Review: Comparison of Aukey external battery chargers
I tested three Aukey external battery chargers against each other: a 3600mAh, ultra slim,portable charger with a Li-polymer battery in black, an 10,000mAh quick charger model in silver and a 2-in-1 4400mAh alloy external battery charger and cigarette lighter.
I tested these chargers on three different phones: A Nokia Lumia 1520 running Windows Phone 8.1, A Blackberry 9720 platform 9.105.0.16 and a Samsung Galaxy S4 running Lollipop (Android 5.0.1). Extra images of each of the Aukey chargers are in the associated gallery.
Aukey 3600mAh charger:
This is a nice light charger with a slim form factor. Although made out of plastic, it seems well built, although it can be flexed slightly. It weighs 3.1 ounces. The charging cable is black and fits into the USB port snugly.
Trying to use the white cables from the other chargers below resulted in a much poorer fit, and difficulty in charging the Lumia phone. There is a grey carrying case and an Aukey green suction pad. The device does not stick to the suction pad, although the pad sticks well to the desk. Its output is DC 5 volts at 1.5 Amps.
Blackberry 9720: The charger charged the BlackBerry from half to three quarters battery within an hour.
Galaxy S4: The Galaxy charged to 50 percent within an hour.
Lumia 1520: Whilst this device is not designed for Windows, phones, I thought I would give it a try. The initial battery status on my Lumia indicated 45 percent remaining. After an hour of charging the phone battery, level had dropped to 33 percent, although the phone was not used during this time. It felt like the phone was charging the external battery.
Conclusion: Although light and ultra portable, this is not a charger for you if you have a phablet, or device with a large battery. Use this charger on small devices only due to its low output. There is only one LED light to indicate charge status which can only be ascertained when the charger is plugged in to either a charging station or a mobile device.
Aukey 10,000mAh quick charger
This is a heavy charger with a solid, well constructed feel to it. The outer shell has a brushed aluminium finish and weighs 10 ounces. There is a power button and four LED light indicators on the top of the charger, and USB and Micro USB ports.
During the initial charge the blue LED lights indicate the battery charge status. When all lights are steady the battery is fully charged. Lightly pressing the power button shows the amount of battery charge remaining. Its output is DC 5 Volts at 2.1 Amps.
Blackberry 9720: The quick charger charged the Blackberry from half to full status within an hour.
Galaxy S4: The phone charged from 85 percent to 100 percent in well under an hour.
Lumia 1520: Within an hour the battery had been charged from 33 percent to 73 percent. Very impressive quick charge.
Conclusion: Although heavy, this charger has a solid construction. It feels like it would be very rugged. The power button is useful to check the charge, although you must remember to press the button before charging begins - unlike the 3600mAh charger. I like the speed of the charge.
Aukey 4,400mAh battery and cigarette lighter
The charger is well constructed and feels solid. It is about the size of a packet of cigarettes. It weighs 5.2 ounces. It has an aluminium outer shell in black, with brushed aluminium ends. Its output is DC 5 Volts at 2 Amps.
BlackBerry 9720: The phone went from a third charge to half charge in around 20 minutes.
Galaxy S4: The 4,400mAh fully charged the Galaxy in just over an hour.
Lumia 1520: On plugging the charger into the existing charge cable on my phone, I saw the message that my phone was charging slowly. I was trying to use the cable that belonged to the 10,000mAh charger.
Swapping one white cable - which had the USB symbol printed on the cable, for another - which had the USB symbol embossed on the cable, eliminated the "phone charging slowly" message.
There is definitely a need to mark which cable goes with which charger when unboxing - especially if you have many cables. Within an hour the Lumia battery had gone from 73 percent to 99 percent charged.
Conclusion: The cigarette lighter function is a definite oddity for a charger. I was drawn to it, and played with the button several times. I tried to think of other ways it could be used for a non-smoker, but failed.
The different colour of the box and the cable irritated me and the fact that the cable did not clearly belong to this device meant I used an incorrect cable.
Which Aukey external charger would I use the most?
If I wanted a quick partial charge for the BlackBerry and Galaxy S4 I would use the 3600. I can slip the charger into a shirt pocket.I would get one full charge for the BlackBerry and the Galaxy.
The charger is black, and the cable is white which would jar slightly if you were a design purist. If you have many cables it would be easy use the wrong cable to charge which did not work.
My personal favourite for a longer trip is the 10,000mAh charger. Although heavy, I could get a full charge for my own -- and a friends large bettery phone. I really did need this charger on a recent 21 hour train ride in Vietnam.
The 4,400mAh has a quirky cigarette lighter, or lock warmer feature. Whilst this would be really useful for a smoker, or someone who regularly gets frozen locks, I think this feature is wasted for me.
But at at half the weight of the 10,000mAh, it would be perfect to live in the bottom of my bag until it is needed.
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