(Last Updated On: June 14, 2018)

Solar power banks sound very useful on the surface, but for the most part, many of the Solar power banks on the market don’t really have anything special going for them. Most of them have an average power capacity, the charging speed from the ports isn’t exactly fast and is actually quite slow for most modern smartphones and tablets. However, this RAVPower 25,000mAh Solar power bank with its powerful charging basically changes that.

That’s because there are very few Solar power banks on the market that make use of such a high power capacity, at the same time it has some very powerful charging with its use of three output ports. So let’s take a closer look to see if this power bank is indeed the better option for Solar portable charging.

Power

Power Capacity:

The power capacity of this power bank is a whopping 25,000mAh. This is a lot higher than what most Solar power banks have, which is usually within the 10,000mAh range or 15,000mAh range which tends to be more common. First though, let’s see how much of this 25,000mAh power capacity you’re actually able to use to charge your portable devices such as tablets and smartphones.

3.7 x 25,000 = 92,500 / 5 = 18,500

Overall, you’re going to be able to use about 19,000mAh of output power capacity to charge your portable devices and this is still very good. We realize that it’s lower than what the charger actually starts out with, but at the same time, you’re able to charge most smartphones to their full power about fives times. The five full charge figure for smartphones comes from the fact that most modern smartphones now have a 3,000mAh battery capacity and this is true for both Android smartphones and iPhones, too.

As the iPhone X has a 2,716mAh battery. So you’re able to use this charger for quite a while without having to recharge it, if all you’re using this power bank is for charging smartphones.

At the same time, since this power bank uses a Quick Charge port, you can charge compatible Quick Charge Android smartphones, but that will result in lower conversion rates once you do use the fast charging tech. As a result, you’ll have a low output power capacity available to you for charging.

Charging larger types of devices such as tablets with this power bank will result in about 2 to 3 full charges. You can also charge a few laptops with this power banks as this charger uses a USB-C port that can charge a few USB-C compatible laptops. You’ll get relatively the same full charges for laptops, too.

Devices	RAVPower 25,000mAh Quick Charge 3.0 Solar Power Bank(Output Capacity = 19,000mAh)	Phone Capacity	RAVPower 25,000mAh Quick Charge 3.0 Solar Power Bank Left Over Capacity after One Charge # of Full Charges for the Device
iPhone SE	19,000mAh	1,624mAh	17,376mAh Left Over Capacity 11.6 Full Charges
iPhone 6	19,000mAh	1,810mAh	17,190mAh Left Over Capacity 10.4 Full Charges
iPhone 6 Plus	19,000mAh	2,915mAh	16,085mAh Left Over Capacity 6.5 Full Charges
iPhone 6s	19,000mAh	1,715mAh	17,285mAh Left Over Capacity 11.0 Full Charges
iPhone 6s Plus	19,000mAh	2,750mAh	16,250mAh Left Over Capacity 6.9 Full Charges
Samsung Galaxy S6	19,000mAh	2,550mAh	16,450mAh Left Over Capacity 7.4 Full Charges
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge	19,000mAh	2,600mAh	16,400mAh Left Over Capacity 7.3 Full Charges
Samsung Galaxy S7	19,000mAh	3,000mAh	16,000mAh Left Over Capacity 6.3 Full Charges
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	19,000mAh	3,600mAh	15,400mAh Left Over Capacity 5.2 Full Charges
Samsung Galaxy S8+	19,000mAh	3,500mAh	15,500mAh Left Over Capacity 5.4 Full Charges

Output Charging:

The output charging from this power bank is another strong part of this charger. That’s because this charger uses three output ports that you can use to charge your devices.

Two USB-A Ports:

There are two USB-A ports on this power bank, with one featuring Quick Charge and the other one has a standard charging speed of 5V/2.4A. So you can fast charge a Quick Charge compatible device with the Quick Charge port, and you can also charge Non-Compatible devices with the Quick Charge port, too. If you do, the QC port will simply output a 5V/2.4A charging speed.

USB-C Port:

The USB-C port on this power bank has a 5V/3.0A charging speed. So you can use it to charge USB-C compatible devices with a USB-C to USB-C charging cable, such as smartphones, tablets and also USB-C laptops like the USB-C MacBook. That said, the UBS-C port on this power bank does not use Power Delivery, therefore it won’t be able to charge your USB-C MacBook at its max charging speed, and it’s definitely not a good idea to depend on the USB-C port to charge USB-C compatible laptops as a whole.

Of course, charging USB-C smartphones with the USB-C port is a good idea as it will charge them at a fast charging speed.

Max Output:

The max output of this power bank is 6.4A (32W), so you can use the max power of two ports at the same time, such as the Quick Charge port at 18W, and the USB-C port at 15W. You can’t use the max power of all the charging ports at the same time, and if you do use all the ports at the same time, then that will ultimately result in the charging power being split up between the ports.

