Authored by Conor O’Reilly
This little charger is huge on saving your phone’s battery and thus, your whole rest of the day. The TYLT Portable Power Bank (9200mAh) is a portable charger that you can charge up and then use to charge your phone when needed. Although it is very far from the best portable charger out there, I still find it useful for what it is – a sleek, lightweight charger that’ll get your phone through the day, although it would be wiser to invest in a better charger if you are going to be serious about using one.
The charger is somewhat of a square prism shape with curves and smooth corners, around 4 inches long and only half an inch wide. Made of smooth, gray aluminum and plastic on the ends, I found it to not be very durable, sporting paint scratches and dents on the edges and the plastic tearing away after my few years of using it not very often. A shiny, plastic button is pressed to turn the device on, but it has worn in and now rotates, to the point where it can get one end of the button sunk in, which drives me crazy because I now have to rotate it back so that it lies evenly. This charger is not the best-quality material, neither for appearance nor durability, but that’s not what bothers me most about it – the functioning of the button itself.
Pressing the button turns on the battery, but pressing it again does not turn it off. Pressing the button again turns on the mini-flashlight at the top of the charger, right above the USB port. The light is fairly dim and annoying to see when you try to turn the battery off but don’t hold the button for long enough and get the flashlight to turn on instead. Personally I have never found a use for the flashlight but I can understand if someone is in the dark for a brief moment and they need to find their cable, but I would prefer if the function was not a part of the design so I would stop accidentally turning it on instead of the battery off. Another thing, the button must be pressed for an excruciatingly long five seconds to turn the battery off. I am in the middle of walking in the city, eating at a restaurant, or watching a show with my friends, I do not want to have to press a button and wait five whole seconds for my battery to turn off, sometimes accidentally turning on the flashlight instead and then having to spend another five seconds to shut it off for real.
When the battery is on, three little blue LEDs light up like a bar indicating how much battery is left. As your phone is charged with it, the first LED in line blinks, then turns off as the next one comes on, “emptying” the “bar” as the battery runs out of juice. Typically I have found the battery can take my phone up to full charge when it is as low as 30%, when I usually look to begin charging my phone again. However, when my phone is dead the battery can only take it to 70% full charge. Should not a “portable charger” be able to fill your phone’s battery before running out? I have an iPhone 7 of the smaller-screen design, and there are definitely bigger phones with bigger batteries whose owners will certainly be upset with the capabilities of this charger. For me it works because that less-than-full-charge boost is all I really need, I can charge my phone in the car or when I get back home but the portable charger usually gets my phone through the long day. However, for others who are perhaps more picky and have higher expectations, this charger simply won’t make the cut.
For what it is, the TYLT Portable Power Bank 3200mAh does get the job done, for me at least. It is not a very durable nor enjoyable charger to use, won’t meet everyone’s expectations. On Amazon I find packets of two chargers for $39.99, or just around $19.99 per charger. 20 bucks for a charger that has amazing alternatives. Looking on TYLT’s online store, all the chargers I can find are of better durability and battery life for a higher price. This model is simply meant to be your “great value” charger. In my honest opinion, you really should not waste your time with this product if you are looking to invest in only one portable charger that will serve you well for years. Save yourself the annoyances of the button and cheap, indurable design and get yourself a battery that will actually bring you good return. Unless you’re tight for money, I advise you pay for a better charger than the TYLT Portable Power Bank 3200mAh.