Power banks are becoming more common because of the short battery lives of smartphones. They are able to last for days without requiring a recharge.
And are able to power your smartphone or other devices at any time. That’s what makes power banks so great.
Being able to provide your smartphone with extra power when you need it the most.
Especially if it has gone dangerously low and there are no power supplies around. Some even have the option to fast-charge your devices.
How long do power banks last?
Just like other devices power banks have their lifespan. How long a power bank lasts depends on the quality, how often you use it and the battery capacity.
How Long Do Power Banks Last?
Just like smartphones and laptop batteries have a number of charge-discharge cycles. Power banks also have their number of charge-discharge cycles before it becomes useless or loses their capacity.
The number of charge-discharge cycles varies amongst power banks. Charge-discharge cycles can be somewhere between 300 – 1000 cycles depending on the brand and battery capacity.
A cycle is consumed when you use a power bank from 100 to 0 per cent and charge it back up to 100 per cent. But, consuming a cycle is not as simple as that.
A cycle is also consumed when you use it from 0 to 50 per cent twice, 0 to 33 per cent thrice and 0 to 25 per cent four times.
How you often charge and use a power bank determines how quickly you consume a cycle.
Power banks that are of better quality and high battery capacity tend to last longer.
Power banks of poor quality or small battery capacities don’t tend to last long.
The smaller the battery capacity the faster you go through the charge-discharge cycles.
Because you will be charging it frequently. On average, a good power bank is able to last for 3 years. And can hold a full charge for 4 to 6 months with minimal loss in power.
For example, a power bank might have a battery capacity of 10000mAH with 800 charge-discharge cycles. If you charge your power bank every 4 days.
It will take 1200 days or three and a half years before it becomes entirely useless or not able to hold a charge.
So for every cycle that gets used up. The performance of the power bank was slight gets reduced.
That’s why old smartphones have poor battery lives because of the loss in performance.
How Many Times Can You Recharge A Power Bank?
As mentioned earlier, the number of times you can charge a power bank is entirely dependent on its cycle. Charging a power bank from 0 to 10 per cent once a day.
It is going to take forever to go through its cycles. The number of times you can recharge a power bank is not important. But, what is important are:
- Has sufficient battery capacity
- Can charge multiple devices
- Has fast-charging capabilities
- High quality
These are things you should look out for in getting a power bank. Especially, it being of high quality.
A high-quality power bank with sufficient battery capacity is going to last quite a while. Also, one thing you should know is that.
Don’t ever leave your power bank fully discharged or dead for a long period of time. The same applies to your smartphone, laptop or any device that uses a battery.
How To Maintain A Power Bank
So you have got a power bank and plan to use it as long as possible. Here are some good practices you can follow to maximize the lifespan of your power bank.
Don’t Let Your Power Bank Discharge To 0%
Completely letting your power bank discharge to 0 per cent quickly damages it. It’s fine if you rarely do that. But, always letting it run to 0 per cent will greatly shorten its lifespan.
In addition to that, it quickly depletes the original charge capacity of the power bank. Also, don’t leave it completely empty for long periods of time.
When you return from a long trip charge it to 50 per cent and store it. This makes sure the battery is still alive and can be used for the next trip.
Let Your Power Bank Charge Your Smartphone To 80% or 90%
Because it’s going to take much more energy to charge your smartphone from 90 per cent to 100 per cent.
Because the power bank will spend more energy and time overall than charging from 0 per cent to 75 per cent battery power.
You can take a look at the graph above. It takes less time to charge it from 0 per cent to 80 per cent.
And more time charging it from 80 per cent to 100 per cent. This is because the voltage reaches a constant value and the charge current slowly drops over time.
The best practice is to let your power bank charge your smartphone up to 80 per cent.
Don’t Expose Your Power Bank To High or Low Temperatures
Batteries don’t do well in high or low temperatures. Exposing them to such temperatures greatly reduces their battery life.
High temperatures increase the resistance in power banks which in turn generates more heat.
This heat can slowly destroy the power bank circuitry and render it useless. It also reduces the power of bank charge capacity.
The same applies to low temperatures. Always make sure your power bank works at cool temperatures.
How Long Does a 10000mAh Power Bank Last?
In terms of charging your smartphone or other devices, it depends on the amount of current or power that’s being drained from the battery. The discharge rate varies depends heavily on that.
For example, if you charging your smartphone with a 10000mAh power bank that has a discharge rate of 500mA. It will take about 20 hours for the power bank to be depleted.
When it comes to charging a power bank. Most power banks have 2A at 5W as their input standard.
So to get how long it takes to charge a 10000mAh power bank.
Hours = Powerbank capacity (mAh)/(A * 1000)
10000 mAh/(2 * 1000) = 5 hours.
This figure may vary depending on whether the power bank has fast charging capabilities, the charger provides a lot of current, etc.
How Long Does a 20000mAh Power Bank Last?
In terms of charging your smartphone or other devices, it depends on the amount of current or power that’s being drained from the battery. The discharge rate varies depending heavily on that.
For example, if you charging your smartphone with a 20000mAh power bank that has a discharge rate of 1000mA. It will take about 20 hours for the power bank to be depleted.
When it comes to charging a power bank. Most power banks have 2A at 5W as their input standard.
So to get how long it takes to charge a 20000mAh power bank.
Hours = Powerbank capacity (mAh)/(A * 1000)
20000 mAh/(2 * 1000) = 10 hours.
This figure may vary depending on whether the power bank has fast charging capabilities, the charger provides a lot of current, etc.
Final Thoughts
Power banks start to show their age when they aren’t able to charge your devices well anymore. They also start to lose their battery charge capacity.
Depending on how good you take care of it. A good power bank might last you about 2 -3 years.
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