Review of USB battery box 3x18650 XD-168

EDC Gear for Flashlight Carriers USB Power Devices
1

USB battery box 3x18650 XD-168



This usb box does not have any name, but on the bottom it has the type number XD-168. I got it from ebay.
The specifications from one dealer:

  • USB Output: charge mobile phone, MP3, MP4, tablets
  • Micro Input: absorb energy from PC, laptop, wall charger, car charger
  • 4 charging connectors: Apple 30-Pin / Mini / Micro / Nokia DC2.0
  • 4 LED light reminds stock energy, each one light stands for 25% energy. Bright light means full, flashing light means not full, dark means none.
  • One illuminate light, press power button 3 seconds continuous.
  • When the mobile phone is charged full, power bank turns off automatically.
  • Dimension: 100×60×23mm
  • Weight: 70g
  • Color: Black / White




How does it look



The box arrived in a envelope.




Included with it was a couple of connectors and a instruction sheet, but I did not get much out of that sheet (I believe that it is in Chinese).



On top of the box is a "on" button and on the bottom is a unlock slider for the cover. The on button is flashing green when the output is on.



All connections are on one end of the box: A led for flashlight use, the button must be held down a few seconds to turns this led on or off. A usb output connector and a micro usb input/charge connector and four blue leds to show the power status:

  • 4 leds: min 4.10 volt
  • 3 leds: min 3.91 volt
  • 2 leds: min 3.61 volt
  • 1 led: always


While the output is on the power status is flashing.



Sliding the unlock slider, and the cover can be lifted off.



The box has space for 3 18650 batteries, either button top or flat top, that can be up to 70 mm long.

There are no pictures of the electronic, the box is sealed.



Measurements

  • Overload disconnects the battery at 1.6A
  • Requires charger to reconnect battery
  • Need a minimum load of about 450mA to turn on
  • When on, it will not turn off, before the load is removed (even 1 mA is enough to keep it on).
  • Flashlight is turned on/off with a long press on the button.
  • In battery disconnected state the box uses no current from the battery.
  • With battery connected but output disabled the box uses about 0.2mA (This is more than 5 years with a full load of 3100mAh batteries).
  • When a charger is connected, the output will be off.
  • Output is coded as Apple 1A





A load sweep shows that it can deliver up to 1.6A, before the output turns off. It did disconnect the batteries, i.e. before it worked again I needed to connect it to a charger.



On the bottom of the box it says that it can supply 1.5A and the load sweep shows 1.6A, but doing a test at 1.43A does not work for more than 30 minutes.



Reducing the load to 1.25A work better, but again the box has problems after some time.



Using a 1A load (As specified on the website) works much better. The box has a efficiency between 80% and 90% and keeps a very stable output. But it does not run the battery dry, it stops at about 3.3 volt, this is about 500mAh early for a 3400mAh cell.



With a 0.5A load the box can supply current for nearly 11 hours.







The 2600mAh battery does very well, because it has higher voltage than 3100/3400mAh batteries, this allows the box to better utilize the energy from this battery.



The box has a very low noise, this trace is from the 1.25A load (9.3mV).
Note: To measure the noise I did use a more sensitive range.



Reducing the load, does reduce the noise slightly (7.9mV).



The box need a high load to turn on, but when on it will first turn off when the load is very low for 50 seconds.



The charging is not CC/CV but just as good, except for longer charge time. The box needs 12 hours to fully charge a set of 3100mAh batteries (Note: These batteries were fully discharged, if they had only been discharge in the box, it would have been faster).





The time to charger 3100/3400mAh batteries is nearly the same.



The 2600 is slightly faster.



Conclusion

This box is good up to about 1A, with very low noise in the output. Using a mini usb input for charging does also make it compatible with phone chargers, without carrying any extra cables. The build in light makes it possible to connect equipment in darkness.
I have only a few complains about this box, but this does also mean that I am not going to use the box when traveling: Why does it not have a reconnect button. If I replace the batteries or overload the box, I cannot use it before I connect it to another usb charger. I do also wonder if the high turn on current will give problems with some equipment.



Notes

Read more about how I test USB power supplies and chargers

2

How is it possible nobody said something about this nice review? :wink: The graphics are too advanced for me

But i like this one!

3

Thanks HKJ. You know we all love your reviews but dont always comment.

4

You are always welcome to ask.

One of the more simple tings to read is time (It has a scale in minutes), when the green line drops down, the charge or discharge is finished. One discharge charts you can also look for when the red line goes below the lower yellow line, then the voltage is out of specifications and a lot of equipment will not work after this time.

The link at the bottom does contain a bit more explanation.

With this review here, very few people did read it at first.

Sometimes I wonder how many people read my review here and how many uses my website. I.e. do people on BLF always read my reviews here, or do they read them on my website? The advantage here is that it is easier to ask questions and possible to see comments from other users.

5

I missed this one too the other day. I generally read your reviews on all three sites - your own, BLF and the Other Place. Never thought to get one of these USB boxes before, but there seems to be ots of them out there. I woud never buy one that you hadn’t reviewed, so thanks, HKJ. :crown:

6

Thanks for the review. Glad this one was bumped up so I could see it.

7

+1 to the thank you. I don’t always comment, but I do always appreciate your tests.

8

I read them and value them a lot.

Please keep up the good work. I don’t often comment as there’s nothing to add to what you have already said usually.

Thanks a lot!

9

HKJ…. Your reviews are top notch! I respect all of the work you do here and other places for us, the end user! Thank you.