I have used many power banks in my life, but none of them were too expensive. If you spend between $ ¬ 3000 and $ 40 in India, you can get a power bank that offers a good mix of ports, charging speed and battery capacity.
When I got a $ 299 power bank, I was intrigued. For that price I can get a good budget phone or more than a few power banks. On top of that, the company’s claim that it uses the same battery material as found in Tesla’s cars made me want to try it more.
I may not be the target audience for this cheap Chargeasap power bank, but there may be people who would like it.
I have been using this device for a few weeks now and it has some impressive features for a power bank. Let’s look at the details.
What does it offer?
When you think of a $ 249 power bank, you wish it had all the bells and whistles that a very expensive power bank should have. Luckily it does.
The Chargeasap Flash 2.0 has many features that you would rightly expect at this price. With its 20,000 mAh capacity, your iPhone 12 can charge seven times faster, or your 2020 MacBook Air with a 5100 mAh battery almost four times. That’s a good amount of charge.
It has a total of four ports: two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports. One of the USB-C ports provides 60W and the other provides 100W in or out – this is the one you are going to use to charge this sample. Both ports support the USB PD standard.
Two USB-A ports support Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0 support at 18W. One also supports 40W charging standards from Oppo and OnePlus and 22.5W standard charging standards from Vivo and Huawei with compatible phones.
So no matter what device you have, this power bank supports its fast charging standard. This is a fairly risky claim.
In addition, the device has on one side wireless charging with dual coil. So you can charge any of your supported devices at 10W. You can also charge your Apple Watch 2.5W on it.
Design and execution
This power bank is a problem in every way. It is 15.1 cm long and 8.2 cm wide. Much larger than the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The Flash 2.0 is2.7 cm thick – or about the height of 4 stacked iPhone 12 units.
If you ever need to exercise a little, this device will also help you because it weighs 500 grams. It is much heavier than your average power bank.
The power bank delivers on its promises of fast charging. It charged my iPhone 12 from 10% to 31% within 10 minutes. It suspended my Pixel 4a from 21% to 48% within 21 minutes; fully loaded in less than an hour. The Flash charged the 2019 MacBook Pro by 15% in less than 20 minutes. So, yes. it is indeed fast and versatile.
Why does it cost so much?
Vinson Leow, the founder of ASAP technology, told me this a main reason why the Flash power bank costs so much is the battery. The company used Graphe battery cells manufactured by Panasonic. This is the same cell that Tesla uses in its car batteries.
Initially, Chargeasap used the name of Tesla to market this product. However, the car company asked him to remove the name later.
Leow claims that due to this design you can import or discharge more power from the power bank. This allows for faster charging of devices as well as the power bank itself.
He added that the average power bank lasts 500 charge cycles, which usually take about two years. However, the company claimed that the Flash can hold batteries for 2,000 charge cycles for this charge.
Leow said that using all the standards for fast charging is also expensive and that it also contributes to the final price.
Closure
Chargeasap is aimed at people who have already spent more than $ 100 on power banks that charge 60W or higher devices. However, $ 249 is still a hefty price tag for such a device.
The company says that this power bank will last you years and that you do not have to buy another one. If you are a Tesla fan and constantly switch off phone, this power bank can serve you well. But if you do not need all of these features, there are numerous options in the $ 100 to $ 200 range from other companies, including Anchor and Goal Zero that can serve your purpose.
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Published on December 27, 2020 – 07:00 UTC