First Impressions: The Xiaomi Mi Power Bank 16000mAh Means Business

Our mobile devices, be it smartphones or tablets, have easily become an essential. We take our personal computing experience on the go, and...

Our mobile devices, be it smartphones or tablets, have easily become an essential. We take our personal computing experience on the go, and we want to be updated around the clock. But of course, these devices need to be charged, and you just can't hug the walls and sit there for hours on end when you have to be somewhere else. Hence, solutions such as extra batteries and power banks come in handy. But then again, with a plethora of them out in the market, making a choice would tend to be very difficult. At worse, there are loads of fake ones (with of course, a very low price tag to please the masses) out in the streets today. This is where official, reputable distributors come into play, and they're the best places to start when you want things safe and secure. 

Lazada has made a name in the world of e-commerce. Buying from them is quite easy, really – all you have to do is check the item you need, add it to the cart if they have stocks, and choose a payment method. You could opt for COD (Cash on Delivery), or pay with PayPal or your Credit or Debit Cards. Easy, huh?Well, Lazada is also the official distributor of Xiaomi products here in the country, making them the best place when buying products hailing from the Chinese manufacturer. And what we're looking at here is the Xiaomi Mi Power Bank 16000mAh, currently priced at Php 1,299.00.

Now, if you're familiar with the Xiaomi Mi Power Bank 10400, you'll probably know how much it's going to cost – quite cheap at Php 645.00. Now this may get you thinking – Why would you settle for something that's double the price when you can't get double the rating? Let me explain.

In the world of mobility today, the more gadgets you have, the more of them you have to charge.

The Mi Power Bank 10400 takes about five hours to charge on a 5V/2A power adapter, and if you only have one, well, that makes things a bit tedious. Let's put things in perspective and pit both power banks against each other.

	Mi Power Bank 16000mAh	Mi Power Bank 10400mAh
Rated Capacity	3.75V/16000mAh(TYP)	3.6V/10400mAh(TYP)
Charging Time	9 hrs with 5V/2A plug and standard cable   14.5 hrs with 5V/1A plug and standard cable	5.5 hrs with 5V/2A plug and standard cable   12 hrs with 5V/1A plug and standard cable
Output	2.1A output on both ports, when both ports are used simultaneously, maximum output is 5.1V/3.6A	2.1A output
Safety	Supports protection from over-voltage (input and output), over-current (input and output), short circuit, over-charge, over-discharge, and battery Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC).	Input OVP, OCP; Output OCP OVP, short protection; cell protection including OVP OCP, thermal protection during charge and discharge stage
Size	90.5*77*21.6mm	145*60.4*22mm
Price	Php 1,299.00	Php 645.00

Do check out the pics after the jump, and meanwhile, we'll be taking this hunk of metal for a spin and see how far it can take us.