Also see: Best Black Friday Gadget Deals EC Technology’s third-generation power bank follows the same red-and-black matte plastic design as its predecessors, but it’s slimmed down and is much more portable than the EC Tech 22,400mAh bank. No carry case is supplied, but the EC Tech feels reassuringly tough. At 166x66x23mm it could fit in the pocket of your jeans, but we don’t recommend carrying it around in this way; at 330g it could easily pull down your trousers. However, it won’t add too much weight when thrown in your bag. Also see: Best MiFi 2016. Four blue LEDs are found on the top of the power bank to indicate how much charge is remaining. Each light indicates 25 percent of the battery, so when all four are shining the battery is fully charged and ready to go. Also see: How to improve smartphone battery life. On one side of the EC Technology External Battery pack is a Micro-USB port for recharging the power bank. A cable is supplied in the box. In our tests we found we were able to simultaneously charge the power bank and a connected device; this is known as passthrough charging. The input is rated at 10W, but to make the most of that speed you’ll need a mains adaptor that can deliver that much power. On the bottom (or top, depending on which way you hold it) are three USB outputs – rated at 5W, 10.5W and 12W. You can plug a phone or tablet into any of these outputs, but tablets might prefer one of the faster-charging connections. The EC Technology power bank has a maximum total output of 19.5W, so not all three outputs can run at full-power at once, but built-in AUTO IC technology cleverly recognises the connected device and supplies power at the correct rate, which means they may not need to do so. A nice extra is the LED flashlight, which is a common feature in power banks. A double-tap of the power button turns on the torch, which can be handy at night as you’re fiddling around in the dark to find a charging cable for your phone. A second double-tap enters the flashlight into SOS mode, where it flashes continuously; a third double-press switches off the torch. Also see: Best desktop chargers 2015. The power button is necessary only to check the battery capacity and turn on the flashlight; the EC Technology External Battery Pack supports auto-on, meaning you only need to plug in your phone and it will instantly begin to charge. However, you’ll need to remember to unplug your phone or tablet once it is fully charged to avoid any power being wasted – auto-off is not supported. With a 12,000mAh capacity and an industry average efficiency of between 65- and 70 percent, you can expect a little over 8,000mAh of power to be available to your devices. That could charge an iPhone 6 4.5 times, a Samsung Galaxy S6 3 times and iPad Air 2 once; how many times it will charge your particular device depends on its own battery capacity. Read next: How to charge your phone or tablet faster.
