Xiaomi Mi 2 Powerbank 20,000mAh Review - New 20Ah King?

Thank you.
Mike

Bold first post.

Not to mention the specs on that supposedly wonderful thing...
Charging time could be measured by the erosion of stones using 5V @ 1A ;) About 15 hours for a full charge!

Where in China is Maryland? :wink:

so basically the PLM05ZM is THE BEST power bank of the world at the moment…!
of course among the 20k power banks…. going OVER is just stupid and corrupts portability

I received a new USB load and meter today and was able to do some output stress testing.

5V: No problem up to 2.4A, output voltage gets a significant bump above 1.5A.

9V: No problem up to 2.4A.

12V: Fine up to 2.2A, which is 26W of power. No phone is every going to draw that much power from a USB-A.

Hi, can you introduce the USB load and meter?

AVHzY CT-2 / KT001 meter and YZXstudio ZL1100 load. Testing the offline curve recording functions right now. I had the ZY1276 but the AVHzY is superior in every way.

Thanks, will34.

Maybe you could do a quick-look mini-review of this USB meter in a separate thread? Looks interesting. Just did a Google search, it looks like the CT-2 is also marketed as the KT001 (Power-Z) and the Kotomi Premium (Kotomi “Pre”).

Many new USB meters with more powerful features have just arrived the past year, though one important functionality is interfacing with a PC software and to be able to record/graph/chart data values (which the ZY1276 unfortunately does not — it only outputs raw values, but no in-house PC software that can do graphs other than read values).

Of course, one other thing is whether the USB meter is as accurate as it says (4 decimal places is already very accurate, in my opinion). Unfortunately, would need specialized equipment (like HKJ) to verify that they’re really precise… I’d like to think that the ZY1276 is factory-calibrated to be accurate (can’t be sure if it really is though…)

Another thing is to allow the USB meter to be powered independently (so it doesn’t drain a minimal current from the USB power device it is testing, which affects the result) — ZY1276 doesn’t have this, but it looks like the KT001 can have independent power source so as not to affect results of the device being measured.

I especially liked the efficiency ratings :slight_smile:

Recharge time 6hr 11min @ 12V/1.6A max (with QC)
I don’t have a QC charger, but I do have a charger that can deliver 3.5A over a standard USB micro cable.
So my question is: Can the PB charge fast without QC but high amp ‘regular’ charge at 5v?

I made a video about this powerbank, where I also test charging with 5V nonQC.
Seems to top out at about 2A.

[quote=will34]

What are the advantages of the AVHzY CT-2 / KT001 over the ZY1276 ?

[quote=angerdan]

Better interface, easier navigation with 3 button, QC trigger, MFi authentification, USB PD support, PD listener, more user friendly Desktop app, internal memory for 5 graphs… and the list goes on :smiley:

That’s a shame because that means a very long charging time for such a beast.
I have 26800 EasyAcc with 2x2.1A. I wouldn’t want to go back to even slower charging.
Often it doesn’t matter it takes many hours to charge, but sometimes, like between flights, it’s ‘essential’ to charge as quickly as possible.
Where ae the powerbanks that charge 60% in 15 mins like modern phones?

In the future, USB-C with PD will be integrated in planes. So in a few years there’s no need for charging between flights. By the way, how about chargers in trains in the countries you’re traveling?
https://www.ifpl.com/ifpl-deliver-fully-integrated-usb-in-seat-power-solution/
https://www.ifpl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IFPL-2018-02-AIX-Period-1-Media-Release.pdf
https://apex.aero/2017/09/29/ifpl-solutions-airlines-c-future

Your EasyAcc 26800 contains 99Wh, so to charge it from 0-60% in 15m, 240W would be needed.
I doubt that a reliable phone will pump up from 0-60% in 15m without increasing degradation of the battery.
Modern smartphone batteries ale LiPo batteries and degrade faster. Also the have only 1-1.5Ah, so with 2C 50% in 15m are possible.

With 18650 cells 1.5A-3A are regular. Only few cells can be charged with up to 6A, like the Sony Konion US18650VTC6.
An 4x18650 powerbank charging each cell at 3A you already have 44W of energy consumption. No USB power plug offers 9A at 5V to charge a powerbank with this current.

Even powerbanks with 12V/2A input can be charged with not more than 40W.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Poweradd-Pilot-Pro2-Multi-Voltage-Notebooks/dp/B013HXKZYW
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Laptops-50000mAh-Portable-External-Notebook-Most/dp/B07CZDX2ZG
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MAXOAK-Capacity-50000mAh-Portable-Notebook-Most/dp/B00YP823NA
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Litionite®-Tanker-Aluminium-connectors-Smartphone-Black/dp/B01LZXPMXM

I just take my 12A charger with me :slight_smile:
6x3.5A + 3x2.5A + 3x1.5A all a 5v. Simultaniously. Not even expensive. I love that thing :slight_smile:

OnePlus’ Dash Charge pushes 4A @5v. (20Watt)

I think it’s no problem to build a 9A charger but the cables would get overly kinda thick…
But 3x 3A should be possible.

Anyway, charging at the max. theoretical speed is possible isn’t even my main point. There is a lot between 2A and 9A (or more as my PB fits 8 cells)

My fav charger

Sorry if this has been asked before, but has anybody observed unusually slow charging with this model? Mine has started to charge at 0.92A throughout the entire charge cycle and i’ve confirmed that it’s neither a charger nor cable problem, my 5000mAh Xiaomi charges consistently at 2A, while this 20000mAh always did 1.42A max.

Not really, experience with my PLM05ZM.

Since I have a USB meter (actually I have several) I notice it usually registers 5.01v without any load (just USB meter), but when loaded a bit, the voltage can dip to say 4.94v, but at other times, just replugging the same device (smartphone), the voltage will instead go up with load.

My smartphone charges at max 1.74A (tested with several USB meters and using different power outlet chargers/powerbanks). But when display is ON, the max charge rate is 1.15A, again only when the smartphone is less than about 75% full (if more than 75% full, the charge rate will not reach 1.74A but will be lower).

Anyway, what I’m mentioning is that sometimes replugging the smartphone on the PLM05ZM, the voltage is up to 5.15v, then the charge rate can reach 1.74A. But when the voltage is around 4.94v, the charge rate is just up to 1.3-1.4A. I’m not very sure how to trigger the powerbank to have voltage go slightly up or down though…

The smartphone’s charge current DOES appear to correlate with the voltage it’s sensing (which can also be affected by the cable used — using a worse quality cable will have lower charge current)

" voltage gets bumped from 5.0V to 5.2V. "

https://imgur.com/a/Z1sdYDN

This is why I see these spikes in the graph (USB24C USB meter)?

I am charging with an Orico charger, which has max 2.4A/port, but it is only charging with ca. 2A. It is normal?

1. Yes this is normal. This is done because of the resistance of the cable, so the charger bumps the voltage to 5,2V so the phone/powerbank receives 5,0V.

2. It has 2,4A max output, but the device decides what current it is charging at. In this case, it is 2A. So, perfectly normal.