Guide to External Battery Packs

The HTG Guide to External Battery Packs

Modern gadgets are power hungry. If you want to make it through a long commute or a cross-country flight without having to plug your tablet or gaming device in, you’re going to need an external battery pack to keep the electrons flowing. Read on as we show you how to shop for a pack that will meet your needs and keep your screens glowing.

What’s an External Battery Pack and Why Do I Want One?

Normally when you need more juice for your smartphone, tablet, or other mobile electronic device, you plug the USB charging cable in to your computer or to a wall-wart transformer. You top the device off (or keep using it while it charges in the background) and away you go.

That’s not always convenient (or even possible) if you’re traveling or otherwise away from home. This is where an external battery pack comes in handy. They range in size from as small as a lipstick tube (good for topping off a small smartphone battery) to as big as a thick paperback book (good for keeping your phone going for days or letting multiple friends juice up their tablets).

Instead of plugging your charging cable into the wall, you instead plug the charging cable into the battery pack and fill up the device’s batteries that way. Not all battery packs are created equal, however, and even if the build quality is good, you can easily end up with an external battery pack that doesn’t fit your application and power needs.

Let’s take a look at our field tests of two great battery packs and how their features relate to our shopping-for-a-battery checklist.

First, Meet the Models

As part of the process for writing this guide, we used two higher-capacity battery packs the RAVPower Deluxe 14,000 mAh Power Bank ($39.99), seen above right, and the Jackery Giant 10,400 mAh Power Bank ($39.95), seen above left.

We’d highly recommend both of them as perfectly serviceable high-capacity external battery packs. Rather than delve into all the features before you have a frame of reference, let’s take a look at the general guidelines you want to keep in mind when pack shopping and how they relate to our model packs.

Estimating Your mAh

Before all else, you need to establish how much juice you need. Both device batteries and the external battery packs that top them off have capacities rated in mAh (milliampere hours). This is the principle measuring stick you’ll use to determine how much you need to invest in your pack.

First, gather up the devices you want to charge off the external battery pack. Let’s say, for the sake of example, you have Samsung’s popular SIII smartphone and a new iPad Air. The SIII has a stock battery with a capacity of 2100 mAh and the iPad Air has a stock battery with a capacity of 11, 560 mAh. Now it’s time for a little number crunching.

You can use the following equation to determine just how beefy of a battery pack you need:

(Total mAh) * (% battery life extension expressed in decimal format) = Pack Size

If you wanted a battery pack that could double the battery life of both your devices, you’d need a pack with a capacity of at least 13,660 mAh:

If you wanted to squeeze 50% more life out of them, you’d need a device with at least  a capacity of 6,830 mAh. If you only cared about keeping your iPad going during your flight and you’d have your phone turned off, then you could stick with a battery pack that had around the 11,560 mAh capacity of the iPad to double its life. While both of our test models are well suited for this job, only the extra-big RAVPower with 14,000 mAh would be able to truly power both of our devices with a 100%+ boost.

Just like in every other battery application, there’s a trade off to be had between high and low capacity devices, and that takes the form of weight. Thelittle lipstick-sized battery packs we mentioned a moment ago might only have 2,000 or so mAh in them, but they only weigh a few ounces and easily slip into your pocket or purse. Our 14,000 mAh beefcake that can keep your iPad running over a trans-continental flight? It weighs 2 pounds or so and won’t be very comfortable in your pocket.

Conversely, if you’re looking to power just your phone, getting one of the monster 10,000+ mAh packs will be overkill. Just for fun we charged our SIII phone exclusively off the massive RAVPower pack to see how many days we could go before the pack ran dry. By the 8th day of the experiment we hadn’t depleted it completely; clearly the pack would be overkill for casual travel use if your only device was a smartphone.

Selecting the Right Amperage

In addition to calculating how much battery capacity you need, there’s also the matter of charging amperage. The bigger and more power-hungry your device, the more important having the proper amperage on the USB charging ports is.

Charging ports on battery packs, like charging ports on wall-warts and computers, can provide electricity at two amperage rates: 1A and 2.1A. All USB devices can use both ports, but if a device can only handle 1A of power then it will automatically limit itself to 1A on a 2.1A port and if a 2.1A device is on a 1A port it will also charge (but at a much slower rate). Both of our test devices feature a 1A and a 2.1A port.

For trickle charging, such as you might do over night or if you just had the device sitting in your briefcase hooked up to the battery pack, the amperage doesn’t matter as much. Yes the 2.1A will charge the device faster, but if you’re not using it and it’s just topping off the device, the speed of the charge isn’t such a big deal.

