We all know and understand the struggle of trying to keep your devices charged throughout the day. Some of us have the luxury of being close to a charger all day long. Whether it’s at your desk at work, in the car, or when you get home, you never really have to worry about charging your devices.
When we hit those desperate moments where we need to make sure we are going to have a charge because we know that we won’t be near a charger, is when things get hairy. At AndroidGuys we look at and review a wide variety of portable chargers. Something we haven’t really looked at before is a portable charger designed for mobile phones that can also charge your laptop.
Today, we’ll be taking a look at the IntoCircuit Power Castle Power Bank. This bad boy has a 26000mAh battery packed into it, and can literally charge anything that needs a charge.
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- 26000mAh capacity, provides one full charge to most laptops, or approximately 12 charging cycles for most smartphones.
- AAAA Li-Polymer battery ensures reliability and safety and will last over 1000 recharge cycles over the life of the battery.
- If the output ports are not connected to any device, or the device is already fully charged, the Power Castle will shut down automatically and will go into a sleep mode to conserve power.
- Output ports:
- 1 – USB Port; rated at 5V/2.1A
- 1 – DC port; rated at 12V/4A, 16V/3.5A or 19V/3A
- Stylish quality design with aluminum alloy body, safer and more sturdy than plastic
- Package includes:
- Intocircuit PC26000 Battery
- 12 connectors for most laptops
- 10 connectors for phones and other devices
- 1 DC power wire/ 1 USB spring power wire
- 1 – 18.5V 2A AC Adapter (A full charger only takes 5-6 hours using the provided charger)[/toggles]
Design
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In the box you get the Power Castle, a carrying case, and 22 different adapters for your wide variety of devices. There are twelve different connectors, depending upon what your laptop/Chromebook requires, and the rest are for those random charging options for your devices.
Upon first inspection of the Power Castle, you will notice how heavy this bad boy is. Weighing in at almost 1.5 pounds, this is heavier than some Chromebooks and laptops that can be found nowadays. Granted, none of those devices have a battery that nears 26000mAh but it’s still worth noting nonetheless.
The Power Castle features a brushed aluminum alloy finish that contributes to the heavy weight. On the top there are three LED lights which let you know what voltage the battery is using to charge your devices. To the right of those three are five other LED lights which serve as a battery life indicator and a single button to turn the device on and off.
Charging Capabilities
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The switch on the side serves to change the voltage output on the battery. The voltage required to charge your laptop is not the same as the voltage required to charge your smartphone – laptops require more power output as they have larger screens and processors. The different voltage outputs are 12V, 16V, or 19V. Normally, you’ll use either 12V or 16V when charging your mobile devices, depending on if you need a fast charge. The 19V option is primarily for charging your laptops and your higher powered tablets.
On either side of the voltage switch, there is a USB 2.0 port, and two round non-standard ports. The USB port is used for what you would expect, plugging in your USB cable to charge your lesser powered mobile devices. The two round ports on the opposite side are for charging the Power Castle and for charging your higher powered laptops or Chromebooks for which Intocircuit provides you with the proper adapters as seen in the pictures above.
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Laptop compatibility requirements(All must be met), Please check to ensure compatibility before purchasing:
1) Voltage input: 11.5-12.5V, 15.5-16.5V or 18.5-19V
2) Current input: 4A max(12V), 3.5A max(16V), 3A max(19V)
3) A laptop connector that fits your device’s power input port, see the below detailed tip size(outer x inner diameter in mm)
A – 6.00×4.25 – Sony VAIO
B – 6.25×3.00 – Toshiba Satellite A105, M35
C – 5.50×2.10 – Toshiba T1950, T4700
D – 4.75×1.70 – ASUS Eee 900, 1000
E – 5.50×1.70 – Acer Aspire One AO722
F – 5.50×2.50 – Toshiba Satellite C650, Asus A52
G – 4.00×1.70 – HP Mini 1000/1100
H – 5.00×3.25 – Samsung R519 RV510 RV511
I – 7.40×5.00 – HP Pavilion DV4 / HP G60 / HP Compaq CQ60 / Dell inspiron PA-12 1525
J – 7.90×5.40 – ThinkPad T60, X60, R60
K – 3.00×1.00 – Samsung Ultrabook: Chromebook Series 5, 7, 9
L – 2.50×0.70 – Asus Eee PC900 PC1000
Compatible Models:
12V /16V Optional Voltage Compatible With:
-Smart Phones/iPhones/iPads/Tablets/Digital Cameras/NDS, PSP and Laptops requires 16V output(65w max)
-Not Compatible with Samsung/Surface Tablets[/toggles]
Don’t OverCharge
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Something pretty awesome about the IntoCircuit Power Castle is the technology built into it to protect your electronics. There are portable chargers that don’t take into account that your device actually stops charging when it is full. This can cause overcharging and cannot only heat up your device, but can also damage the battery. The Power Castle has the ability to recognize when your device has reached 100% and will stop charging even if you leave it plugged in.
Standby Time
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From the day that we got the Power Castle, until the day of this review, the Power Castle has seen little drain. We have put it through its paces, which includes multiple phones, a Samsung laptop, and a Chromebook, and have yet to see any measurable drop in capacity. Also, we have intentionally not touched the Power Castle for about a week, and there was no sign of the Power Castle losing any battery while in standby. So, from what we can tell so far, you’ll be able to keep this bad boy with you for quite awhile before having to recharge it.
Speaking of recharging the Power Castle, we haven’t been able to run this thing down to 0%, so we can’t really speak about how long it will take to recharge the Power Castle back to 100%. According to IntoCircuit, it will take about between five and six hours to recharge the Power Castle using the provided charger.
Testing
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Now after all of that, how does the IntoCircuit Power Castle actually perform? We tested the Power Castle with a Series 5 Samsung laptop, and the Power Castle was able to keep the Samsung laptop at 100% without having to worry about the battery form your laptop draining.Â
Additionally, we tested the Power Castle with our brand new Samsung Galaxy Note5 and were able to charge the 3000mAh battery from 0 – 100% in about an hour and 45 minutes. This is about 15 minutes longer than it takes to charge the Note5 from 0-100% with the OEM charger(Qualcomm Quick charge compatible) that comes with the device. So we were generally happy with the charging capabilities that the Power Castle brings to the table.
Conclusion
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All in all, the IntoCircuit Power Castle is a great option for those who need a lot of portable juice all of the time. Just be mindful of carrying this around in your computer bag due to how heavy it is. If you’re interested in picking one up, you can head over to the device page, and grab it from Amazon on sale right now. Usually, priced at $299.99, you can purchase the Intocircuit Power Castle at a discount of only $99.99 with free shipping.
What do you think about the IntoCircuit Power Castle external battery? Is it overkill, or do you think it can be useful to have a portable charger with this much power under the hood? Drop us a line in the comments below, and let us know what you think.
