If you are planning to buy a power bank, but don’t know how much mAh a power bank needs, then you are in the right place. Here we will tell you exactly how much mAh your ideal power bank needs. So, how much does it need?
The ideal mAh for your power bank depends on the phone battery capacity. The larger the phone battery capacity, the larger the battery of a power bank should be. A 15000-20000mAh power bank should be fine.
But, that’s an easy answer. We have explained how much mAh your power bank needs for different devices. Let’s dive in.
What is mAh in Power Banks?
The mAh stands for milliamp Hour and it measures the capacity of a battery. The more mAh a battery has, the more times/longer it can charge a device. The more mAh a power bank has the more charging capacity it can store inside.
A 5000mAh battery can power a device that it’s drawing 100mAh for 50 hours. While a 10000mAh does the same thing for 100 hours.
Batteries with more mAh tend to last longer than those with less mAh. That’s because they consume the charging cycles much slower. However, batteries with more mAh will take longer to fully charge because it takes longer to fill 10000mAh than it takes to fill 5000mAh.
Real vs Marking Capacity
There’s a real difference between the advertised capacity of power and the real capacity of a power bank. A 10000mAh power bank won’t transfer 10000mAh to another device, it will transfer much less. It will transfer about 80/85% of the marking capacity.
Most power banks use lithium batteries that have an average voltage of 3.7V. Power banks use a USB-C port to charge a device, and these ports have a voltage of 5.1V. When manufacturers calculate the capacity of a power bank, it’s based on the 3.7V value and not the 5.1V that we use. So, the real capacity is much less.
To calculate the real capacity you need to convert the mAh to mWh and then back to mAh (with the 5V). So, 10000mAh x 3.7V (Lithium Voltage) = 37,000mWh/ 5.1V (USB-C Voltage) = 7,555mAh. When converting these values, there’s a 10% power loss from the power bank. So, a 10000mAh power bank only has 6,528mAh.
How Much mAh Does a Power Bank Need To Charge an iPhone?
Different iPhones have different battery capacities, thus requiring different power banks. Here’s the list of all iPhones:
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How Much mAh Does a Power Bank Need To Charge a Samsung Phone?
There are a lot of Samsung phones, but we choose the models that people use the most:
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How Much mAh Does a Power Bank Need To Charge a Google Pixel Phone?
Here’s the list of all Google Pixel Phones and how much mAh a power bank needs to charge them:
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What Kind of Portable Charger Works Best for You?
Now that you have seen different phone models and their requirements you must know the type of power bank you need. You could either choose a light or heavy model.
If you don’t need a power bank daily (or twice a day), then a power bank with 5000-20000mAh is good enough. These power banks are smaller and lighter so you can carry them around. As you can see from the list above, no smartphone requires more than 10000mAh for a full charge. But, a power bank should be able to charge a phone 2 times, so a 15000mAh or 20000mAh is good enough.
If you need a power bank for heavy uses then a 40000mAh power bank is a must. These types of power banks come with large batteries so moving them around can be harder. Heavy-duty power banks also come with AC/DC ports that you can use to charge a laptop.
Final Words
A power bank is a very useful device. But, if the power bank doesn’t have enough battery capacity to charge your devices, it won’t help you. That’s why you need to calculate how much battery capacity a power bank should have to fill your needs.