Going on Holiday or a Business Trip – Don’t forget your Power Bank
There’s nothing worse than going on a long journey and realising just at that critical moment that your smart phone has run out of power. With so many “e-tickets” now being sent to email accounts on smart phones and so much reliance being placed on smart phone as a map, a guide, a list of contacts and appointments your phone running out of battery can be little short of a disaster.
If you’re travelling overseas the challenges can be even tougher to deal with because there aren’t as many spare plug socks around to plug your phone into and then of course you need to make sure you’ve got the right plug adapter to hand. So when you’re phone dies (or your tablet dies) it’s a problem. OK, it might be a problem in the first world sense but it’s still a problem.
One way of safeguarding against these challenges is to get yourself a decent Power Bank.
A Power Bank is an external re-chargeable battery that you can use to charge up your smart phone or tablet. To charge the Power Bank you plug it into any PC via a USB cable (yes, you need to plan ahead and make sure it’s charged before you start your journey) and then when it’s charged you disconnect it and carry it with you as a back-up power supply. To charge your phone or tablet using the Power Bank you connect it, again using the supplied cable, and let it trickle charge your phone – the usual time to fully charge a “dead” phone is around 2hrs but it’ll be ready to use after just a few minutes.
Power Banks are small, lightweight and really handy – when you’ve got one and get into the habit of using them and taking them with you you’ll wonder how you managed without one.
Inside a Power Bank is a Lithium-ion rechargeable battery and this technology provides a reliable source of portable power BUT because you are accumulating, storing and transferring energy you need to buy good quality Power Banks – cheap versions using cheap components can result in overcharging, short-circuits and in the worst case scenario fires and explosions! Don’t be put off buying them just don’t buy cheap ones – we’ve all seen and read of the horror stories of people using cheap iPhone charges or cheap e-cigarette charges and the same is true of Power Banks – the usual rule of thumb applies – if a deal “looks too good to be true” then it probably is and you’re best avoiding it.
What’s interesting is the number of promotional USB flash drive companies that are now supplying promotional Power Banks. Partly it’s because lots of the factories in China that produce USB flash drives are gearing up to produce Power Banks and they are selling them via the same agents and partly it’s because Power Banks are just a great “tech” orientated giveaway that meet a real need.
If you are looking to buy promotional Power Banks on behalf of your company then our advice is to buy your Power Banks from a reputable and trusted UK supplier. If they are willing to put their name and reputation behind the Power Bank then so should you. Make sure the Power Banks have been CE approved and comply fully with the latest RoHS legislation. Most import of all though is not to buy based on cost and cost alone – it’s tempting but unless you are prepared to take the risk of sending out potential “bombs” to your customers don’t do it!