That said, the max output of this power bank is very good.

Input Charging:

To recharge this power bank, you have a total of three ways to do it.

USB-C and Micro-USB input:

The Micro-USB input to recharge this RAVPower portable charger uses Quick Charge, so if you’re solely using the Micro-USB port for recharging then you should use a Quick Charge wall charger to make sure that you’re using its full power.

The USB-C input has a 5V/3.0A recharging speed, which is just a little slower than the Micro-USB input to recharge this power bank, but you should also use a Quick Charge wall charger with it.

Both of the input ports on this power bank are quite powerful, but what makes recharging this power bank a great experience is that you can use the Micro-USB and USB-C input port at the same time to recharge this power bank at a 4A recharge rate and that will result in a 5 hour full recharge time.

Solar Recharging

Solar recharging, in general, is quite slow in comparison to wired recharging and that’s definitely the case here. With this power bank using a 5V/300mA recharging speed. That’s basically a quarter of 1 Amp. As a result, to recharge this power bank to its full power with the Solar panel, you would have to wait a week for that to happen.

Ain’t nobody got time for that and that’s why the Solar recharging is something that you would depend on passively while you’re out and about with this power bank.

Design

Size and Weight:

This isn’t a mini power bank by any means, sure it’s a portable charger that you can basically take anywhere that you want, but at the same time, this charger is quite large and heavy. It has a length of 7.1 inches, a width of 3.5 inches, and a thickness of 1.2 inches. The weight of the power bank is 1.4 Pounds.

So it’s not really a power bank that you’re going to want to hold for a long duration of time and we found that it’s best to use its lanyard hole to attach this power bank to a backpack. So you can run your cable from the power bank to your devices that are close by. Also, placing this power bank down and having it recharge with its solar panel is another way to use it, too.

Functional Components:

The charging ports on his power bank are covered by a covering that makes the power bank waterproof, something that we’ll get into a little later.

The two USB-A ports are on the short side of the power bank and right next to the flashlight. On the long length side is where you’ll find the other two ports under a covering with them being the Micro-USB port and the USB-C port.

On top of the power bank is where there’s the power button, and four Blue power capacity indicators are. Also, when the power bank is Solar recharging, there’s a Green light that turns on at the corner of the Solar panel to indicate that the power bank is recharging.

To begin charging from this power bank you do have to press the button. The power button is also used to turn on the Flashlight and changes through its three settings of Strobe, Constant and SOS.

Build

Structure and Material:

The build quality of this RAVPower Solar power bank is very tough. It has an IP66 water-resistance rating (When the ports are covered!) and that means the charger is able to withstand powerful jets of water. That said, this power bank cannot be submerged into the water as it’s not built up to that type of specification.

The charger is also dust-right and shockproof.

Tech:

On the tech side, the power bank does tend to get quite warm when you’re Solar recharging it, but that’s really bound to happen as it’s basking in the sun. Other than that, charging three devices at once will not result in overheating.

Reliability

Even though Solar power banks are simply portable chargers that have a Solar panel attached and the recharging from the Solar panel is very slow, this RAVPower portable charger, in particular, is very good with what it features.

With its very high power capacity, its use of three output ports, two of which is Quick Charge and a USB-C port, and you can even use two input ports at the same time to recharge this power bank at a faster speed.

Summary:

Power:

The charging power from this power bank is great, even though the Solar recharging is very slow. The power capacity is enough to charge most smartphones to full power about five times and you can also charge the USB-C MacBook with this charger when you use the USB-C port. Also, you can recharge this power bank using both input ports at the same time.

Design:

It’s a large power bank that can be quite difficult to hold and that’s why using the lanyard hole is the better way to take this power bank anywhere that you want to.

Build:

The build is pretty good with this power bank, as it has an IP66 water-resistance rating when the ports are covered. But it can withstand jets of water and cannot be submerged.

Reliability:

It’s a very reliable portable charger with its use of many charging ports and a high power capacity.

Specs of the RAVPower 25,000mAh Solar Power Bank with USB-C Port:

• Output:

Standard USB Port: 5V/2.4A

Quick Charge Port: 5V-6.5V/3A | 6.5-9V/2A | 9-12V/1.5A

USB-C Port: 5V/3.0A

Max Output: 6.4A (32W)

• Input:

Micro-USB Input: 5V/2.0A | 9V/2.0A | 12V/1.5A

USB-C Input: 5V/3.0A

Both Input Ports used at the same time: 4A

Solar Recharging Speed: 5V/300mA

• LED Power Indicator: Four LED Power Capacity Indicators
• Size: 7.1 x 3.5 x 1.2 inches
• Weight: 1.4 Pounds

Conclusion:

The RAVPower 25,000mAh Solar power bank isn’t about the Solar recharging, at least not really, it has a bunch of other charging features that make up its quality.

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