20,000mAh Solar Power Bank product reviews

Seeing a solar power bank come up for review, I jumped at the chance to review this. We live in a sunny part of the country, and with summer approaching (promise!) it would definitely come in handy for portable speakers and headsets, phone and tablets while taking part in sports or activities, camping, playing outside or travelling. I really liked that it has the option of being solar powered as well as plug in and charge.

When it arrived and I saw how large the power bank was I thought ''why on earth would I want to carry this around?" and to be honest, you probably would not want to, but, the option is there. I was not really sure how to charge it, or charge something with it, or use it as a torch - but thought I would have a look at the instructions.

Golly me, the instructions are, to say the least, really badly written or translated and I really struggled to understand them. However I managed to figure it out and decided to use the charger to charge my phone. It does seem to be a reasonably fast charger and even though it came about 50% charged, still managed to charge my phone. I then charged it up and found that I could nearly fully charge two devices (8 inch tablet and a P30 pro).

Another good feature of this power bank is the LED flashlight on it. By geez, it is very very bright!! I can see it being very helpful in the summertime at the beach in the evening, or for going out stargazing - easy to turn on and off, and nice to bright when needed. We also have plans to take the kids caving) in the local glow caves, so the light could come in handy for that as well.

I think that this will definitely get some use in our house, and as long as you can use common sense (or google) to figure out the instructions, you will be fine. I would love to know how long the "standard" usage time for the power bank is, which again comes back to the poor instructions. What this power bank loses in bulky and somewhat cumbersome exterior, it gains in the fact that really is very useful and quite powerful, with the ability to charge more than one thing at a time. I also think one more fantastic thing about this power bank is the price. It is exceptionally good value for how grunty and well made it is, so you will not regret getting one. Particularly, I thought this would be good in your home emergency/survival kit, as long as you remember to check and recharge it regularly.

When I saw how large this product was, I was rather sceptical. It didn't help when I saw the "torch" feature either; all I saw were unnecessary additions that add no real value to the product. As I've used it more and more, I've started to see the value in it more and more.

The size was the biggest concern for me. It is three times thicker than my phone and is wider too, which makes it heavy and take quite a large space in my pocket. Maybe not so bad in the back pocket, but in the front pocket, it is quite unwieldy. Combining this with the power output, I was initially disappointed. Plugging in my phone, the charger lit up and said it was at full charge, but it only raised my phones battery level from 22% up to 47% before it ran out of juice.

In an attempt to read the minimal (and poorly translated) English instructions, I thought that the product had already been fully charged, which led to my initial disappointment. Nevertheless, I charged it up overnight (plugged into the wall) and made sure it was fully charged. This time it was able to fully charge my phone from around 10% up to 100% twice before it ran out of juice. A vast improvement, and a duration that actually makes it worth the price tag.

Now, as immature as it sounds, during the Covid-19 lockdowns, I've rekindled my passion for playing Pokemon Go. It has become a little bit of an addiction, and the only way I can get myself to exercise. The app, however, is incredibly draining on the battery and can kill my phone in an hour or so of solid play. This is clearly not ideal, so a strong battery power bank is important to the established Pokemon collector. Even playing constantly, the power bank was still able to charge the phone while I played (albeit very slowly).

This is also where the torch comes in handy as well. The entire underside of the device is a wall of ultra-blinding LEDs and I couldn't figure out a suitable purpose until I realised that I often collect Pokemon in the evenings and at night. So having a super bright and wide light is great for being able to see where I am walking, and slowing down the drain on my phone as I don't need to use that torch.

With two USB outputs, you can charge most electronic items, and obviously two at a time. I didn't get much of a chance to see how well the solar charging capability of the device works due to poor weather conditions so far, but even without that, the product is great value for money. If it was a bit thinner and lighter it would be perfect, but as it is, it's pretty damn good. It may be clunky, but I'd forgotten what the freedom of not having to stand next to a power outlet was like. It's gorgeous!