Where the amperage becomes critical is when you’re shopping for a battery pack that you intend to use on a battery-hungry device while the device is in use. For example, if you want a battery pack that can keep an iPad Air topped off while you’re playing a graphics-intensive video game or otherwise taxing the system, you’re going to need, no questions asked, a battery pack with a 2.1A charging port. Packs with 1A ports simply won’t be able to keep up; you’ll be burning battery life on the device faster than the battery pack can replace it.

Ports for Your Pals

If you’re shopping for just yourself, it’s OK to spend less and get a device with a single port or a 2.1A and 1A port. Need to provide a steady flow of juice to both your iPad and your traveling companion’s iPad, though? You’d better spend the extra money to get a battery pack with two high draw 2A ports. If you’re planning on setting up a multiplayer gaming huddle at 30,000 feet, you can even find battery packs with 4+ 2.1A ports.

Given that it doesn’t cost much more to get a better pack with an extra port or two, you’ll come off looking like a very prepared spouse or business partner if you have some juice to share with your travel mates.

Extras Worthwhile and Worthless

Because the external battery pack market is pretty heavily saturated, many manufacturers have started including little extras to entice buyers. Our advice is to avoid being swayed by the extras unless the extras offer you high-utility or save you money. For example, if the pack you’re looking at costs an extra dollar and comes with an iPad charging cable, and you were planning on buying one anyway, that’s a good value. If it costs a lot more and comes with 12 adapters for crap you don’t even own, then it’s not such a hot buy.

One of our favorite extra features is the inclusion on many battery packs of an LED flashlight. At first glance it seems pretty gimmicky, but we think it’s quite clever. You use battery packs most often when you’re traveling, and since you’ll likely have the battery pack in hand when you’re rooting around in your bag or luggage looking for cables and whatnot in an unfamiliar setting, that burst of light is more than handy. When our RAVPower external pack has a full charge, for example, the LED flashlight is good for a massive 800+ hours of use.

Another useful feature,with a much more practical application than a flashlight, is indicator lights. Both of our test models included LED indicators that, when the main button on the pack was tapped, displayed the remaining charge in a simple incremental display (the RAVPower used 4 LEDs and the Jackery used 3). On all but the smallest battery packs, don’t settle for anything but an effective remaining power indicator of some sort.

A Shopping Checklist for Your Convenience

Now that you’ve learned about the features you want in your battery pack, make sure you don’t forget them when you’re shopping. Use the following checklist to ensure you end up with a battery pack that meets your needs.

1. Write down your total mAh needs and multiply that value by the percentage you want to extend your battery life (0.5 for 50%, 1.0 for 100%, 1.5 for 150% and so on).

2. Write down how many devices you want to charge simultaneously; this is the minimum number of ports you need.

3. Note the number of high-draw devices you’ll be using (iPads, Kindle Fires, newer smartphones, all benefit from having a 2.1A charging port). When in doubt, error towards getting at least one 2.1A port.

4. What extras do you want? (Extra cables, on-board LED light, etc.)

With all that listed out, you won’t be lost in the sea of battery packs when you hit up the bursting-at-the-seams category on Amazon looking for the right mix of mAh, ports, and accessories.

Wikipedia's Date View

Wikipedia's Date View Keeps You Caught Up on Current Events

We've all had those busy weeks or months where we fall a little behind in keeping up with news. If you'd like to catch up on what's going on, Wikipedia has a fantastic "date view" that will summarize news in a specific time period.

Redditor blueridgemountain shares this handy tip: All you need to do is head to Wikipedia and search for a month and a year, such as "August 2013." You'll get a quick summary of major events on each day which are pretty easy to breeze through and click on if you want more detail. If you haven't been able to keep up with news, it's a nice way to quickly catch up on what's been going on.

Wikipedia's Date View Keeps You Caught Up on Current Events

Five Best Language Learning Tools

Five Best Language Learning Tools

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Learning a new language is difficult, which is why there's a huge market for tools and apps to help you do it. Some of them are really helpful and help you get up to speed quickly, others are a money sink. This week we're looking at five of the best, based on your nominations.

Anki

Anki, Japanese for "memorizing," is a flashcard program that's been around for years (as early as 2006, although it could very well have been initially developed before that). Because it's a flashcard style program, its focus is on memorization. It'll display you a word, phrase, image, or even play a sound, and then leave it to you to make the connection, repeat it, interpret it, and commit it to memory. Anki is great for languages, but it's also useful for studying equations, diagrams, names and faces, and more—its strength is in the fact that you can load it up with custom card sets depending on what it is you want to memorize. There are tons of shared decks available in the app that you can download and start memorizing right away.

