How Pass Through Charging Lets You Use Power Banks In Creative Ways
When movies imagine the future, they fall into two broad categories: sleek and cyberpunk. Sleek is the Star Trek model, where everything is almost obsessively cleanly and the technology is miniature, powerful and self-contained. You seldom see how the communication devices attached to their lapels are charged between uses, for example, or pilots worrying whether they have enough to power to keep their music going through a long interstellar trip. Cyberpunk tech on the other hand is modular, jerry-rigged, various parts slapped together to enhance functionality. The reality of tech falls somewhere between these poles. Our subject today, keeping power banks charged, is an apt example.
Pass Through Charging
One of our most popular posts last year looked at pass through charging. In a nutshell, pass through charging is when you charge your power bank via a wall outlet or secondary device, while simultaneously charging other devices connected to the bank. What’s being passed through, in this scenario, is electricity. Our previous post on keeping power banks charged explains:
“Pass through technology… is in essence a series of power regulating circuits inside a power back that helps match the draw of energy needed by an output device to the amps being pulled from a wall outlet. If done right, pass through will move power directly from the wall outlet to the connected device, via the power bank. This is called prioritization. Depending on load balancing performance in the power bank, the latter should charge at either a regular or slower speed than normal when working with an output device.”
Now, you may rightly be asking yourself why someone with access to an outlet would continue charging their devices through the power bank when they could just plug into the wall directly. And you’d be correct: if you have enough outlets (or a power bar) and enough wall adapters for each device, then you’re better off “passing” on pass through charging.
However, there are plenty of scenarios where this might not be feasible: if you only have access to a single outlet, at a coffee shop for example, you may need to get creative. You may also only have USB/Lightning cables to connect to the bank, but no adapters.
How Does The Tech Keep Your Power Bank Charged Safely?
Pass through charging is not entirely without risk to your devices. Excess heat is battery kryptonite, which is why Rav engineers have taken such pains to develop chips that can regulate temperature by manipulating energy intake. The longer something takes to charge, the more at risk it is of building up damaging heat. Under normal use, even our beefiest models like this gargantuan 27000mAh bank can be fully charged hundreds of times without a significant performance hit.
Pass through tech poses an extra challenge to safely keeping your power bank charged however. The normal charge time is extended because the bank is generously offering a portion of its juice to the devices plugged into it. If you’re only passing through for a few hours, our products are built well enough to take it. Longer than that, though, and you’re risking doing some damage to even top-tier products, regardless of the manufacturer.
Going Full Cyberpunk
The nice thing about highly adaptable tech is that it lets users apply their imagination. If you’ve ever watched a hardcore cyclist weave through a traffic jam, you’ll know they have something outside the box in their DNA. That’s why we weren’t surprised that cyclists have been among those really getting the most out of how pass through lets them keep their power bank charged with flair. Look at this biker who uses our rechargeable units to turn their wheels into something straight out of TRON!
We had a commenter on a past post ask some great questions about using Rav products for a complex rig. He was using one of our 24W solar panel chargers to trickle charge his power bank during a long bike tour. The power bank was in turn keeping his GPS, GoPro and iPhone in the green. Although when you’re in motion variations in sunlight will effect how much the panel is able to capture, it’s still a great way to collect extra charge throughout your trip, and particularly during rest stops. When it comes to keeping your power bank charged and you’re off the grid, every little bit can help.
Be Creative Your Way
Are you using power banks in an unusual way? We’ve love to see more of your photos and anecdotes. Send them to us and we’ll try and feature them on our blog. or Instagram!
Power Bank
Modern life in the bush comes with a whole ecosystem of things to power. But the Joolca Power Bank has you covered with a lively 24,000mAh/86Wh (this just might be the only bank that’ll provide a bailout). And its in- and output are up to 70% more efficient than that of regular USB chargers!
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Free shipping above 99
Your Joolca order comes with free domestic shipping on orders above 99. If you need to return your item it won’t cost you a thing, either! We’ll provide you with a return shipping label.
30-day trial period
Same day shipping
All orders are dispatched daily Monday to Friday from our Utah warehouse. Order before 11AM MST and we’ll send your order out on the same day!
Behold the invisible benefits
Your Power Bank comes with a host of obvious benefits. Still, the biggest are the ones you can’t see. One: it packs a whopping 24,000mAh/86Wh – enough to run your HOTTAP pump for around two hours or charge your smartphone eight times, for instance.
Two: that’s a big capacity, but the Power Bank is still airline approved as carry-on.
And, last but not the least, three: your Power Bank uses the USB-C PD 3.0 (power delivery) protocol – so, using standard cables, you can safely charge the Power Bank and whatever you connect to it up to 70% faster than with a regular charger.
Review: Innogie JA Portable Charger 10,000mAh
The form factor of portable chargers is a very important thing when you’re purchasing power banks depending on the size and design of it, it can either be easy or difficult to carry around.
There are power banks that are very small and can easily fit into your. others cannot because of their larger power capacities. With that said, even higher power capacity power banks are being made to fit as much power into a small size as much as possible.
Since power banks, in general, are supposed to be portable power without being too much of a hassle to carry around.
