For me it means less time waiting for my phone to charge. Say you are a student or someone who is out and about all day. Do you use the portable charger? Do you feel like it makes life easier? It’s like a KeySmart. Makes life more organized.
How has Anker improved you life/lifestyle?
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Being able to charge on the go is certainly nice. I’ve had power packs for years, but the ones I used to buy were nowhere near the quality that Anker provides - often at the same or lower prices!
I’m just waiting for a version of the PowerCore 26800 that will supply power via USB-C to my small laptop (XPS13) and then I will be all set!
I posted on another thread about possible products and a solar backpack was one of the things I posted. I can see a backpack with solar panels to keep charged or charge the battery when out and about. Like for example if you are at the airport and your flight is delayed, finding a receptical can be challenging especially around the holidays. The power core is nice for the phone ect. But a portable charger for a laptop would probably help finish reports or a paper.
I have a USB-C Pixel C. Yes I know the higher power USB-C need a lot of juice but have you thought of a defensive approach which is to plug in say the Powercore 26800 proactively to slow down the drain of the internal battery of your laptop? You get the same end effect on total laptop usage time.
They released the USB-C Power Delivery battery but ironically, when you are thinking defensively it is WORSE than the Powercore 26800 as look at its input it would take longer to charge as its input is 2.4A vs input on the 26800 is 4A
So in the defensive approach you dont wait, if you’re near mains power you use it so youd be recharging your external battery and want it to ingest power as rapidly as possible, and same with your laptop, then when youre away from mains power you would plug in the external battery as early as youre capable like when say down stationary.
I’d not say Anker specifically uniquely improved life/lifestyle but the general trend towards USB has helped lighten my load and helped get more quality time.
So if I imagine say 10 years ago I’d have to carry a laptop, its brick, a mobile and usually a 4-AA external NiMh phone charger with some spare charged AA batteries. Overall the total volume weight would be quite a lot. Laptop battery might say 2 hours. If I wanted more its a large heavy spare laptop battery.
Now I can go for days away with probably half or less than I did 10 years ago as say my Compaq or Thinkpad Windows XP laptop is now a Android tablet with USB-C a BT keyboard USB2, with a mobile USB-C/USB2 and a couple of batteries which are really palm sized and lighter for their capacity. I would carry one charger now say the Powerport5 USB-C and a backup in case it fails like a Powerport2.
What that allows me to do is for example walk through airports quicker, or work for longer in periods and places I would struggle 10 years earlier. That doesnt mean I work harder, means I work smarter and so get more time to do other things. I dont NEED to sit near a mains plug at a terminal getting a numb-bum sat on the ground, no I might have plugged a USB battery into the plug and I sit in sight of it in a seat.
I can now fit everything I need for an indefinitely long trip in a small backpack which fits under any seat or any type of aircraft and I walk and bike around easier with the tech in a small bag,
For time waiting… well I use the defensive method.
And I do math on power in power out size weight capacities, and compute what I need.
Having the Car Jump Starter makes my life much easier, it has a flashlight, jumps my car and has 2 USB ports to charge my devices.
how often does your car need a jump start?
In our family’s case 3 cars and we needed it once in the last decade.
I have people in my life that leave vanity lights on, doors ajar and the batteries end up going dead quite quickly.
faster charging, charging on the go, nice cables… all at a great price
Solar backpacks…
I think new materials, coatings, so you can make electricity without weight will be required, currently the weight of solar, given you’d want basically top and 3 sides all to have solar so you get charging from every direction of sun, is going to be such a huge weight that most who carry weight on their back will just prefer to do without. We’d need it to be be near nil weight which is waiting for true science innovation.
There are solar backpacks already. A couple of examples here and here
If you ever look at measurements of solar power with strength and direction of sun you’ll see that a solar panel pointed other than almost directly at the sun gives a lot less power. So what most who do solar do is either a base camp concept of leave an unfolded solar panel pointed tilted to the latitude and south propped against say a rock/tree and a longish USB cable to a large battery kept away in shade to be as cool as possible (heat destroys batteries life). Or they have one they unfold and point to sun at stops so they carry the least weight and gain the most power.
Solar can be practical but its niche, gimmicky mostly, still.