The latest information on mobile batteries is now essential for hikers
Over the past few years, the use of digital devices outdoors has become common knowledge, and it's hard to find people who don't have one anymore. With smartphones, smartwatches, GPS devices, rechargeable headlamps and digital cameras, we are now able to stay more comfortable and safe (between the good and bad) in harsh and dangerous outdoor environments than ever before.
The more electronic devices, the more trouble the battery becomes. If you go on a mountain hike for more than one night, you will inevitably run out of electricity from the second day onwards, so preparing a spare battery is essential. In the past, spare batteries were simply prepared for each device, but nowadays most of the gadgets are rechargeable with the same USB port, so carrying a mobile battery is a smart choice. With one simple charging device that can now be found at convenience stores, you can usually cover all of the electronic devices mentioned earlier.
However, the many mobile batteries in the world are from poor quality to high-performance models, including performance, capacity, and features, and in reality, everything from pins to fine-tuned models. Of course, everything is fine to choose a model that can be used properly in a special outdoor environment, so you need to keep in mind a few points in order to avoid regretting buying one.
So this time, I actually purchased items that I thought were "this" from the mobile batteries that feature the latest models every year, and used them for hard activities such as mountain climbing. As a result, we will introduce some seriously recommended models that were convenient and safe to use, and in the second half we will explain the points you should check when choosing the best mobile battery.
table of contents
- [By category] Recommended mobile batteries for mountaineering this season
- Recommended 1: ELECOM NESTOUT DE-NEST-10000BE
- Recommended 2: Goal Zero Venture 35 Power Bank
- Recommended 3: Tama Electronics Coleman CLM-TLP122UCAZ
- Recommended 4 (Extra Cost Performance Category): Powerness U36 Mobile Battery
- [Reference] List of specs of outdoor mobile battery candidates tested this time
- How to choose: 6 tips to choose an outdoor mobile battery wisely
- Point 1: We recommend a model with a battery capacity of about 10,000 mAh
- Point 2: Charging speed (output/input) ~The USB PD (USB Power Delivery) standard is essential~
- Point 3: Waterproof, dustproof, impact resistant, and compatible temperature range
- Point 4: Weight and size
- Point 5: Interface types and number
- summary
[By category] Recommended mobile batteries for mountaineering this season
Recommended 1: ELECOM NESTOUT DE-NEST-10000BE
Favorite points
- Lightweight and compact
- Fast charging of devices with USB Power Delivery
- Fast charging of the battery itself
- IP67 waterproof and dustproof and excellent impact resistance
A shameful point
- For better or worse, there are no extra features
- Few terminals (USB A x 1, USB C x 1)
Recommended 2: Goal Zero Venture 35 Power Bank
Favorite points
- IP67 waterproof and dustproof and excellent impact resistance
- compact
- Fast charging of devices with USB Power Delivery
- Fast charging of the battery itself
- A wide range of terminals including USB C x 1 and USB A x 2
- Comes with LED light
A shameful point
- It's a bit heavy
- A little expensive
Recommended 3: Tama Electronics Coleman CLM-TLP122UCAZ
Favorite points
- Thin and lightweight compact
- Fast charging of devices with USB Power Delivery
- IP67 waterproof and dustproof (slightly resistant to impact)
- Carabiner and carabiner hole included
- Comes with LED light
A shameful point
- Few terminals (USB A x 1, USB C x 1)
- The temperature range supported is slightly narrower (5℃～35℃）
Recommended 4 (Extra Cost Performance Category): Powerness U36 Mobile Battery
Favorite points
- Amazing cost performance
- Lightweight and compact
- Fast charging of devices with USB Power Delivery
- IP67 waterproof and dustproof and excellent impact resistance
- Carabiner and carabiner hole included
- Comes with LED lantern
A shameful point
- Customer support is a bit uncertain
- Few terminals (USB A x 1, USB C x 1)
[Reference] List of specs of outdoor mobile battery candidates tested this time
| kinds | ANKER PowerCore Solar 10000 | BUFFALO BMPB10000WPBK | Goal Zero Venture 35 Power Bank | INOVA 3R-BTC04BK | LUMENA LUMENA II | ELECOM NESTOUT DE-NEST-10000BE | Powerness U36 Mobile Battery | Tama Electronics Coleman CLM-TLP122UCAZ |
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| Size (mm) | 164×78×20 | 121×68×27 | 112×68×28 | 166×82×20.5 | 129×75×22.7 | 126×61×36 | 97×97×28 | 142×72×18 |
| Weight (g) | 267 | 272 | 286.9 | 375 | Approximately 280 | 241 | 275 | 253 |
