As someone who loves both her gadgets and tech as well as getting out and about into the countryside for some time away from it all, no kit list is complete without some kind of battery power. It’s now a good year or two since I took the advice of the equally gadget and outdoors loving Terry Abraham and purchased the TeckNet PowerGen Power Bank portable battery.
I had been considering spending big bucks on some kind of solar powered battery charger that would mean I could head off into the wilderness (well, Edale) and keep my phone – which is my camera, GPS, music player as well as my actual phone – with enough juice to be useful for the whole weekend. Terry spotted my tweet and replied, very simply, telling me not to bother. I’d be much better off spending a quarter of the amount on the TeckNet, which would be reliable however much sun there, and that he had found to be very good at its job.
The TeckNet USB charger is not particularly compact, although it doesn’t take up that much space really, it’s also quite heavy. But it works. The sleek black plastic case holds enough charge to take my iPhone 6 from 0 to 100% at least four times, or my iPad Air 2 at least once. With two USB slots I can keep my phone and another device topped up when walking, camping or just when out for the day without access to a plug socket. And because it will charge whilst also being charged, it’s perfect for holidays – easy and quick charging of two devices with just one mains power outlet.
The technical specification on the website says (and I summarise)…
- BLUETEK™ Technology optimises compatibility of devices and gives you the right recharge rate up to 3.4A.
- 2A input for super quick recharging.
- The 16000mAh capacity recharges an iPhone 5s almost 7 times, a Galaxy S5 over 4 times or one full recharge for iPad Air.
- Duo-charge means you can charge the power bank while it recharges something else.
- The battery will give over 500 recharge cycles over the battery’s lifetime.
- Includes an auto-off function so it stops charging when your device is full.
- It contains integrated fuses and thermal protection (it does get a bit warm, but not hot).
- Little blue lights show how much power is left in the battery so you know when it’s getting low.
Oh but by the way, it doesn’t come with a mains charger, just a USB cable, but you can buy the mains ones for a couple of quid from Amazon. Definitely worth doing as charging is quicker and then you can “borrow” extra juice when you’re sat in the pub or on the train. And don’t forget, the TeckNet doesn’t start dishing out the juice until you press the little button on the device, which is so easy to forget.
With having phone on me is so important, I will quite happily rely on this for a weekend camping, and it is on every day hike or holiday or road trip kit list I use. Definitely worth it – exceptional value for money. If you’ve not already found a suitable portable power solution I completely recommend this one. Find it on Amazon: TeckNet PowerGen Power Bank (this is the updated version to mine) | Charger