Lifehacker reader Gabriel Wyner was tasked with learning four languages in the past few years for his career as an opera singer, and in the process… Read…

Anki is free (although donations to support the developer are accepted) and cross-platform (available for Windows, OS X, Linux/BSD, iOS, Android, and there's even a web client). If Anki seems familiar to you, it should: We've featured it before, in Gabriel Wyner's guide to how she learned four languages in a few years. It worked for her, and she shows you how she made it work so you can try it yourself.2

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Memrise

Memrise is a language learning program that extends beyond vocabulary and language to things like history and science, but at its core it's a flashcard-style program that's augmented with memory tricks, images, and other useful tools to make learning a new language easier. Its focus is largely on memorization, but it's also designed to help you have fun learning the language you're trying to pick up. Memrise gamifies the process a bit, awarding you points and reputation as you learn, and the opportunity to compete against other users while you learn and complete activities. If you're interested in seeing what you can learn before you sign up, you can browse some of their courses before you give it a try.

Memrise is free, web-based, and has iOS and Android apps so you can take your lessons on the go. Those of you who praised Memrise pointed out that it's free, fun, and even though it too has a focus on memorization and repetition, the courses are numerous and there are some really great ones to sign up for that will help you pick up a new language quickly. However, since the courses are largely crowdsourced, you have to make sure you find a great one.

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Duolingo

Duolingo takes a different approach to learning a new language than just memorizing words and phrases. Duolingo allows you to essentially learn a new language while translating sites on the web. Duolingo has language learning programs and lessons for its users, and as you take the lessons, you'll find yourself translating the web as you browse—effectively learning to read and speak the language you're interested in by looking at and hearing what native speakers are writing and saying. Of course, as with most programs you'll spend most of your time translating, seeing the language visually, and dictating. There are some speech exercises too though, although they're not the primary focus. Duolingo has courses in a handful of languages right now, which is a bit smaller than some of the other contenders, but the courses in those languages are incredibly complete. The courses are structured in a way like games as well—you earn skill points as you complete lessons, and if you make mistakes you lose "lives." If you lose too many, you'll have to re-take the lesson.

One of the coolest features about Duolingo is that it checks your progress as you go forward. It learns from where you make mistakes and which types of questions you have trouble with, and goes from there. It's completely free, available on the web, Android, and iOS, and it's earned a lot of praise. We've mentioned it before, and again when its mobile apps came out.

Duolingo is a fantastic new way to learn a new language for free—while also helping to translate the world wide web. The interactive lessons teach… Read…

Duolingo Teaches You a New Language on the Go

Android/iOS: Previously mentioned site Duolingo is one of the best tools for learning a new language, and today the company has rolled out a… Read…

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Pimsleur Method

The Pimsleur Method is an audio-based method that focuses on participation in speaking and sound exercises than strict memorization and flashcards. If you've ever seen a parody of someone learning a new language by listening to a tape that encourages them to parrot back phrases and words after a native speaker says them aloud, you're familiar with the Pimsleur Method. The method definitely has reading and vocabulary exercises, but it also focuses on speaking exercises and learning to speak a language aloud as well as learning to read one. Each exercise is about 30 minutes, where you speak phrases in the target language and your own language, and as new phrases and words are introduced, your memory is reinforced with older ones. Pimsleur is available in over 50 languages, has a massively long track record (going back to the 1960s), and has been used by individuals and large organizations to train people in new languages.

Pimsleur is a commercial product, so you should expect to pay for it. How much varies on the type of program you want to take, whether it's conversational or not, any added features, and so on. There are webapps and mobile apps designed to complement your lessons, too. You can grab a 30-minute lesson for free to see if it's the kind of thing that would work for you, and after that you have to pick a language and pay up. Even used in concert with some of the other methods in the roundup for vocabulary and reading, Pimsleur does well at teaching you to speak.

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Livemocha

Pore over self-study language lessons and practice chatting with other language enthusiasts at web site LiveMocha. If you need more individual… Read…

Livemocha is an extremely comprehensive language learning community and program, packed with native speakers (over 12 million people from close to 200 countries) and offering instruction in over 38 languages. It's relatively new, having launched in 2007, and much of its content is completely free. The approach is almost entirely web based, with live classes, conversations with native speakers, tutorial videos, and more all available right at your computer. You can even get private tutoring through Livemocha. Part of Livemocha's charm is that it encourages you to use the internet in the language you want to learn. The service also harnesses the power of social media to help you learn your target language as well. You learn from native speakers, are graded by other students who are fluent in the language you want to learn, and you can give back as much as you get.

