Pokemon Go Power Banks Guide

Pokemon Go Power Banks Guide by RocketJumpingOtter

Power banks will probably be the most crucial purchase you make regarding this game (aside for a device for playing the game). Power banks separate the Youngster Joeys from the Ace Trainers.

What are power banks?

Banks are small, portable external power sources, usually about as big as your phone.They have one or more USB A ports for connecting a charging cable, and a USB B or C for charging the bank itself. They may also have a small LED flashlight attached to them.

Why do I need a power bank?

This is coming from an Ingress player. GPS uses a lot of battery. Like, A lot a lot.

To give you some retrospective, this is what will be on while you play Pokemon Go:

• The screen
• The GPS
• The camera (if you use it during the captures)
• Mobile data antennas
• WiFi, Bluetooth, hotspots, etc
• Background processes (including Android / iOS)

Granted, you can still turn these off to make it last longer, but your device will quickly chew through your battery.

What do I look for in a power bank?

Before we start, lets get familiar with some terms:

• Milliamp Hours (mAh): A measure of how much power a battery can hold. Larger numbers mean more capacity, and more uptime.
• Amps (A): How much power is going to a device when charging. Larger numbers mean that your device will charge faster.

Power banks are commonly categorized by their Milliamp Hours, or mAh.To fine what’s best for you, you need to know your device’s mAh. You can look that up here.

You can also look at the Amps of the bank. The minimum for most devices is 1 Amp. Tablets (and most phones) usually support 3.5 Amps. 5 Amps is also common, but this may overload older devices.

A way to tell how well a bank will perform is to divide the mAh of the device by the mAh of the bank. For example, lets take a few power banks, and a few devices, and compare them.

Idaye – 14000mAh, 3.5A

Polanfo – 8000mAh, Unknown Amps

Vinsic – 15000mAh, 2.4A

Anker – 20000mAh, 4.8A

What is considered the best power bank?

Many people recommend an Anker bank, because they usually have the best value, and they have a no-questions-asked 2 year warranty. I personally recommend anything you don’t need to charge nightly.