Horrible BLF confession. I love off brand power banks. Especially inexpensive power banks. Don’t get me wrong… I own a couple Anker power banks and I’m super happy with them. But I just cringe at the idea of bringing a $60 power bank backpacking or to the beach. I cringe at the idea of leaving it in less than ideal conditions that will degrade the 18650 cells inside. So I wanted a couple “throw away” power banks for those sticky situations and enter the Romoss Sense 6
Romoss Sense 6 20000mah @ Gearbest.com – http://bit.ly/2sisa0p
published manufacturers specs:
Exclusive Charging Technology
Smart charging circuitry always automatically provides your device with the perfect current for a safe and quick charge.
Ultra High Capacity
Fully charge your iPhone 7 Plus 4.5 times or a 9.7-inch iPad Pro 1.5 times.
Certified Safe
Multi-protect safe system with built-in over-heat, over-charge, over-current, over-circuit protection ensures complete protection for you and your device.
Guaranteed Quality
Grade A battery cell are used to ensure power, safety and reliability. It passed shock, temperature and vibration tests before shipping.
Dual USB Output
2.1A and 1 A output, convenient for 2 devices to charge simultaneously.
Review:
There are plenty of pictures and video of this unit being torn down and it is no secret that it contains 8×2500mah chinese made cells, which totals to the advertised 20,000mah specs. As many of us know, this is not truly accurate because the 3.7V 18650 cells need to be boosted to 5.0v required for USB. The conversion is only about 75-90% efficient which really leaves us with about 14-15,000 real mah. This particular model is claims to be capable of outputting 3A over two separate usb outputs.
The labeling is pretty straight forward. One lightning bolt for the 1a channel and 2 lightning bolt for the 2a channel. My testing I was only above to get around 2.5a while using both channels. I was never able to obtain the full 3a. The Sense 6 can be charged at 2A, but I was never able to get it to accept more than 1.5A. Could this be my cables? sure. But I tried several and got different results with different cables. Pretty typical as USB cables degrade quickly.
The Sense 6 is pretty clearly labeled with the specs on the back and the LED panel is easy to say. It tells you the remaining % of charge. There is also a small on/off button on the side.
My Youtube Review:
Final Thoughts:
To me the sense 6 is terrific. it brings a real 20k mah power bank into the affordable for everyone range. The $25 price is very enticing and for that price I can live with the shortcomings, which really are not that bad. The question here is whether or not the inclusion of inexpensive chinese cells to save money is actually worth it? In this case I think it is. This is a power bank that you can use and abuse and will not be sorry if you destroy it. It is enough to charger your average phone 4-5 times on one charge. These chinese cells are going to degrade a little quicker, but even cheap chinese cells are capable of reliable providing a sustained 2a output.
if I need something to charge at exactly 2a I’m going to pull out my Anker power banks… no doubt. but if I’m lazily charging a few phones on the beach, in the sand and the sun with water close by… I can guarantee my Anker’s will be safe at home.
With a price difference of about 30-40 dollar between the Sense 6 and other products like Anker, I can live the difference in performance.
This sense 6 has been used daily now for several months. My wife keeps it in her purse, and is constantly charging her and her co-workers phones all night long. She also uses it to charge her e-cig. This thing is essentially in use 16-20 hours a day over the last few months. Over the course of her 8 hours shift she typically will bring this home with about 40% charge left, and it takes around 6-8 hours to fully charge it back up. It’s pretty impressive considering the amount of use she puts it through. We have several Anker power banks, and a few of the Xiaomi Mi power banks and this is the one she chooses to bring with her.
We ended up liking this one so much that we ordered 2 more for our upcoming vacation. I’ll try to update this posting in a few months and see how this is holding up after a few more months of non-stop use.