sksundram
In the zone
OnePlus launched the 10000 mAh powerbank on May 11, 2015 in India through its online partner, Amazon.in. But thanks to a fiasco by Amazon, the OP powerbank page went live a day before the official launch. But this was not the disastrous part. It was the launch price of sub-1K (INR 997 to be precise) that, in the coming days, proved to be the reason for massive protest by the prospective buyers. Thankfully, Amazon realized its mistake and thus, only a few of the lucky buyers were able to buy it for sub-1k price. Those who didn't were expecting the price to be the same on the launch day.
On launch day, OnePlus dropped the bomb. They priced it a lot higher at INR 1399, a 40% increase in the supposed price. This caused a massive unrest among the buyers and they made sure OP forum got flooded with their rant. The Amazon rating for the OP powerbank took a deep dive as with each passing minute, all we could notice was the one star rating.
Anyway, since I was in a desperate need of a powerbank, I ordered it the minute the page went live. I ordered the sandstone version as I had heard a lot of praise of this texture. I received the package on May 14. The delivery was within the stipulated time, though I didn't appreciate the box that it came in. Shipping electronics should be totally avoided by Amazon in these shoddy packages which have just a single layer of bubble wrap. FK's packages are a lot better in this regard.
The package contains the powerbank and a charging cable.
Here are some pics:
It is well built, light and can be easily termed as pocket-friendly. The sandstone texture gives a good grip. Looks can be summarized as 'classy' in a single word. It took me 6 hours to fully charge it from 0 to 100% using my Sony 5V/2.1A charger (the one shown in the pic). I hope the charging time reduces to a further half an hour in the coming weeks. I was able to charge my Xolo q800 (2100 mAh) almost 4 times using it. This powerbank has a really great conversion rate.
Now, let me state some serious gripes.
1. It has no pass-through charging. That is downright bad and stupid. (A big thumbs down.)
2. The current reduces to half i.e. 1A while simultaneous charging of two devices. (Why OP why?)
3. It has a blue light to indicate charging/discharging which doesn't go well with the looks. It could have been a calming white light instead.
4. I need to vigorously shake it to know the charge remaining. A simple press of a button would have been better. It's a bane for lazy guys.
The last two squawks are person specific. I have to say that I am not totally impressed with it and I don't think it's a VFM device as of now. I know that Li-Po batteries don't come cheap but that's not an excuse to sideline important/useful features while designing it. After all that craze that OPO has been able to create, this embarkment won't complete the voyage as expected.
Xiaomi powerbank has got all the features that OP powerbank lack except an extra USB port. This, however, has been addressed in the 16000 mAh powerbank by Xiaomi. For end user, battery tech (Li-Io vs Li-Po) doesn't matter much unless you want your powerbank to run for 5+ years. Though, safety is a feature that Li-Po batteries can boast of, I haven't heard too many cases of Li-Io batteries posing as a threat under normal conditions. For a price of INR 1399, this is certainly not an ideal choice.
UPDATE: I have to add one more con of this product. I have recently bought a Huawei Wingle E8231 (fancy name for a USB dongle). My plan was to use one of the ports of the powerbank to power this dongle so that I can comfortably use it as a wifi-router. Now, this powerbank failed to power the dongle up coz It provided a constant supply of 2A current whereas the dongle needed a lesser amount of current supply. I thought (a) the dongle would be able to run on 2A current; (b) the powerbank would be able to adjust the current supply according to the device attached. It came as a rude shock to me.
This was really frustrating. Eventually, I had two options.
The first was to connect my phone to the unused port of the powerbank. This made it to supply 1A current to both the ports.
The second was to buy a 1A USB wall charger. I did that too.
But this was not my plan. Due to signal issues, I have to put my dongle in a certain area in my flat. The powerbank would have been the ideal way to sort out. I have to buy another powerbank.
On launch day, OnePlus dropped the bomb. They priced it a lot higher at INR 1399, a 40% increase in the supposed price. This caused a massive unrest among the buyers and they made sure OP forum got flooded with their rant. The Amazon rating for the OP powerbank took a deep dive as with each passing minute, all we could notice was the one star rating.
