How Many Times Can a Power Bank Charge My Phone?
If you’re like most people, you rely on your smartphone to stay connected with the world. And if you use your phone a lot, you know that it can quickly run out of power. That’s where a power bank comes in handy! A power bank is a device that stores energy so that you can charge your phone when it’s running low on power. But how many times can a power bank charge my phone? And what are the best ways to use a power bank? In this blog post, I will answer these questions and more!
Although a few factors are affecting the number of times a power bank can charge your phone, I guess you came here for a quick equation or quick answer. So without further due let’s start from that. But keep in mind that even though you calculate the value of how many times your power bank can charge your smartphone, in actual conditions you might experience some differences. I will talk about why that happened too. keep reading.
If you still have doubts about getting a power bank for you refer to What Is a Power Bank and Why Do You Need One?
Calculating the Number of Possible Power Bank Phone Charges
1) When Battery is fully empty – The first Method
Number of Charges = (Power Bank Capacity * 2/3)/ (Mobile Phone battery capacity)
Eg: If we assume the power bank capacity is 20000mAh & mobile phone battery capacity is 3000mAh
Number of Charges = (20000 * 2/3)/3000= 4.4
So, with a 20000 mAh power bank, you can charge your phone up to 4 and half
2) Battery already has some charge – Second Method
Number of Charges = (Power Bank Capacity * 2/3)/ (1-(Phone Battery capacity/100) * Mobile Phone battery capacity)
So if you assume the power bank capacity is 20000 mAh & the mobile phone battery capacity is 3000mAh and it has a 20% charge
Number of Charges = (20000 * 2/3)/(1-(20/100)*3000) = 5.5
So, with a 20000 mAh power bank, you can charge your phone for up to 5a and a half if the phone has 20% capacity on each charge.
So you may wonder why we multiply the power bank capacity by 2/3. It is because power banks are not 100% efficient. So we need to consider that in our equation,
When choosing a power bank, it is important to keep in mind that the capacity indicated on the device is not always accurate. Many factors can affect the capacity of a power bank, including energy loss during voltage conversion and self-discharge. As a result, the actual capacity of a power bank is often only about 2/3 of the indicated capacity. This is important to keep in mind when choosing a power bank, as a lower-capacity power bank may not be able to fully charge your device.
So this is the reason why even though you apply your numbers to the above formula actual numbers may differ.
So I would like to point out those unpredictable factors next.
Factors Affecting No of Charges of a Power Bank
When we want to find out how many times a power bank can charge our phones, the answer depends on a few factors. They are
- The capacity of the power bank.
- Size of your phone battery
- The built quality of your power bank
- Age of your power bank
- Usage of the power bank
1) The capacity of the power bank
When choosing a power bank, one of the most important factors to consider is its capacity. This is measured in milliamp hours (mAh) and indicates how much power the device can store. A higher mAh rating means that the power bank can charge your phone more times before it needs to be recharged itself.
For example, a power bank with a capacity of 10,000 mAh can theoretically charge a phone with a 3,000 mAh battery about three times before it needs to be plugged in again right? The truth is, the matter is more complicated than it appears.
Of course, there are other factors that can affect how many times a power bank can charge your phones, such as the efficiency of the charging circuitry and the discharge rate of the power bank itself. However, capacity is still an important consideration when choosing a power bank, and it’s something you should keep in mind when making your purchase.
2) Size of your phone battery.
Another factor that affects how many times a power bank can charge your phone is the size of your phone’s battery. The larger the battery, the more charges it will take to fully recharge it. For example, if you have a smartphone with a 3,000 mAh battery, you could expect to get three full charges from a power bank with 10,000 mAh of capacity (If assume no charge loss during charging). But if your phone has a larger battery, say 4,500 mAh, then you would only get two full charges out of the same power bank.
So it’s important to consider the size of your phone’s battery when deciding how many times a power bank can charge it.
3) The built quality of your power bank.
Another factor that affects how many times a power bank can charge your phone is its build quality and circuitry efficiency. As mentioned earlier, the capacity rating of a power bank indicates how much energy it can store. However, this number isn’t always accurate due to factors like voltage conversion losses in the circuitry and various other electrical factors.
If you use a high-quality product sure the materials used are good and so is the circuitry, it will be able to charge your phone more accurately and efficiently. This means that you may be able to get more out of a power bank with a lower capacity rating if its build quality is better than other models on the market.
4) Age of your power bank
Age also plays an important role when it comes to how many times a power bank can charge your phone. Over time, the capacity of a power bank decreases as its battery slowly starts to degrade. Generally speaking, lithium-ion batteries start to decline after about 500-600 charging cycles and can eventually lose up to 30% of their original capacity.
So even if you have a high-capacity power bank, it may not be able to charge your phone as many times as it did when it was new if the battery has degraded over time.
5) Usage of the power bank
Finally, how you use your power bank can also affect how many times it can charge your phone. For example, if you use a low-capacity power bank with a higher-end phone that requires fast charging, then the amount of energy needed to fully recharge the device could drain the battery much faster than usual.
Do not wait until your battery (it doesn’t matter if it’s a power bank or your phone’s battery) hits 0%, then try to charge it up as much as you can. As lithium-ion batteries degrade over time, it is better for the battery life if you keep your power bank and phone batteries between 40-80% of their capacity.
So this will ensure you are not hitting full cycle charge and discharge cycles constantly, which will help you get the most out of your power bank as well as the battery of your phone.
