Phones may run out of power quickly, but power banks often come to the rescue. A new type of power banks could just make the power bank more hardy thanks to a change of tech inside.
Technology is filled with jargon and acronyms and initialisms galore, but another initialism could just change the way you look at power banks.
While most power banks and phone batteries rely on Lithium Ion or “Li-ion”, an alternative has popped up in recent years designed to be safer, less likely to overheat, and if the worst case happens, also fire resistant.
Called Lithium Iron Phosphate, or “LiFePO₄”, it’s a technology built to be non-combustible, thermally stable, and resilient to high temperatures, making it ideal for travel and camping trip, and cutting out the risks of explosion. That could be an issue, especially given that some airlines have taken away the ability to use a power bank mid-flight, forcing you to plug into an aircraft’s USB port for recharging.
Even with a LiFePO4 power bank, it’s unlikely one of those airlines would let you use your bank to recharge, but it could at least give you peace of mind, which could be what Laser’s SafeCharge Max power banks are focused on.
The addition to Laser’s ChargeCore power bank range aims to provide lithium phosphate options in sizes ranging from 5000mAh to 20,000mAh, arriving with a screen to show you charge amount in the battery, plus three USB ports: two USB-A ports for recharging a device, plus one USB-C which can be used for both charging devices and recharging the power pack, depending on the model.
The SafeCharge Max banks are also designed for longer lifespans, supporting as many as 5000 recharge cycles, compared to the typical 1000 cycle maximum of a Lithium-Ion bank.
The catch could be performance, with the 5000mAh SafeCharge Max maxing out at 8W of power over its USB-A ports, but only being recharged on its USB-C. Meanwhile, the 10,000mAh model (and presumably the 20K) uses the USB-C port as both a fast charge output and rechargeable input, running at 20W, handy for tablets and phones, and possibly useful for a MacBook Air of other lightweight laptop.
That makes the $49.95 10,000mAh SafeCharge Max the better minimum model to start with, while the $69.95 20,000mAh offers twice the storage with likely similar performance.
All three offer the power meter screen to tell you how much life is left, but the output power appears to differ based on the model being used.
Where they share their DNA, however, is with the Lithium Iron Phosphate material, which makes the battery in the bank more hardy for temperatures in Australia, while also being up to 30 percent lighter than a Lithium Ion battery, as well.
They also all arrive with a USB plug complete with two USB-C plugs and a Lightning plug, making it handy to recharge an older iPhone model and a recent iPad, if you happen to have them, though the USB Type C port is the winner for recharging quickly on the bigger models.
Laser’s ChargeCore SafeCharge Max range is available now at Harvey Norman and Laser’s online store, priced from $29.95 for the 5000mAh equivalent.
