Product review: INSTEN® 10400mAh High Capacity Dual USB Power Bank

♦ size: 3 7/8" x 2 3/4" x 7/8"
♦ weight: 8.30 oz
♦ number of ports: 2
♦ flashlight: no
♦ pass through charging: yes (i.e. the battery can charge while being charged itself)
♦ cable: 11.5" charging cable

This external battery is relatively compact for its large capacity of 10400 mAh. It has two ports and came with a short charging cable (charging cables are more efficient charging the phones then the data cables, that charge at USB rate).

I like the capacity of this battery but it was not a speedy charger for either my Android Phone or iPadMini tablet. My current monitor shows that one the ports is 1A and the second is 2A even though they are not labelled on the battery itself. I am including the details of the tests at the end of the review for those who are interested in the nitty gritty numbers.

To see how well different chargers and external batteries charge my mobile devices I use a Nexus phone and an iPadMini to test each of them. I do my tests with the devices charged to the same level, running the same applications and using the same cables to keep everything the same. This allows me to compare them to each other in a fair way. I use the current monitor to see what current is delivered to each device which tells me how well each external battery is working.

I also tested to see if the battery supports pass-through charging (i.e. whether the battery can charge mobile devices while it is being charged). Yes, it can charge while being charged.

For Android devices it matters if a cable used to charge the device is a charging cable or a data cable. In a charging cables the two data connections are shorted together (rendering the cable useless for data transfer), but this fools devices to see the cable as an AC power connection and thus the battery accept a higher current for charging. Most of the time external batteries come with a charging cable, but every now I run across a manufacturer that encloses data cables with external batteries. It is not easy to tell what cable you got unless you have a current monitor. I always include this test in my reviews so people can improve the performance of the battery by switching to a charging cable. Good news in this case - Insten package includes a charging cable.

Samsung Nexus phone:
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1A port: 0.84A/4.99V (below average)
2A port: 0.98A/5.01V (good)
(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this phone is 1.00A/5V)

iPad Mini tablet:
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1A port: 0.93A/5.01V (average for 1A port)
2A port: 1.12A/5.02V (below average for 2A port)
(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this tablet is 1.70A/5V)

I have been using this battery for several weeks without problems as I write this review. It does the job and does not get warm as it is charging.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