[Review] Belkin Pocket Power 5K

Warmer days means doing more things out of doors.  It also means doing things for potentially the full day out of the house.  Camping, a hike .. or just visiting.  It's too nice to be cooped up inside.

Going that long away from some sort of charging source means you're going to have to bring it with you.  If you're lucky enough to have multiple destinations, you can get some time with the car charger, but most likely you'll need to be bringing a portable charger.

We've reviewed lots out there so there's lots to choose from.  This new one comes to us from Belkin, a very reputable company when it comes to accessories for our phones.

They sent over their 5000mAh model, running you $30USD.


With a device around 3000mAh - it'll mean you'll get about 1.5 charges out of it.  Or 2 really good top ups.



What's really nice is that it's essentially the shape of a phone.  Some that are like lipstick or bricks.  5K size can fit in the same pocket that you keep your phone in.


It's very low profile.

Speaking of low profile, it's very simple.  It's not got a lot on it to make it look all complicated.

There's just a simple face and back and some LEDs on it to indicate how much power it has left (and it has 4 so it's easier to estimate, not just 3 or some weird colour).


Then there's the ports.  There's just the USB (powering at 2.4A, so pretty quick, just shy of being QuickCharge) and then microUSB for charging it up.  Very clean look.

It comes with a little microUSB cable to charge it up.  If you have a device that's also microUSB you're set.  Keep the cord plugged into one or the other and you're golden.  Unfortunately for me, I'm onto USB-C, so I have to keep some cables around to ensure it charges up and then one to charge my device.  Pain in the butt, but it's what we live with and the fact that it's so simple a shape.  I have a brick style kind in my work bag and it just sticks out like a sore thumb.  With this, I could easily slip it in the bag and it would hardly be noticed.

Not a bad option.  Sure, there are cheaper ones, but this is the simplest for design.  As much as I'd like to see a USB-C option there, I think it just makes it cleaner not having it (and would limit their market if they had only that).

Neatest of all they put a guarantee of $2,500 warranty on it (meaning that if it causes damage to your device, they'll cover the cost).  That's pretty good reassurance that you know it's a quality product.  Let's see those cheap knock offs on ebay and Amazon come with that.

Belkin logo (PRNewsFoto/Belkin)



BELKIN® INTRODUCES ITS MOST COMPACT AND FAST-CHARGING BATTERY PACK TO DATE

New Pocket Power Series Equipped with Polymer Battery Tech,
with Three Tiers of Power – up to 15,000 mAh
Available in Black, Rose Gold and Silver

LOS ANGELES – May 23, 2017  Belkin®, market leader in mobile accessories, today introduced a suite of its most compact and fast-charging portable power banks, enabling consumers to stay connected and charged all day. The all-new Pocket Power comes in 5,000 and 10,000 mAh sizes in black, rose gold and silver, and the 15,000 mAh model will be available in black only. Featuring fast-charging capability and polymer battery cell technology, the new battery packs are lighter, thinner and equipped to charge multiple devices at an affordable price point.

Consumers spend five hours a day on their mobile devices, according to Flurry Analytics, and 90 percent of photos shared or stored online will be taken by a smartphone, according to Deloitte

“With the smartphone becoming even more essential in people’s lives, not just as a means of communication, but as a camera, music player, navigation system, and Internet-access device, preventing low battery on-the-go is even more important for consumers,” said Marco Peters, vice president of product management. “Deep consumer insight studies conducted by our teams allow us to understand what consumers need and encourage us to continue to innovate with new materials and technologies.”

Other key features:
  • Built-in safety features protect the device and the consumer
  • Micro-USB port charges battery pack quickly and efficiently
  • 6” micro-USB cable included
  • 4 LED indicators display remaining power level
  • Plastic casing provides a lightweight solution


# of times it will charge an iPhone 7
Additional hours of call time
Additional hours of web browsing
Total output
Multi-port
5,000 mAh
1.5x
19+ hours
11+ hours
2.4A
N/A
10,000 mAh
Up to 3x
25+ hours
21+ hours
3.4A
Yes
15,000 mAh
Up to 5x
57+ hours
50+ hours
3.4A
Yes

Availability

The Pocket Power 5,000 mAh is available today for an MSRP of $29.99 US on Belkin.com athttp://www.belkin.com/us/p/p-F7U019/ and at Target in the U.S. and Walmart in Canada.

The Pocket Power 10,000 mAh and 15,000 mAh will be available later this summer; check back onBelkin.com for more details.