This is the Innogie JA Portable charger that has a 10,400mAh power capacity and even though that’s quite a lot of power, the size and design of it can be quite frustrating to carry around.
Similar Power Banks:
Power Capacity:
The power capacity of the Innogie JA Portable charger starts at 10,400mAh and the conversion of power is better than most power banks because it uses LG batteries that can provide more power to transfer over to your device during charging.
There’s still the loss of energy that stays normal when the power goes through the charging cable through. As a result, you’re going to average about 8,320mAh of Output power capacity that you’ll be able to use.
Charging Smartphones with the Innogie Power Bank
It’s with this power capacity that you’ll be able to charge most smartphones about 4 times. Take, for example, you’ll be able to charge an iPhone 6s about 5 full times.
Or if you’re charging an Android device, that generally has a larger battery capacity like the Google Pixel at its 2,770mAh battery capacity, then you’ll be able to get 3 full charges. So this power bank is perfect for charging smartphones because it can charge them many times.
Charging Tablets with the Innogie Power Bank
Moving onto tablets, even with a power bank that can charge smartphones a few times over, the Innogie power banks can even charge tablets a few times as well, with 2 full charges being the magic number.
If you’re charging Mini tablets like the Galaxy Tab A series or Galaxy Tab 4, then you’ll be able to get 2 full charges. Charging Apple Mini tablets like the iPad Mini 2 or 4 is going to result in about 1.5 charges because they have slightly higher power capacities.
Lastly, if you want to charge a Full-Sized tablet, then the Innogie comes close to delivering a full charge because a Full-Sized iPad that’s 12-inches big has a power capacity of 10,000mAh and it’ll be able to charge about 80% of the way.
DevicesInnogie JA Portable Charger 10,000mAh (Output Capacity = 5,600mAh )Phone CapacityInnogie JA Portable Charger 10,000mAh Left Over Capacity after One Charge
Output Charging:
There are 2 USB Output charging ports on the Innogie power bank and each of them has a charging speed of 5V/2.4A and that sounds good if you’re charging only a single device with it.
That’s because the power bank has a Max Output of 5V/2.4A as well, so if you’re charging 2 devices at once, with the power bank using its Max Output of power, then each of the charging ports is going to Output 5V/1.2A and that’s a slow charging speed.
It’s not to say that charging 2 devices with the power bank is bad, it’s just best to do so if you’re charging 2 smartphones at the same time.
With that said, we like that the Max Output of power is shared throughout each of the 2 charging ports, and if you’re charging a tablet alone like an iPad then it’ll be able to charge at its max charging speed of 2.4 Amps.
Input Charging:
The Innogie power bank is recharged through a Micro-USB input port that has a max recharge rate of 5V/2.0A, and when you use a 2 Amp Wall Charger, then it’ll be able to recharge to its full power within 5-6 hours.
Size and Weight:
This is where things can get a bit awkward because the power bank is quite large with its thickness.
It has a length of 4 inches, a width of 2.2 inches, and a thickness of 1.6 inches. The weight of the charger is 9.5 ounces.
So even though the power bank is small because it has a short length and width, the large thickness can make it difficult to carry it around because you’re only going to be able to carry it in your hand and put it into a bag. Not exactly surprising but it’s still quite bulky.
Functional Components:
There are 2 sides of the Innogie power bank that holds the main functions. On one there’s an Alien looking face that has 4 Blue LED power capacity indicators and 2 Red lights that are eyes for the alien face
Then on the other side, there’s 2 USB Output charging ports and a Micro-USB Input port.
There’s absolutely no power button because charging automatically starts when you plug a device into the power bank and stops when there aren’t any devices connected anymore.
This is odd though because a lot of power banks that do automatically start charging, still have a power button to check power capacity when they’re not being used.
Structure and Material:
The entire power bank is made of plastic but it’s not brittle because the casing is all packed closely together and it’s thick as well.
Tech:
On the tech side, the Innogie power bank makes use of the regular safety that you’d expect to keep you and your devices safe. However, the most useful kind of tech is the usage of LG batteries that can provide better conversion of power during charging, and they also offer more charges in the long run.
Reliability
We think that the Innogie power bank is very useful for your charging needs when you’re out and about. If there’s one main flaw, is that you can’t charge 2 devices at the same time and expect fast charging speeds for the 2 devices that are charging, since the Max Output of power is low at just 2.4A.
Other than that the conversion of power is great because the power bank can provide multiple charges not only to smartphones but also to tablets as well. It’s a small but thick charger that can be taken anywhere too.
Summary:
Power:
The power capacity is really good even when it goes through conversion, but the charging speed could use some work.
Design:
It’s a small power bank but the thickness is what makes it rather bulky. There’s no power button because the Innogie power bank solely relies on its automatic charging capabilities.
Build:
It has a solid build that is perfect for everyday use and tough enough to survive shortfalls.
Reliability:
The Innogie power bank is a great daily use charger that can provide multiple charges and superb portability.
Conclusion:
If there’s anything that we’ve learned about reviewing power banks, it’s that nearly all of them have their flaws.
In this case, nearly everything about the Innogie power bank is great but the thickness can be off-putting and once you experience charging 2 devices, then things can seem a bit mediocre. Although those aren’t exactly major problems, minor ones.