There are plenty of portable batteries on the market, but finding one that perfectly fits your needs can be tricky. Aukey recently rolled out their new line of Omni-Power charging accessories, and they've included a handy little 8000mAh portable charger in that line.
That's not the biggest battery bank we've ever seen, but Aukey has a few tricks to get this thing into your bag. Check out our review.
Design
Big batteries are cool, and no one will argue otherwise, but they're generally also heavy and bulky. There's only so much you can do with that, since batteries are simply heavy, and larger capacities take up more space.
Instead of making a gigantic battery that's a burden to carry around, Aukey opted for something that'll fit in your pocket. In fact, it's about the same size as the average smartphone right now, which seems more than intentional.
The weight is roughly the same as a smartphone, too, so you won't mind pocketing this thing while you're out.
At the top of the charger you'll find two USB-A ports and a single USB-C ports, with a microUSB port on the side. That's a strange addition, since the USB-C port is both an input and output. I hate microUSB ports, but you don't have to use it, so I guess it's fine?
The only thing not to love about the Sprint's design is that it's relatively light, but cheap feeling. Some heftier batteries have a slightly more premium feel, but that's a pretty minor nitpick.
Performance
You can charge your phones in a variety of ways with Aukey's Sprint charger. Both of those USB-A ports work for legacy devices and with all of your old cables, and you'll even get Quick Charge 3.0 speeds out of it, with compatible devices. You can also use the USB-C port for 18W PD charging speeds, and the whole thing doubles as a wireless charger so you can juice up your phone even if you don't have a cable handy.
And that's really where this thing shines. It's such a compact design and it's versatile enough to charge nearly anything you throw at it. It'll deliver a fast charge to just about any phone regardless of the ports on it, and if you forget your cable you can just drop your phone on top of the battery to get a regular 5W charge. It'll double up, too, so you can use wireless charging and wired charging simultaneously. The 8000mAh is easily the weakest link in those scenarios, however.
Additionally, Aukey has designed this to also handle charging some of your lower power devices like headphones and watches. It'll deliver lower currents to those devices while charging to help preserve their battery life, and this is one of the only portable batteries that we've seen with that kind of adaptive charging.
So what are the drawbacks to the Sprint charger, aside from the average capacity?
The wireless charging is easily the clumsiest aspect of the Sprint charger, which is unfortunate considering it's one of its major selling points. It works, and it works well, but everything around it could've been implemented a little better. You can't use this battery as a charging pad, so you'll have to unplug it to kick on wireless charging. Bad news for anyone expecting to use this in both situations. Turning the wireless charging on also isn't particularly clear or intuitive. You'll have to hit the power button twice to start it. Not a long press, nothing automatic, but a double press. It's not bad when you get used to it, but it's easy to think you've double-tapped and then you find out an hour later that your phone was never charging.
Worth it?
At just $34.99 (and currently priced at $29 for the holidays), this feels like a really good deal if you fit the demographic for this kind of battery. It's small, easy to carry around, and stores enough extra juice to keep you charged throughout the day no matter how much you throw at it. It probably won't cut it for someone that's trying to keep a single battery charged for an entire week's of use, but being the Swiss army knife of portable chargers definitely gives Aukey's option an edge.
Buy it now: Aukey Store | Amazon
