Favourite Power bank? how much mah do you need??

[DisneyMama811]

looking for recommendations for a top quality power bank to use at the parks, I don't want to be stressing about dead batteries... I saw one today on sale that said 4000 mAH...is that powerful enough? I'd love to find one that indicates how much battery life is left in the powerbank it's self
*Edited to add my phone is a Google Pixel 4a*

 

[Best Aunt]

You can google to find out what its maH is.

If you will only need to charge your own phone (and not phones for the whole family), you probably only need maH equal to your phone's, assuming your phone would only run down once per day.

You would want to charge both the charger and your phone overnight so you are starting the day with a full charge on both.

Anker and Mophie are reputable brands.

I think the chargers usually have a button you can push to see how close they are to being fully charged.

 

[tguz]

I bought a 10,000 mAH at Marshalls for $9.99 and it was perfect. I never ran out of charge and I just recharged it overnight and it was ready to go. The 10,000 mAH kept 2 phones charged.

 

[DLgal]

I'd go with a 10,000 mah minimum.

Anker is my go to brand. Look for Quick Charge capabilities. Some of the cheaper chargers will take FOREVER to charge up your phone.

Most phone batteries are between 3500 and 4500 mah. Get one that can charge your battery at least 2 times fully.

 

[Best Aunt]

Because I'm procrastinating:

OP's phone is a Google Pixel 4a.
I googled it, and saw that it's 3140 mAh.

So if your phone is completely run down, you need a portable charger which is at least 3140 mAh to get your phone completely charged up again.

If your phone is going to completely run down twice in one day, you would need a portable charger which is at least 3,140 x 2 = 6,280.

I am assuming that you start the day with a completely charged phone and a completely charged portable charger.

If you will be charging phones for other people in your group, that would impact how high you want to go with mAh.

Also, check the specs for the charger and look at the weight, so that you can get a sense of how heavy it will be in your bag. Some of them might be as heavy as your phone. If you have a bad back, the added weight might matter to you.

 

[DLgal]

Because I'm procrastinating:

OP's phone is a Google Pixel 4a.
I googled it, and saw that it's 3140 mAh.

So if your phone is completely run down, you need a portable charger which is at least 3140 mAh to get your phone completely charged up again.

If your phone is going to completely run down twice in one day, you would need a portable charger which is at least 3,140 x 2 = 6,280.

I am assuming that you start the day with a completely charged phone and a completely charged portable charger.

If you will be charging phones for other people in your group, that would impact how high you want to go with mAh.

Also, check the specs for the charger and look at the weight, so that you can get a sense of how heavy it will be in your bag. Some of them might be as heavy as your phone. If you have a bad back, the added weight might matter to you.

Just as an addendum, the stated capacity of external chargers is usually higher than its charging ability in practice. For OP, with those phone specs, I'd go at least 7500 mAh in a charger.

My Anker 10,000 mAh does indeed weigh exactly the same as my phone at 7.25oz. It really doesn't matter, though, as I always have my phone in my pocket and when I'm charging it, the phone and charger go in my pocket at the same time or I charge it while we are sitting down for a meal. So, the weight in my bag is constant.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

If your phone is going to completely run down twice in one day, you would need a portable charger which is at least 3,140 x 2 = 6,280.

If your phone is going to completely run down twice in one day, you need a new phone.

 

[DLgal]

If your phone is going to completely run down twice in one day, you need a new phone.

Not necessarily. Just depends on how long your day is and how often you use the phone, how hard your phone has to work to stay on the network, etc. Many newer phones with really fast processors and refresh rates run down the battery very quickly. My S22 is a battery hog, but it's an amazing phone so I don't mind charging it a couple times a day. It can charge fully in about 45 minutes from close to dead. I often plug it in when it gets around 50% just to top it off. It's back to 95% in the time it takes to go through one ride using the lightning lane.

 

[DisneyMama811]

thank you for the really informative answers!! travelling will be myself, DH and our small kids age 6&8, they obviously don't have phones, I will make sure all the apps are loaded on DH's phone as back up but I'm the planner and mine will be the primary phone used.

We are coming from Canada so I'm still looking into what kind of data plan I'll need... I have heard Disney's wifi is junk, will hoping around networks affect battery life? (sorry if that's a silly question)

 

[DisneyMama811]

Not necessarily. Just depends on how long your day is and how often you use the phone, how hard your phone has to work to stay on the network, etc. Many newer phones with really fast processors and refresh rates run down the battery very quickly. My S22 is a battery hog, but it's an amazing phone so I don't mind charging it a couple times a day. It can charge fully in about 45 minutes from close to dead. I often plug it in when it gets around 50% just to top it off. It's back to 95% in the time it takes to go through one ride using the lightning lane.

my phone is also a battery hog, but as you said it charges incredibly quickly and I'm happy with it!! my contract is up in November so by our January trip I might have upgraded to a newer version

 

[xipotec]

My two cents, as someone who had a crappy iphone 6 up till this year, and used them in the parks.

I got an anker 2500mah. It was plenty of juice to top off this phone. BUT I was super careful about keeping all other apps closed, and keeping the brightness down all day. These days many phones have a battery saving mode, which you will want to used

I would recommend Anker, and probably 5000mah or higher for a single phone.

Two other notes : Phones can get very hot with quick chargers, so be aware it may become uncomfortable to keep in yoir pocket while charging.

Also, the charging cord they give you with the charger is often proprietary or slightly different than the usual charger, ususally at the battery end.

Make sure you bring that cord, and possibly a spare.

