Xmas gift: battery bank for iPhone 7

My mom is going to Iceland next Spring and since she uses her iPhone 7 for photography I thought I’d get her a battery bank for it. I know nothing about the tech involved, or what power size to get, or what the recharge speeds are, or if she ought to get a USB-C charger plus dongle (if even possible) for future compatibility, etc.

Wirecutter recommends some models from $18-50, and they also have a separate article recommending different USB-C battery packs.

Any suggestions to weed though the options?

Not Aukey.

Mine promptly died after the Amazon return period, and after only one charge. Working with Aukey now to return.

Not Tenergy.

Overnighted this one after the above failed, and the power switch came off the first time I turned it on.

So far, my Life Proof is working well. I paid $10 more at BestBuy because I was traveling the next day, and the above shenanigans happened.

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Everything I’ve purchased from Anker has worked well (battery packs, cables, chargers, robot vacuum, scale) and I’ve bought them as gifts for others as well. Just pick based on what size and features you want.

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Hi @bowline,

I got the Anker PowerCore Slim 5000 for my Dad a few weeks ago before he went on an overseas trip (see here). He has an iPhone 7 as well, and he said he was very satisfied with the Anker power bank.

I estimated he would get about 2 charges out of it, which should be fine for his use case.

Sure, for a few bucks more, you get one with 10,000 mAh instead of 5,000 mAh, but I figured it’s also about convenience, ergonomics and portability (size, weight, shape, etc.), and that’s why I decided to go with the Anker PowerCore Slim 5000.

It has enough capacity for his use case, and it weighs only 126 g (4.27 oz). It is thin and light and has a flat surface, so you can put your iPhone on top and continue to use it while charging (see photo below). And the flat surface has a thin silicone layer on it, so your phone won’t scratch or slip. It comes with a travel pouch, too.

It’s currently $29.99 on Amazon.

There’s no lightning cable included, but you can just use your cable that comes with your iPhone.

Hope this is helpful :slightly_smiling_face:

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Question number 1 here is how big of a battery she needs. The Wirecutter article does a nice job breaking this down into categories

Pocket - Boost a dying phone to get through the day
Everyday carry - Fully charge a smartphone one or two times
More power - Charge a smartphone every night for a week, or a tablet a couple of times

If this is only going to be used to charge a phone (no tablet or laptop charging) and assuming she’ll have access to an outlet to charge up every night, then something in the “everyday carry” size range is probably the right choice.

I’ve got the Jackery Bolt, one of the Wirecutter’s recommendations for an everyday carry battery, and I’m happy with it. It’s got a built-in Lightning connector so you don’t have to carry around an additional cable. There is the question of the future of the Lightning connector, of course, but it also has a USB-A output, so it could be adapted to just about anything with the right cable/dongle.

One thing I don’t have enough expertise to comment on is what sort of adapter she’ll need to plug in here gear in Iceland, but that might argue against batteries with an integrated wall charger.

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All good points. Apparently they use this 230v plug:

image

So I need to look at chargers that can work with adapters.

The one I mentioned above comes with a charging cable: you plug the micro-USB end into the Anker battery and the USB-A end into a USB-A port that you want to charge from. For example, you can plug it into the little square wall charger that comes with the iPhone. The iPhone wall charger works with the electrical grid in Iceland, no problem - all you need is a travel power adapter, so you can physically plug it into their wall outlets over there. A friend of mine was in Iceland recently for vacation :slightly_smiling_face:

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I was in Israel for a while recently and took a couple of Ceptics adapters, each with two built-in USB ports. Charging the phone and iPads was easy – I just brought my usual cables and plugged them into the Ceptics. The company make the same product for other geographies. I carried my Jackery, but really never needed it.

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Thanks. I wonder what the difference is between the $15 E/F adapter in the link you posted and the $8.50 3-pack I see here… Confusing!

Probably something I’ve noticed more of on Amazon – same device, multiple product names or sometimes the same product name in multiple listings, different prices in each case.

I got my wife the Jackery model recommended by the Wirecutter. The major feature was the built in cables for lightning and micro usb. No additional cables to misplace. It charges via micro usb so easy to get a charger there that fits their electrical outlets.