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AllDownhillFromHere
11-05-2017, 21:43
Anyone have one? Does it hold up as well as the multicell units? Is 5000 mAh legit?

HooKooDooKu
11-05-2017, 22:53
My wife has the 5000 and we've liked it. We've had it for 2 years, but I must admit it doesn't got lots of use. I can't say that I've ever measured the 5000mAh, but I would say that it is as legit as any of the Anker batteries... which from everything I've heard over the years is going to be much better than the cheap batteries you'll find elsewhere like at WalMart.

scrabbler
11-05-2017, 23:21
Anker is a reputable battery pack. I think the most commonly used is the 10,000 unit, but choose upon your needs. A 5000mah will be multi unit, so not sure of your question.

Christoph
11-05-2017, 23:43
I have/took the Anker 10,000 on my thru hike this year. I used it very little as there were plenty of places to grab a charge. Great, but a little on the heavy side. I'd say the 5,000 would be more than enough unless you're a very heavy user. I used a Droid Maxx for all my photo's and vids, texting, calls, used it for a little Facebooking in the trail but did most of my internet stuffs while in town.

colorado_rob
11-05-2017, 23:54
Just a couple of data points... I have three Ankers; a 6700, a 10,000 and a heavy 20,000. The 6700 is good for not-quite two full phone charges. The 10,000 is good for two full charges plus a little more, maybe another half charge. I've never really tested the 20,000.

My point is if your phone has a typical 2500 mAh battery, don't expect to get two charges out of a 5000 mAh external battery, there are lots and lots of losses and inefficiencies involved. You'll probably only get one full charge out of a 5000, maybe a tad more. I'd opt for something a little bit bigger. My 6700 is only 4.5 ounces, something like that; I carry it for shorter hikes, 3-4 days, knowing I'll only need one recharge. I usually carry my 10,000 for longer hikes, I think it's around 6.7 ounces or so, knowing I can get two full recharges if need be.

AllDownhillFromHere
11-06-2017, 08:15
Thanks guys, my phone has a 4000 mAh battery, so I'm thinking the 5000 gives me 100% up from dead, once. I carried a 10k, but at 8oz, and never needing more than 1/3 of it, it felt like carrying a brick.

Thoughts about the flat/skinny 5k vs the 'lipstick' one? The skinny one weighs a tad less.

Deacon
11-06-2017, 08:48
I carried the Anker Astro 3000 “lipstick” size on the AT, except for the 100 Mile Wilderness, where I used a 5000.

You really have to detail the intended usage to size the charger. For me, I only used a charger for my phone, and I only used my phone as a camera, a daily call to my wife, and spent a half hour each evening typing in my journal in the Pages App.

I never had to go more than 5 days between charges where I could plug in someplace. Between those times I could get 1.5 full charges on my iPhone 7.

In the Hundred Mile, the 5000 would give me 2.5 full charges.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Leo L.
11-06-2017, 09:21
True, one of the considerations should be how much you are relying to the phone.
If the phone is your one-and-only, multi-purpose tool that would turn the hike into a hazard if it fails, you sure would take a bigger powerbank.

It had happened to me on a 4 days hike in the desert once, that (a) I forgot the powerbank in the hostel, (b) the GPS file on the smartphone was the only way of navigation I had, and (c) on the second night out I forgot to set the phone back into airplane mode after a short check if there was a signal, and so it happened that the permanent tries to connect to a very faint signal throughout the night drained the battery down into the low double-digits - but I still had two days of desert without paths to navigate. Was a hairy situation, I would never like to put myself into again.

I was using a 6000mAh Varta pack then, and found, that all too fast (over two years) the real capacity went down maybe 20%.
Now I'm using an Anker 10000 which is smaller than my old 6000 and only slightly heavier.
Personally I like the flat design more, it seems to fit better into my pack.

There seems to be a constant progress in technical developements in this area.

colorado_rob
11-06-2017, 09:41
Not to be negative or cynical, but because I've owned 3 Ankers and I've never gotten any where NEAR the mAh's advertised, even brand new, basically my rule of thumb now is subtract about 40% from the rating, and that's what you'll really get in practice.