 

[DisneyMama811]

My two cents, as someone who had a crappy iphone 6 up till this year, and used them in the parks.

I got an anker 2500mah. It was plenty of juice to top off this phone. BUT I was super careful about keeping all other apps closed, and keeping the brightness down all day. These days many phones have a battery saving mode, which you will want to used

I would recommend Anker, and probably 5000mah or higher for a single phone.

Two other notes : Phones can get very hot with quick chargers, so be aware it may become uncomfortable to keep in yoir pocket while charging.

Also, the charging cord they give you with the charger is often proprietary or slightly different than the usual charger, ususally at the battery end.

Make sure you bring that cord, and possibly a spare.

thanks for these tips! almost non of my pants have pockets so I'm going full tourist mode and getting a fanny pack

 

[DLgal]

My two cents, as someone who had a crappy iphone 6 up till this year, and used them in the parks.

I got an anker 2500mah. It was plenty of juice to top off this phone. BUT I was super careful about keeping all other apps closed, and keeping the brightness down all day. These days many phones have a battery saving mode, which you will want to used

I would recommend Anker, and probably 5000mah or higher for a single phone.

Two other notes : Phones can get very hot with quick chargers, so be aware it may become uncomfortable to keep in yoir pocket while charging.

Also, the charging cord they give you with the charger is often proprietary or slightly different than the usual charger, ususally at the battery end.

Make sure you bring that cord, and possibly a spare.

Phones can also get hot when the network signal is weak and it's working really, really hard to stay connected. My phone often overheats at Disneyland, but not when I'm charging it. When it's just sitting in my pocket doing nothing. I sometimes have to power it down for a couple minutes to get it to cool off and reset the network connection.

I'm not sure what you are talking about with the cables? Is this an iPhone specific issue? The Anker chargers ALL ship with a USB-A to Micro USB Connector. My phone uses USB-C, so I always have to buy third party cables to go with my Anker chargers. I just buy whatever cheap generic I can find on Amazon that is capable of fast charging. Some of the newer Anker chargers have a USB-C input so you can recharge them that way, but they still only come with a USB-A to Micro charging cable as the default.

 

[xipotec]

Phones can also get hot when the network signal is weak and it's working really, really hard to stay connected. My phone often overheats at Disneyland, but not when I'm charging it. When it's just sitting in my pocket doing nothing. I sometimes have to power it down for a couple minutes to get it to cool off and reset the network connection.

I'm not sure what you are talking about with the cables? Is this an iPhone specific issue? The Anker chargers ALL ship with a USB-A to Micro USB Connector. My phone uses USB-C, so I always have to buy third party cables to go with my Anker chargers. I just buy whatever cheap generic I can find on Amazon that is capable of fast charging. Some of the newer Anker chargers have a USB-C input so you can recharge them that way, but they still only come with a USB-A to Micro charging cable as the default.

You will find some batterys come with a cable to charge to battery, but it not the same cable to charge your phone….

 

[midwestdee]

thank you for the really informative answers!! travelling will be myself, DH and our small kids age 6&8, they obviously don't have phones, I will make sure all the apps are loaded on DH's phone as back up but I'm the planner and mine will be the primary phone used.

We are coming from Canada so I'm still looking into what kind of data plan I'll need... I have heard Disney's wifi is junk, will hoping around networks affect battery life? (sorry if that's a silly question)

I don’t know if hopping around networks affects anything, but several people have mentioned on similar posts to make sure you turn Bluetooth off. Most people (like me) always have it on so our phone links through our car. It wouldn’t have occurred to me to turn that off to conserve battery power. I purchased an Anker 10,000 for my upcoming trip.

 

[Best Aunt]

You will find some batterys come with a cable to charge to battery, but it not the same cable to charge your phone….

For the cable situation, you need to investigate:

a) What type of cable does your phone have?
For example, an iPhone 13 uses a Lightning to USB-C cable.

b) What kind of port does your phone or tablet charging brick have?
It might be USB-A or USB-C. (C is newer.)

c) What kind of port does the portable charger have?
It might be USB-A or USB-C.

d) What kind of cable does the portable charger come with?
It might be micro USB to USB-A.

To charge the portable charger:
You plug the micro end of the cable into the portable charger and the USB-A end of the cable into your phone or tablet's charging brick. Then you plug the charging brick into an electrical outlet.

To charge your phone with the portable charger:
You plug one end of the cable into your phone (might have a Lightning port) and the other end of the cable into the portable charger (might have USB-A port).
But the cable you normally use to charge your phone might be Lighting to USB-C not USB-A.

I'm ignoring all wireless charging options for purposes of this post.

 

[DisneyMama811]

I don’t know if hopping around networks affects anything, but several people have mentioned on similar posts to make sure you turn Bluetooth off. Most people (like me) always have it on so our phone links through our car. It wouldn’t have occurred to me to turn that off to conserve battery power. I purchased an Anker 10,000 for my upcoming trip.

ah good point yes mine is always on to connect Spotify in the car

 

[DLgal]

I don’t know if hopping around networks affects anything, but several people have mentioned on similar posts to make sure you turn Bluetooth off. Most people (like me) always have it on so our phone links through our car. It wouldn’t have occurred to me to turn that off to conserve battery power. I purchased an Anker 10,000 for my upcoming trip.

I have not seen any noticeable improvement with Bluetooth off vs on. I use a smart watch that is connected via Bluetooth. It doesn't impact anything. Bluetooth is a VERY minimal battery user on cell phones.