Product suggestion: AA/NiMH Powercore

#1

One of the things I have been longing to see is a properly done alkaline/rechargeable powered powercore pack using AA sizes batteries instead of lithium ion internal packs. There’s many reasons I can think this would be helpful:

-For emergency kits, this would provide a solution to charge your phone from either disposable alkaline, or if you carry NiMH technology batteries, save money by using those as needed.
-Ability to charge via USB would mean it is interoperable with other Anker products, including the Powerport Solar.

The competitors in this arena really don’t offer quality products in this field. Build quality is poor, charge controllers for both the NiMH and USB outputs are mediocre and unoptimized, and competing products are stagnant, only being offered from off the wall Chinese rebrands.

Anker has the opportunity to design and develop a solid product within these goals that can compete favorably in the market, and especially to camping, survival, or rechargeable battery users. Anker’s tested IQ charging circuitry would mean peace of mind and confidence in the output specifications of the device, and the build quality we have all come to know and love would be more than welcome compared to others in the market.

I think Anker should do this. I’d buy one!

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#2

If my old memory serves me right, Duracell used to do/still do a recharger for mobile phones powered by 2 AA batteries. Obvs I’d you use high powered rechargeable batteries, then you’d save money on replacing the batteries, but buying the kit initially, would cost more than your average 7.5k power pack, run on lithium cells.

#3

AA is typically 2.6Wh a typical 18650 as used by Anker is about 4x that 10Wh.

The energy density of lithium ion is higher than alkaline.

I used to use NiMh heavily such as in a Duracell 2AA to make USB 5V with DC-DC boost converter, and before that 4 AA no conversion. But once Lithium ion and then Anker came out I stopped due to cost and size.

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#4

Oh yeah, the energy density of Lithium Ion is definitely superior, but that doesn’t subtract from the usefulness of a AA powered pack, especially for certain kit compositions of the end user.

For comparison, an iPhone 6 basic edition has a 1810 mAh internal battery at 3.82v. That would be an energy rating of 6.8 Wh. A four-AA pack would have an eenergy rating between 9.6 and 15.6 Wh, depending on your boost conversion efficiency and whether you are using NiMH or alkaline. That makes this concept absolutely plausible considering you would get 1-2 phone recharges out of the thing, plus the option of instantaneous recharge by just putting in more batteries.

I am aware of the Duracell, Verbatim, and GoalZero competitors to this product idea, but honestly, I trust Anker’s engineering of USB outputs more than other brands.

Also, I wouldn’t worry too much about whether the cost of this particular product was higher than other Powercore devices… you are talking about a company whose flagship power solution is a $500 behemoth, after all… :slight_smile:

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