After a while of hints and teasing, it appears the PB2S has finally been unleashed upon the world.
The first review has appeared in an Italian vaping forum, and seems that XTAR has addressed many of the shortcomings of the original PB2.
It supports larger 21700 cells, higher currents (QC3.0, though PD would have been nice as well), has a cell extraction strap, and a more informative display.
The reviewer says that it can fully charge an iPhone, which the PB2 couldn’t, due to the low current cutoff, but we’ll see, since the 120mA current limit in the specs may suggest otherwise.
A nice upgrade, but I wish it had appeared sooner, since I reluctantly bought PB2 to fulfill a more immediate need, and don’t wish to acquire yet another charger so soon.
Thanks for the comparison. It’s quite a bit bigger. Not sure if it’s small enough to consider it a travel charger, but if you have to charge 21700’s it still pretty small.
Thanks for posting! This is interesting, and I do like most of Xtars chargers for their typically reliable and proper cc/cv termination. But its also a bit on the largish side. There was some verbiage in the review and product link that has me a bit concerned. It mentioned that when inserting a charged cell and a discharged cell, the charged cell would recharge the discharged cell. Hopefully the cells aren’t arranged in parallel. I would be concerned that the charged cell would directly discharge into the discharged cell without a controlled cc/cv method. Its unlikely and would be potentially dangerous, but probably worth testing just to make sure.
Hopefully Xtar has a copy in its way to HKJ for detailed analysis.
I think that was from the planet of the vapes review.
I think it was in regards to charging priority when it is plugged into a power source. So it will charge the more discharged cell first from external power. I don’t think it implied that it was charging from the other cell.
I just got one, and it’s nice! The “official” link is
which has anigifs to show how it charges/discharges.
True, it’s bigger’n the PB2, but this donk fits 21700s, too, that’s why.
Hell, today I needed to charge a 26650 (Cometa) and it fit it just fine. Sure, just one cell only, and the cover won’t fit, but to be able to charge even a moose like that in a hurry? I’ll live with “larger”.
And there are 2 separate independent channels, so you can put one nearly-topped-off cell right next to one that’s almost dead, and there’ll be no problem.
The side-button lets you click to see the connection spex, then for battery 1, then again for battery 2.
This is my first XTAR charger, and I’m happy with it.
Oh, and it charged my phone just fine. Dunno about “The IPhone Problem”, but my normal phone worked fine. Was at like 36% or something, topped off, drained the PB2S down to 65% or so. Ymmv, of course.