Anyway, since I was in a desperate need of a powerbank, I ordered it the minute the page went live. I ordered the sandstone version as I had heard a lot of praise of this texture. I received the package on May 14. The delivery was within the stipulated time, though I didn't appreciate the box that it came in. Shipping electronics should be totally avoided by Amazon in these shoddy packages which have just a single layer of bubble wrap. FK's packages are a lot better in this regard.
The package contains the powerbank and a charging cable.
Here are some pics:
*i.imgur.com/NTuGYFX.jpg
*i.imgur.com/Ac6Q5mn.jpg
*i.imgur.com/fDnsivw.jpg
*i.imgur.com/5ewvYvR.jpg
*i.imgur.com/dd7C2El.jpg
*i.imgur.com/0zC3580.jpg
*i.imgur.com/RPiYiRF.jpg
*i.imgur.com/kGAgFAn.jpg
*i.imgur.com/CJhPY67.jpg
*i.imgur.com/Ac6Q5mn.jpg
*i.imgur.com/fDnsivw.jpg
*i.imgur.com/5ewvYvR.jpg
*i.imgur.com/dd7C2El.jpg
*i.imgur.com/0zC3580.jpg
*i.imgur.com/RPiYiRF.jpg
*i.imgur.com/kGAgFAn.jpg
*i.imgur.com/CJhPY67.jpg
It is well built, light and can be easily termed as pocket-friendly. The sandstone texture gives a good grip. Looks can be summarized as 'classy' in a single word. It took me 6 hours to fully charge it from 0 to 100% using my Sony 5V/2.1A charger (the one shown in the pic). I hope the charging time reduces to a further half an hour in the coming weeks. I was able to charge my Xolo q800 (2100 mAh) almost 4 times using it. This powerbank has a really great conversion rate.
Now, let me state some serious gripes.
1. It has no pass-through charging. That is downright bad and stupid. (A big thumbs down.)
2. The current reduces to half i.e. 1A while simultaneous charging of two devices. (Why OP why?)
3. It has a blue light to indicate charging/discharging which doesn't go well with the looks. It could have been a calming white light instead.
4. I need to vigorously shake it to know the charge remaining. A simple press of a button would have been better. It's a bane for lazy guys.
The last two squawks are person specific. I have to say that I am not totally impressed with it and I don't think it's a VFM device as of now. I know that Li-Po batteries don't come cheap but that's not an excuse to sideline important/useful features while designing it. After all that craze that OPO has been able to create, this embarkment won't complete the voyage as expected.
Xiaomi powerbank has got all the features that OP powerbank lack except an extra USB port. This, however, has been addressed in the 16000 mAh powerbank by Xiaomi. For end user, battery tech (Li-Io vs Li-Po) doesn't matter much unless you want your powerbank to run for 5+ years. Though, safety is a feature that Li-Po batteries can boast of, I haven't heard too many cases of Li-Io batteries posing as a threat under normal conditions. For a price of INR 1399, this is certainly not an ideal choice.
UPDATE: I have to add one more con of this product. I have recently bought a Huawei Wingle E8231 (fancy name for a USB dongle). My plan was to use one of the ports of the powerbank to power this dongle so that I can comfortably use it as a wifi-router. Now, this powerbank failed to power the dongle up coz It provided a constant supply of 2A current whereas the dongle needed a lesser amount of current supply. I thought (a) the dongle would be able to run on 2A current; (b) the powerbank would be able to adjust the current supply according to the device attached. It came as a rude shock to me.
This was really frustrating. Eventually, I had two options.
The first was to connect my phone to the unused port of the powerbank. This made it to supply 1A current to both the ports.
The second was to buy a 1A USB wall charger. I did that too.
But this was not my plan. Due to signal issues, I have to put my dongle in a certain area in my flat. The powerbank would have been the ideal way to sort out. I have to buy another powerbank.
Last edited:
