity, full electronics protection and an incredibly low price.
All this is true if it is an original device, and not a fake that you may encounter by purchasing an external battery from an unverified dealer.
Many people wonder: why is Xiaomi's energy bank, which can be purchased for $ 25, so cheap? After all, batteries with 3 times less capacity are sold 2 times more expensive. Is there a catch here? But after a long period of intensive operation without any complaints, it becomes obvious that this is really a very high-quality product, sold at a very competitive price.