The Shargeek Storm 2 comes with a cable, and that’s all you need. Jack Wallen/ZDNET
I once had the misfortune of living without electricity for long periods of time. The last time was during a massive ice storm that knocked out power to the entire city for over a week. During this period, I had to use a lot of imagination to charge my various devices. It wasn’t easy, but thanks to a generator and careful dosing of my consumption, I managed it.
At the time, I did not have access to the large self-contained batteries that are on the market today.
Among these you’ll find the Shargeek Storm 2, which claims to be the first “transparent battery pack with IPS display”. And that’s exactly what it is. The case is largely made of transparent plastic, and there’s a (very small) screen that lets you see all kinds of data about the power bank.
These interesting features aside, the most important element of a power bank is still its ability to charge devices. I put the Shargeek Storm 2 through its paces to see how well it would hold up and came away impressed.
Technical specifications of the Shargeek Storm 2 external battery
Coming to the specifications, the most important one you need to know is: The Shargeek Storm 2 comes with a huge battery with a total power of 25600mAh. In addition, it includes:
- An IPS screen to view battery life, power distribution, operating temperature and DC power current voltage adjustment.
- 100W PD (Power delivery) fast charging via USB C port.
- Two USB C ports, one USB B port and one adjustable DC port (for recharging the standalone battery itself).
The Shargeek Storm 2 comes with a USB C cable. That’s it. But that’s really all you need. Although the price may seem high (at $240), the charging capacity you get with the device is worth it (especially if you’re worried about losing power when bad weather hits).
My experience with the Shargeek Storm 2
The first thing to understand is that you can only charge the Storm 2 with the DC input or vertical USB C port on the left side of the port panel.
Make sure to use the USB C port on the left side to charge the power bank. Jack Wallen/ZDNET
You will know that the Shargeek is charging when you see a number displayed by the IN square on the LCD screen. If you plug the USB C cord into the port on the right, you won’t see anything indicated. But fortunately, either of the two outlets can recharge the Shargeek.
But what about charging devices with this Shargeek Storm 2? How is it going ? My test focused on two different devices: the Pixel Pro smartphone and an Android tablet.
For my test, I let the smartphone run until the battery percentage dropped below 10% and the tablet down to zero. I then fully charged the devices (one at a time) and let them drain completely again. I was able to do it five times with the phone and three times with the tablet. It’s not quite up to the level of the Storm 2 announcement, but there is a downside to my test.
On two occasions, I left the phone and tablet plugged in overnight to see if the Storm 2 could automatically detect that the devices were fully charged and turn off. My experience shows that this is not the case.
I took my test again. And this time I monitored the charging and unplugged the device as soon as it was fully charged. This method paid off and the Storm 2 kept its promises: up to seven charges for one phone. I was also able to get five full charges for the tablet.
The important caution about using this battery
The only downside I have with the Storm 2 is that the LCD screen is very small. In fact, the screen is so small that my aging eyes found it impossible to read. To find out the percentage of charge remaining, I had to use my phone’s camera and zoom in. Otherwise, these tiny numbers appeared blurry.
I have to zoom in seriously for my aging eyes to see what’s on the screen. Jack Wallen/ZDNET.
If you have younger eyes, you may not have a problem seeing the data displayed on the screen. But even with my glasses on, those tiny numbers might as well not be there, it would be the same for me.
ZDNET’s purchasing advice on external battery
That’s pretty impressive for a device measuring 4.61 x 5.9 x 15.1 cm and weighing 570g. Granted, the Shargeek Storm 2 won’t outperform a device like the FJDynamics Pony 500 (504 Watt-hours!), but if you need something smaller (and cheaper), this standalone battery could be the tank. ideal energy to have on hand when weather conditions threaten to leave you without electricity.
Source: “ZDNet.com”