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| input | DC5.0V/2.1A | DC5.0V/2.0A | Maximum 18W, 5-12V, Maximum 3A | DC5V/2A (microUSB) | 5V/2.4A | 5V/3A, 9V/2A maximum 18W |
PD18W (5V/3A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A) | 5V/3A, 9V/2A maximum 18W |
| USB PD | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ||||
| Specification capacity (mAh) | 10,000 | 10,050 | 9,600 | 16,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,050 | 10,000 |
| Charging time (approximate) | Approximately 5.5 hours | Approximately 6.9 hours | Approximately 3 hours | 10 hours *When using DC5V/2A AC adapter (sold separately) | 5 hours *5V/2.4A | 2 hours 45 minutes *If you use an AC charger with USB PD 18W or higher | Approximately 3 hours (when using an AC charger with DC9V/2A Type-C PD function) | Approximately 4 hours at the earliest |
| Operating temperature range (approximately) | 0℃～55℃ | 10℃～40℃ | 0～45℃ | ？ | 0℃～40℃ | 0～40℃ | -10～60℃ | 5℃～35℃ |
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| Waterproof and dustproof functions | IP64 | IP65 | IP67 | IP67 | IP67 | IP67 | IP67 | IP67 |
| Shock resistance | US MIL Standards | ◯ | △ | △ | ◯ | ◯ | △ | |
| Solar charging | ◯ | ◯ | ||||||
| Light Lantern | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | |
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How to choose: 6 tips to choose an outdoor mobile battery wisely
Point 1: We recommend a model with a battery capacity of about 10,000 mAh
When preparing a mobile battery, the first thing you need to decide is how much battery capacity you should bring.
Battery capacity is generally the total amount of electrical energy that a battery can store, and can be expressed in units of milliamp hour
This number is similar to the size of a fuel tank in a car, and of course, the larger the number, the more power it has (it can run longer), and even devices that require more power can be fully charged. However, if the capacity is large, it is not all right, and the physically heavy and tends to become larger, and the price will also become more expensive, so you need to consider the balance between these.
Now that you understand the concept of battery capacity, we will now explain how to consider how much capacity size is best.
we recommend a model with a catalog display value of around 10,000 mAh , which is the perfect battery capacity for a trip of 1-2 nights . It's a bit more heavy than that. If you're only able to carry your smartphone on a short trip up to about one night, or if you want to carry it as a backup (you want to prioritize ease of portability), around 5,000 mAh may be fine. Incidentally, to cover long trips that exceed three nights with just a mobile battery, a larger, heavier model is required, and in this case, we recommend using it in conjunction with a solar charger.
To find out the battery capacity you need, first measure the total battery capacity of the device you are carrying.
The battery capacity required for mountain hiking depends simply on the total battery capacity of the device you carry.
For example, in the past, the battery capacity of the iPhone 6 was about 1,800 mAh. Nowadays, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is more than twice as high as 4,000 mAh. The Pixel 6 pro for Android smartphones costs around 5,000 mAh. The GoPro HERO11 Black, a representative action camera model, also has a battery capacity of 1,720mAh. The insta360 X3, a 360° camera, is 1,800 mAh. The original battery of the SONY α7 III mirrorless digital camera is 2,280 mAh. In this way, to fully charge one electronic device at present, it requires a minimum of about 2,000, and a large capacity of 5,000 mAh.
It's not like we used to think about just charging your smartphone, but now that we've started carrying around many electronic devices, such as smartphones, digital cameras, smartwatches, and headlamps, we naturally need capacity to cover all of these.
By the way, if I list (and so many) the devices I need to charge on my overnight mountain hiking, it looks like this.
- Smartphone "Google Pixel 6 pro"...5,000 mAh
- Smartwatch "Garmin fēnix 6X Pro": 500 mAh or less (estimated)
- Headlamp "Black Diamond Revolt 350"...1,800 mAh
- Camera "SONY α7 III"... 2,280 mAh
- Gopro and other video camera "insta360 X3"...1,800 mAh
Just a quick look at this, there are so many electronic devices that need to be charged. That total amounted to 11,383 mAh! . Of course, not all of these require 100% charging every day, so even if you take that into consideration, 5,000 mAh is definitely not enough...
So, what you should be careful about with mobile batteries is that "a mobile battery with a capacity of 10,000 Ah cannot be in line with peace of mind."