Livemocha was recently acquired by Rosetta Stone, but that hasn't slowed it down. While the courses are incredibly complete, with dozens of hours of coursework available for each language, you can sign up for free and take a handful of lessons without paying anything. Eventually you'll hit a point where if you want to continue your lessons you'll have to open your wallet. Paying members shell out $99 per year, or $9.95 per month to unlock everything available. Individual courses can set you back $25 each, and if you use Livemocha's built-in credit system and help other people learn your language, you can unlock courses to take.

Five Best Language Learning Tools

Spontaneous Travel

Preparing for Spontaneous Travel

By EMILY BRENNAN

 

WHEN Sam Shank began HotelTonight, a last-minute hotel booking app, two years ago, he thought its typical user would be a business traveler in need of a place to lay her head.

HotelTonight

Sam Shank, founder of the HotelTonight app.

Turns out the app also appeals to impulse travelers, with some booking rooms at 2 a.m. for that night (or rather morning).

“They said, ‘Hey, instead of going home tonight, let’s do a hotel stay,’ ” Mr. Shank said. “That’s something we’ve set as a company goal: to make the world a more spontaneous place.” For revelers scrambling to make plans for New Year’s Eve, below are edited excerpts from a conversation with Mr. Shank on booking (very) last-minute travel. 

Q. A paradoxical question: how do you prepare in order to be ready for a spontaneous staycation?

A. I keep an overnight bag at my desk with a change of clothes, toiletries and a phone charger, just in case. On my iPhone there are a couple of must-have apps. Of course, HotelTonight. Sales go live every day at noon, and you can find discounts on high-end hotels or something more no-frills. There’s also GrubHub, which allows me to order food anytime to any hotel, if I want something different from room service. WillCall, an app for last-minute concert tickets, which is only in San Francisco, but it’s coming to Los Angeles and New York, too. And Score Big, a Web site that lets you get tickets to sporting events that night.

Q. What if you’re looking to explore a new city?

A. Good discounts on last-minute flights are hard to find because airlines make more money off targeting corporate customers and raising prices, but it’s possible. Pay attention to the e-fares from carriers like United or Delta that appear on Tuesdays. They’re reduced fares just for that upcoming weekend, and the destinations change every week, so it’s good if you have flexibility with where you want to go. Or do a road trip. There are so many great places within a couple hours of major cities. Napa Valley is a bit rainy this time of year, but the whole lifestyle — luxurious accommodations, incredible culinary scene, winemakers — that doesn’t change, and comes at a third of the price. Same for Newport, R.I., popular among our Boston users.

Q. Any tips for car rentals?

A. Getaround is a car-sharing site and app based in San Francisco, but it’s expanded now to Austin, Portland, San Diego. It’s like an Airbnb for automobiles. You not only save money, but you also could rent someone’s car that’s a lot more interesting than your run-of-the-mill airport rental.

Q. You’re in the new city. Now what do you do?

A. Foursquare is great for finding out what’s popular in a new city, or even your own city. Their recommendations are more trustworthy than other sites operating only on ratings and reviews. Foursquare’s looking at the number of people checking in to a place, and how often, the types of people, and how similar they are to you. You’re getting visitation data, not just review data.

They have a great international presence, too. When I was in London this summer, I looked on Foursquare for a bar near my hotel. Walked to this crazy little bar, tucked away in this tiny street in Chelsea. England was playing in the Euro soccer cup, this really tense game. It was this quintessential London experience, capped off by the fact that Prince Harry was in attendance.

4-in-1 Power Charger

4-in-1 Power Charger is ready to handle anything

When your phone, music player, tablet, or other devices need charging, you’re going to need to have a few different options available depending on where you are. You might want something that will plug into your car’s power socket, the wall, a USB port, or a 9-volt battery (if you’re desperate). Whatever situation you face, you never want your lifeline to be bricked, but you also don’t want to tote around 4 different charging options for several different devices.

If you want a end-all charger to take care of all your needs at once, then the 4-in-1 Charger might be of interest to you. It will let you choose your preferred method of charging, and is small enough to fit in your bag. The cord retracts when it’s not in use, so you also don’t have to worry about a tangled mess out of your bag. It will work with most all iPod and iPhones, as well as BlackBerry, Samsung, Motorola, Droid, Nokia devices, Digital Cameras, and more. It will cost around $40, and also comes with different adapter tips.

4-in-1 Power Charger is ready to handle anything - The Red Ferret Journal