So one of a few things must be true:

- I've just been unlucky and the unit's I've bought have been faulty
- maybe we have different definitions of "full charges"; what I define as a full charge is taking a phone from less than 10% charge to 100% charge
- maybe people on here that report they get two+ full charges on a 2500 mAh phone battery out of a 5000 mAh Anker are exaggerating, or again, really charged from 30-100% or something like that, and are calling this a full recharge

So, I think a 5000 mAh Anker is too small, given that you can get a larger one for only an ounce or so extra weight, and these things are pretty cheap.

I've said my peace, I'll shut up now.

AllDownhillFromHere
11-06-2017, 09:53
True, one of the considerations should be how much you are relying to the phone.

True. I packed the 10k through a few hundred miles of SoCal desert on the PCT, never more than 5 days from town. By this I mean, leave town with a full charge, run in airplane mode, take some pictures, look at a map once in a while, repeat. I'd either coast into town at around 15%, or once I filled it off the Anker. Basically I never needed it all. My plan this year is to ship the 10k to Kennedy Meadows, as I expect to go longer (and through colder terrain) between charges, but live off the 5k (or 3350?) until then. The 3350 is a whole 5.5 oz ligher than the 10050 I had.

Christoph
11-06-2017, 10:33
For what it's worth, I turned my phone off when I charged and it charged significantly faster. My Anker 10k will charge my Droid Maxx 4 times from almost dead to full (even though most of the time I charged toward the end of my hike was to top off). I noticed charging times were quicker when the phone is turned off. When I left it on the few times, it seemed to drain the pack faster, even when I wasn't using the phone at the same time.

tflaris
11-06-2017, 10:42
The other side of the coin is larger sized packs take longer to recharge. Depending upon the amount of zero’s, Nero’s or the amount of time you want to sit next to a receptacle outside a Post Office/Store or restaurant would also be an important consideration.

TF


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

HooKooDooKu
11-06-2017, 10:43
Thoughts about the flat/skinny 5k vs the 'lipstick' one? The skinny one weighs a tad less.
I loved pairing the 'lipstick' battery with the Anker Solar Lite solar panel during a JMT thru hike. The battery allowed for simple charging during the day as the solar panel moved in and out of sunlight, and was more than enough charge to recharge my Samsung Galaxy S4 each night.

The only down side to the 'lipstick' battery is the capacity to weight ratio. With Anker, generally speaking, the larger the capacity, the better your capacity to weight ratio. With the 'lipstick' battery being the smallest battery, it has the worst capacity to weight ratio. I can't at the moment find the weight specifications for these batteries, but having researched Anker batteries in the past, I suspect the 5,000 to be only slightly heavier than the 'lipstick' and is likely worth the small amount of extra weight for the extra capacity... unless the capacity of the 'lipstick' is all you need and therefore won't be able to take any advantage in the better capacity to weight ratio of the 5000.

Leo L.
11-07-2017, 04:55
...I've never gotten any where NEAR the mAh's advertised ...
Thats a sad fact, pointed out by many of the more serious test reports about powerbanks.

The biggest issue is, that the mAh rating generally does not tell you anything as the voltage the numbers are measured at is missing. This leaves a wide margin for cheating.
The other issue may be, that the mAh rating is measured (or defined) for the battery pack itself, leaving out the loss in the cables and electronics, which can easily sum up to 20-30%.

Leo L.
11-07-2017, 04:58
The other side of the coin is larger sized packs take longer to recharge...
A powerful wall charger with dual outlets and Quickcharge capability is pretty much mandatory, if you decide to carry one of the big bricks.

tflaris
11-07-2017, 08:43
A powerful wall charger with dual outlets and Quickcharge capability is pretty much mandatory, if you decide to carry one of the big bricks.

Yes indeed. But my 20,000 mah seems to take forever (overnight) to recharge. This is using the suggested wall charger also.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Leo L.
11-07-2017, 10:37
I was surprised when I got my 10000 that it took about 6-7 hrs to give it a full charge, with the recommended quickcharge wall plug.
Glad that I didn't buy a 20000 mAh.

To put it into relation to real usage:
I've intended to get a really big brick to be able to give charges to natives (Bedouins) in the desert, as a guest gift.
For my own use, I can go 5-7 days (maybe even 10) just with the phone battery.