Never be fooled by specs, how to calculate the actual battery capacity and the required capacity
With mobile batteries, for example, "it's wrong to calculate that a 1,000 mAh device can be charged twice with a 2,000 mAh spec battery" (it's not really enough).
In fact, with a 2,000 mAh mobile battery, the maximum number of times a 1,000 mAh device can be charged is about 1.4 times, although there may be slight differences depending on the manufacturer and product. The reason why this happens is due to two factors:
- Lower output capacity due to boosting
- Power consumption of the mobile battery itself
To put it as closely as possible to the science-oriented people's delinquents, the output voltage of the lithium-ion battery (battery cell) installed in mobile batteries is 3.7V. In contrast, the USB port voltage is 5.0V. When charging a device, it is absolutely necessary to convert this 3.7V to 5.0V, which is the procedure called "boost" from 3.7V to 5.0V. At this time, according to the calculation formula "3.7 / 5.0 = 0.74", the ability that was at 3.7V output is 74% at 5.0 output. , the first reality is that the amount of energy a mobile battery can actually be charged will be 74% of its spec capacity, no matter how hard you try
Another thing is that during this conversion, some power loss occurs. It also requires a variety of other power to ensure that the mobile battery operates properly. The power consumption of the mobile battery itself is also used within the overall capacity, so if you put it all together, the reality is that the capacity that a mobile battery can actually charge is only 60 to 70% of its nominal value
Surprisingly, the manufacturers have not explained this at all properly. For slightly more reasonable manufacturers, when displaying "Can charge smartphones ◯ times", they quietly state the actual number of times they can be charged (although many of them do not list the battery capacity of the smartphone, which is the standard), but when a terrible manufacturer comes from a terrible manufacturer, they even state the value simply divided by dividing the theoretical value in terms of the specs as the number of times they can be charged (for example, an iPhone 11 with a 10,000 mAh of approximately 3,000 mAh can be charged 3.3 times). In any case, the user must take into consideration this inconvenient truth.
How to calculate the best capacity for you
For these reasons, when estimating the actual charging capacity of a mobile battery before purchasing, we recommend multiplying the spec display capacity by 66% To determine the battery capacity appropriate for you, you can use the following steps to calculate it:
- Aggregates the amount of mAh consumed per day for each device you bring with you.
- Multiply this number by the number of nights you have on the mountain hike (or the number of charges you have to replenish your supplies).
- Divide the number shown in 2 by 0.66 to calculate the required capacity (mAh value shown in the specs).
Example: How much battery capacity is required to charge your smartphone (5,000 mAh) and smartwatch (500 mAh) on a one-night hike?
(5,000 + 500) mAh × 1 night / 0.66 = 8,333 mAh
Incidentally, if you charge all the devices listed above to 100%, the total is 11,383 mAh, but in reality, about 60 to 70% of that would be sufficient, so 7,000 / 0.66 = about 10,000 mAh (one night hiking).
Point 2: Charging speed (output/input) ~The USB PD (USB Power Delivery) standard is essential~
Conditions for high output and quick charging
Even if the battery has enough capacity, once you connect it and charge it, it still keeps charging and it gets annoyed. Have you ever had that kind of experience?
To prevent this from happening, it is also important to check the "charging speed (= output)" performance when a mobile battery charges the device, which is also important when choosing a product that does not fail. Generally, the charging speed of a mobile battery is determined by the magnitude of power expressed in the unit "watts (W)" and is calculated by multiplying the current and voltage, as expressed in the formula below.
Power (W) = Voltage (V) × Current (A)
In other words, if the voltage (V) and current (A) are large, the output power (W) is also large.
The voltage and current values that can be selected when charging are selected according to the performance of each device, such as the minimum and maximum output allowed, and the specified standards, which determines the output power (= charging speed).
With the increase in functionality of electronic devices over the past few years, battery capacity has been increasing, and demand for fast charging has also increased year by year, with the rise in demand for fast charging, and technology for high-power and fast charging for mobile batteries being advanced year by year. In this context, as of 2022, a standard called "USB Power Delivery" is a good technology you should definitely know. When considering a mobile battery, we strongly recommend that you choose a device that complies with this standard.
This content becomes too complicated if you mention detailed rules and exceptions, so I will only explain the outline that is necessary, but "USB PD" is a standard related to USB Type-C (connector/cable) developed by a standardization organization for USB related specifications, and allows for much higher output charging than traditional USB (Micro-USB) connections (Type A and B). Unlike the original standards of each manufacturer up until recently, it is highly compatible between devices, and is a standard that is likely to become even more common in the future. The exterior features of the USB PD standard are that each device's terminals (connectors) are "USB Type-C" type, and both ends use USB Type-C cables to charge with USB PD (although only one of the devices still has a Lightning terminal).
