I've got a lot of power banks. Big ones. Small ones. All sorts of power banks. Some are good, and many are not.
Late last year I took delivery of Chargeasap's latest power bank, the Flash Pro Plus. A huge power bank with an amazing array of charging options.
Physically, the Flash Pro Plus is a chunky (15.8 x 8.7 x 2.8 cm) pack of aircraft-grade anodized aluminum and batteries that weighs in at a reassuring 580 grams.
It's a big power bank housing five 21700 Panasonic lithium polymer graphene composite cells holding 25,000mAh of power.
And the power bank can push that power out of four ports and two wireless charger pads.
Yes, that's right, ports and wireless.
I have the Apple version, which means that along with one 100W USB- C port, one 60W USB-C port, a 20W USB-C port, and a 50W USB-A port, it also features a 15W MagSafe wireless charger and a 5W wireless charger for the Apple Watch.
In all, the Flash Pro Plus can deliver 190W of power.
Now, I'm not going to bore you with the specs (I've listed them below), beyond just saying that the Flash Pro Plus does everything it says it can do on the tin. All the ports push out the rated power, the wireless chargers work well, and the capacity is as rated.
The first standout feature for me is charge speeds. The specs list claimed an 80 percent charge in 45 minutes, or empty to 100 percent charge in 70 min, and my testing shows these figures to be accurate.
The power bank also features a 1.3-inch OLED display that gives me an at-a-glance look at the battery level, temperature, and port output.
This is a nice touch, and useful.
The Flash Pro Plus is also robust.
Very robust.
It's been designed and built to survive drop tests on each of its six sides from a height of 1.2m onto a 10cm wooden plate, a shake test at a frequency range of 5Hz to 500Hz for 1 hour, withstand high humidity environment of 60 - 90 percent and keep working, and static discharges of 2000V.
I've certainly dropped mine a few times, and it's been in a variety of challenging environments, and it's still working great.
My only qualm about the build is that boxes made of aluminum aren't forgiving and don't play nicely with other bits of kit. I do prefer polymers and rounded corners because they're less likely to go through a screen or crush things.
The Flash Pro Plus also features high levels of temperature regulation, designed to never exceed 60