Anker Astro E5 15000mAh Power Bank – External Battery Review

Portable External Battery Review

Most of today’s smartphones are big on high tech specifications but suck when it comes to what matters most; Long Lasting Battery Life. Hunting for a power outlet every 8 hours of the day can be annoying, thus the need for power banks. Power Banks are simply external batteries which enable us charge our mobile devices on the go without the need of a wall charger or power outlet. They are generally portable and easy to carry around. Their portability goes down as the size of their capacity increases.

This is my review of the Anker Astro E5 Power Bank which I’ve been using for close to a month now. It’s one of the most popular power banks in the market right now and is made with Samsung Grade A cells and premium microchips. It supports charging the iPhone 5 (Apple adapters not included), 4S, 4, iPad 4, 3, 2, Mini, iPods, Samsung Galaxy S4, S3, S2, Note 2, Note 8, Tab 3; HTC One, EVO, Thunderbolt, Incredible, Droid DNA, Motorola ATRIX, Droid, Google Glass, Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, LG Optimus and More – Black

The device costs just $50 via Amazon.com

NOTE: The Astro E5 cannot charge your laptop / netbook

Anker Astro E5 Product Specifications

  1. Capacity: 15000mAh / 3.7V
  2. Output 1: 5V / 1A (max)
  3. Output 2: 5V / 2A (max)
  4. Cycling Time: 500 times or more
  5. Weight: 316g / 11.1.oz
  6. Input: 5V/1.5A
  7. Input Charging Rate: 1500mAh/h

 

Astro E5 Unboxing Images

The device ships with a USB charging cable, free carrying pouch, Warranty and Manual booklets as you can see below. No wall adapter is included so you have to get yours

Astro E5 Retail Packaging and Accesories

 

The power button is right at the top of the device with 4 LED lights that drain from left to right and charge from right to left.

Astro E5 Overview

 

It comes with 2A and 1A rating charging outlets depending on the charging rate your device supports. In between the charging ports is an emergency flashlight of sorts.

Astro E5 Output Charging Ports

 

And here you have the input port for charging the Anker Astro E5

Astro E5 Input Charging Port

 

 

IMG_20131082

 

Operating The Astro E5 External Battery Device

  1. Push the power button once to turn it on.
  2. Push the power button twice rapidly to turn on the flashlight. Do so again to turn it off
  3. Whilst on, push and hold the power button for a few seconds to shut down the power bank. NOTE: The Astro E5 powers off on its own once it’s done charging your devices.
  4. I highly recommend using a 2A power adapter to charge the device. Doing so assures you of a full charge from 0 – 100% in roughly 7 hours 10 minutes

Real Life Usage Pattern of the Anker Astro E5

Anker keeps things in perspective by letting end users know that they can only make use of 70% of the Astro E5’s huge 15000mAh capacity as 30% of it is lost to circuit heat and voltage conversion. To test their claim, I decided to charge my devices strictly with the power bank.

I made use of the following devices in Airplane Mode

  1. Samsung Galaxy Note 2: With a 3,100mAh battery capacity, I assumed 1% of charge = 31mAh
  2. Samsung Galaxy Note 8: With a 4,600mAh battery capacity, I assumed 1% of charge = 46mAh
  3. BlackBerry Z10: With a 1,800mAh battery capacity, I assumed 1% of charge = 18mAh

After the first full charge – discharge cycle (like 4 weeks ago), I got the following result

  1. Samsung Galaxy Note 2 charged up to a total of 178% x 31mAh = 5,518mAh
  2. Samsung Galaxy Note 8 charged up to a total of 71% x 46mAh = 3,266mAh
  3. BlackBerry Z10 charged up to a total of 119% x 18mAh = 2,142mAh

Total capacity used up: 10, 926mAh. That is 426mAh above the assured 70% user available capacity.

I ran a final test yesterday with the break down as follows

  1. Samsung Galaxy Note 2 charged up to a total of 166% x 31mAh = 5,146mAh
  2. Samsung Galaxy Note 8 charged up to a total of 41% x 46mAh = 1,886mAh
  3. BlackBerry Z10 charged up to a total of 209% x 18mAh = 3,762mAh

Total capacity used up: 10, 794mAh. That is 294mAh above the assured 70% user available capacity.

 

Bugs Noticed While Using The Anker Astro E5

  1. The LED light sometimes jumps around i.e. from 3 lit LED to 2 lit LED and then back to 3 lit LED
  2. If the power bank is completely drained, when plugged in to charge, it auto powers on the flashlight
  3. I noticed that sometimes charging from port 2A was somewhat of slow. Don’t know if the Astro E5 is too blame or if my mobile gadget is.
  4. Charging devices switched off can lead to unnecessary loss of power. At one time I had my Note 8 plugged in like forever and the charge bar still wouldn’t move. Recommendation: always charge your devices switched on and in airplane mode for faster charging.
  5. The Anker Astro E5 supports charging two devices at the same time BUT when you plug the two devices in at the same time, the power bank shuts down after a few minutes. Fix: Plug the first gadget in, wait a few minutes then plug in the second gadget.
  6. Sometimes your device can hang at 100% without ever showing charge complete. Fix: Disconnect your device and switch off the Astro E5 once your device hits 100%

Well guys, there you have it as promised earlier this week. Feel free to leave your questions and comments on this review of the Anker Astro E5 External Battery Power Bank.

Don’t forget to share either Winking smile

Have a great weekend!

CLICK TO PURCHASE THE ANKER ASTRO E5

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