Furthermore, what you should be careful about charging speeds, not just USB PDs, no matter how high the power of the mobile battery is, it is not necessarily possible to charge it at high speed . The reason is that whether or not it can be charged at high speed : in addition to the performance of the battery, the device performance of the receiver, and the performance of the cable that connects them
Three conditions for determining the charging speed
- Output performance of mobile battery
- Output performance of receiver device
- Cable output performance
Also, if you have multiple charging ports (USB ports) and you are charging two or more units at the same time, it should be noted that the output value for each is limited and individual charges will be much slower than normal. If you have two tablets that require high power, you need to be prepared because charging will be irritatingly slow.
The USB PD (USB Power Delivery) standard is also the fastest charging speed for the mobile battery itself.
Just like the charging speed from a mobile battery to a device, the charging speed from the mobile battery itself also varies depending on the connector specifications. If you want to charge faster, the current optimal solution is to charge using a USB Type-C terminal that supports USB PD. This will speed up the charging time, which previously took more than 5 hours at 10,000 mAh, to within 3 hours (it is a major premise that you are using a compatible cable as well). It may not be very helpful for those who can recharge at home every time, but it is important for through-hikers who want to save as little time as they spend in town to replenish supplies.
Point 3: Waterproof, dustproof, impact resistant, and compatible temperature range
In the outdoors, there are various risks that you can't imagine in normal life, such as dust, rain, snow, extreme heat and cold, submerged water or falling to the ground. Therefore, the more people who take them to a more hard field, if they do not deal with this risk seriously and take measures, they will suffer in the event of an emergency. For this reason, we recommend choosing a model that is suitable for outdoor use and has robustness to the external environment.
Waterproof and dustproof
First, an objective indicator of the battery's strength to dust and flooding is called the "IP protection grade." This is an example that is also displayed on headlamps. If you're looking for a model that can withstand bad weather, then an IP67 grade or higher is the ideal model. At this time, "67" completely prevents dust from entering, and even if it is submerged slightly, it will not be harmful to it, so if you get hit by the rain, it will never be ok to drop it into the river.
Shock resistance
There are no objective indicators for impact resistance that are common to all over the world (even if they are, such as the US military MIL standard), but we recommend choosing a model that is structured to mitigate impacts and that in some way it is advertised as "shock resistance."
Supported temperature range
Finally, you need to be a little careful about the "corresponding temperature range." Most mobile batteries are now made of lithium-ion batteries, and although there are minor differences, the safe operating temperature during discharge is said to be around 5°C to 45°C (I'm sure many people have experienced the battery run out of iPhones at cold ski resorts). As far as I have looked into this time, there is some strength, but there seems to be no model of a typical product that guarantees safe operation in sub-zero or extreme heat. For this reason, it is likely that it will not work properly in extreme hot sun or heat conditions, so it is highly likely that it will not work properly, and it is necessary to take measures such as putting it in your clothes or sleeping bag to ensure that the temperature is as high as possible
Point 4: Weight and size
Mobile batteries are quite heavy, so they are naturally lighter and more compact, but if you try to secure charging capacity, both the weight and volume will inevitably increase, so it is important to find the optimal balance. Furthermore, waterproof, dustproof, and impact-resistant models tend to be bulky compared to models with the same power capacity, so you should try to choose a model that is as light as possible, with the capacity and robustness required.
Point 5: Interface types and number
Until now, most mobile batteries have only a USB or Micro USB port for charging, but more recent models have come with a USB Type-C port, which is used in many smartphones these days. Those considering purchasing this in the future should not hesitate to choose a model with this USB C port (the reason is that, as I explained a lot earlier, it comes with a USB PD that allows for fast charging).
There is also a weakness in the number of terminals that slows down if you charge multiple devices at the same time, but there are often times when you want to charge multiple devices while you sleep, so it is best to use a model with two or more ports as much as you need.
summary
Mobile batteries, which are peripheral devices for smartphones and tablets, are full of suspicious products from unconventional manufacturers, and I couldn't find a list of products that are truly "usable" outdoors, so I made them. In this world, it is no longer possible to say that it is safe if it is made in Japan or if it is this manufacturer, and the products featured here are all of the products that have actually been used in the field, so please take a look at them along with tips on how to choose them. So have a wonderful mountain trip.
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