I love the powerbank feature on lights

[Bort]

@CollectEverything

@Agro

Well, flashlight is not a good phone substitute either. Actually even worse than the other way around.

You have a fixed energy budget determined by what you took with you.
Powerbank capability enables you to transfer some power one way. If you choose so. It may be that you took a lot of phone power and it makes no sense to move some of flashlight power in that direction. In that case powerbank function in your flashlight is useless. And wastes some size and weight. But not much really. But maybe you took a lot of flashlight energy. And taking spare flashlight energy with you is easier than taking spare phone energy actually – just take more of those standard cells – so this function is actual flexibility.

I see what you’re saying, but if I actually needed both a phone and a flashlight I’d just bring a separate powerbank. If emptying the flashlight to fill the phone is acceptable then I guess I never needed the flashlight in the first place. I can see a case for the powerbank capability in a light for situations where you are limited in what you can carry and need to choose between the weight of a flashlight and a dedicated powerbank.

@bort

I actually don’t like it because it adds wear cycles on the battery (plus the malware issue i mentioned earlier), in essence wadding wear to two batteries but in general you don’t drain your light, most people do drain their cell phone battery daily if not multiple times a day.

In a crunch being able to go from light to phone is a great backup if you need it.

I think the malware issue is probably a non-issue because it would require there to be enough extra space on the flashlight chip for a program and also for the phone to allow code to be injected through the USB port with no kind of limit or security in place.

I can understand not wanting to wear out batteries for no reason but I assume that if you are using a light as a powerbank it’s not so that you can play Candy Crush until the battery dies repeatedly. Rather, I’d expect it to be to top off the phone you are using rarely to ensure communication with the outside world while camping or hiking.

As i said i don’t use my lights as powerbanks (i’m not even sure if any of mine have the option) but the ability is always useful because who knows what the future will bring.
That said if it works for others then thats great.
And i don’t do games or facebook or social media.

[cybergopnik]

I love this feature. My Sofirn IF22A with powerbank function has saved me a few times already. Also with a Samsung 40T it still has more capacity than an 18650. I dont ’really understand the concern about parasitic drain, if you’re letting the light sit for longer periods, just take out the battery or twist the tailcap half a turn for lockout. I mean how long are you storing your lights that parasitic drain is an issue? And for longer periods lithium batteries should be stored at 3.6-3.7 Volts anyway.

Also i don’t get the concern about security… Why would a flashlight manufacturer use their flashlights to try and infect some devices where it is completely unkown what devices will end up being connected to it. I really don’t see a difference to standard powerbanks here, which also could be manufactured in some backalley with “super evil hacking chips” and nobody would be concerned about using them.

[Lightbringer]

It’s the classic “Swiss Army Knife” problem. You may “need” the toenail clippers, so why not just throw it in? Same with the scissors, and the tape-measure, and the valve-stem tool, and the sparkplug-gap gauge, and…

Like, yeah, okay, maybe the sparkplug-gap gauge saved your ass out in the boonies, but to normies, is it actually useful?

Even a “lipstick” type powerbank could then jump-start your phone or your light if needed.

[Perception]

Why not just throw away the flashlight, carry an actual power bank, and use your phone flashlight?

I HATE when manufacturers try to shoehorn a powerbank “feature” into their flashlights. I carry a light because I want an actual flashlight that isn’t terrible, not to power a device that serves as a half-ass flashlight because I ran my actual light out of juice. A powerbank feature on a light is a deal breaker for me.

[cybergopnik]

Honestly that sounds like a pointless rant, you are saying that you don’t have the self control to not use the powerbank feature if the light has it?

Also please provide examples when a manufacturer adding the powerbank feature actually made the light worse.

[Perception]

Of course I have the self control not to use it. I just don’t want it on there. I don’t buy the combo at McDonalds if I’m only going to eat the burger and don’t want the fries or drink.

To simplify the discussion, I’ve linked to a very small selection of lights made worse with the inclusion of a powerbank feature:
Lights that would be better if they got rid of the powerbank feature.

It’s not an all inclusive list, but it’s a start.

[iamlucky13]

@JenkinsMatti

@Casemods

Seems pretty gimicky. Why not just bring a spare phone battery to swap out? Or an actual power bank? Why drain your flashlight battery when you don’t need to

I agree. You drain your light battery & when you need light you are out of luck.
Just another “bell & whistle” that is not needed & not wanted as far as I personally am concerned.

A dedicated Power Bank may add a tiny bit of weight, but at least you can charge anything (light, phone, etc.) with it.

But, these are just my biased opinions.To each their own.

You guys are looking at this all wrong. It’s a justification for bringing another light, not an infringement on the capabilities of a single light. “Yes dear, I need three lights. This is my regular light. This is the backup. This one is the powerbank you asked for to charge your phone. It just has a light built into it as well.” :sunglasses:

More practically speaking, the light I typically use when traveling is just a 14500-powered headlamp with a good moonlight so I can use it as a night light. It can run for weeks at that level. I may use it for a few other tasks over a typical weekend trip, yet still finish the weekend well above half charge (3.7V).

If I were packing an 18650 light, it wouldn’t actually be an imposition on me to give a phone a 50% charge to get by with. Depending where I’m going, there’s also often good odds of being able to recharge both devices part way through the trip (if there’s not - eg, I’m on a hike - the phone is probably turned off and not consuming battery anyways).

With that said, I’m not actually a powerbank user. My phone has a 6-7 day battery life and the only light I own that can work as a powerbank is the LT1 lantern, which is big enough that adding the powerbank functionality was no drawback, in my opinion. I just understand why it appeals to some other users to combine features.