REVIEWED: Moshi Ionbank 10K portable battery
Travel without cables with this stylish all-in-one’s with built-in Apple Lightning
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A portable battery is an absolute must for any trip, but how different can they be? Take a battery, fit it with a USB slot, and plug the phone in when you run out of juice. Simple, and very dull. So why are we so excited about this one from Moshi?
Moshi Ionbank 10K portable battery: design
The Ionbank is all about design. However, the metallic, copper finish, a faux leather flap, and some nicely rounded corners are not why we like this battery. The genius is all about its built-in cables for Apple Lightning and USB. That faux leather flap hides them both, and they unfurl to a couple of inches long each. Travel without cables – it’s real.
Moshi Ionbank 10K portable battery: build
The materials used are excellent, and the build is solid. The only drawback is its weight. At 269 g, is rather large, and its 13.7 x 8.2 x 1.8 cm bulk makes it too big to fit in a pocket with a smartphone. However, as something you leave in your carry on luggage or in your day bag while traveling, it’s absolutely fine in terms of size.
Moshi Ionbank 10K portable battery: power
The Ionbank holds 10,300mAh, which is about enough to recharge an iPhone about four or five times. Or an iPad Air once. Either way, that’s more than enough, at least for now. As phones get larger batteries, we think the 10,000mAh size will come to dominate. For now, it’s 5K batteries that rule … with one exception – this one.
Moshi Ionbank 10K portable battery: usage
On one end of the Ionbank is a USB slot for attaching a second phone or iPad, which outputs 2.4 amps. Alongside are four blue lights, which show how much capacity is left in the battery. Since there’s four of them, you can see how many full charges you have for your phone left before you need to recharge the Ionbank. However, the Ionbank has a secret; it also works as a regular Apple Lightning cable, so it can be used to connect a phone to a laptop to sync and charge, or just to a USB on a universal plug.
Moshi Ionbank 10K portable battery: conclusion
Yes, it’s expensive, and for many people, it will be huge overkill. After all, you can achieve almost the same functionality that the Ionbank claims by spending maybe only a quarter as much cash. However, its key design, undoubted convenience, and that unique data sync-and-charge function mean the Ionbank enables the savvy traveler to leave all cables at home. No other battery we know of can do that, so it’s top marks for the Ionbank; expensive, but worth it.
Price as reviewed: US $99.95 / UK £89.95
