Here I would like to review a compact powerbank of the EnergyQC brand. EnergyQC is a brand of 2012 founded LePower company.
Transparency note: the power bank was provided to me free of charge by LePower/EnergyQC for this test. The manufacturer had no influence on the test; the only condition was the publication of a review report with included links.
You can get the EnergyQC 20000 power bank at a low price at the following link:
Technical data (according to the manufacturer):
- Capacity: 20000 mAh, 77 Wh
- Power: max 35 W
- Type-C input (also cable input): 5V 3A, 9V 3A, 12V 2.92A, 15V 2.33 A, 20V 1.75A
- Type-C output (also cable output): 5V 3A, 9V 3A, 12V 2.92A, 15V 2.33A, 20V 1.75A
- Lightning cable output: 5V 2.4A, 9V 2.22A (20W)
- USB-A output: 5V 3A, 9V 2A, 12V 1.5A
- Multi interface output: TOTAL 5V 3A
These are also printed on the back of the case.
The power bank was delivered in a simple brown cardboard box. Instructions and a USB cable are included.
The casing is made of matte plastic, which feels relatively high-quality. However, it scratches easily in everyday use and develops many shiny spots, making the power bank look worn quickly. This will be an issue, especially when carried regularly in a backpack without any protective bag or similar, as my sample has already clearly shown. I think, a slightly textured surface is better to hide these scratches better.
There are no complaints about the build quality though. The powerbank feels solid.
The power bank measures 120 x 75 x 30 mm and weighs 355 grams.
It has an integrated USB-C and Lightning connection cable. At ≈ 12 cm each, these are relatively short which can make handling a connected smartphone quite difficult. A printed mark on the housing next to the notches in the case would be desirable for the cables, as they look more or less the same and the plugs are recessed in the housing. The integrated cables do not fall out. The integrated cables do not interfere with handling at any time.
The touch button on the front shows the remaining capacity on the display when no device is connected. The display turns off automatically after several seconds if no device is connected.
The shown capacity is indicated as a percentage. The display has very clearly visible PWM and is quite bright, especially in the dark, which makes taking pictures quite difficult:
There is no automatic brightness adjustment, nor is it possible to turn off the display (it does not do so automatically, this is only the case if the powerbank is shutting off after charging is finished), which means that you have to turn the power bank onto its display side at night if you do not want to have a light source next to you. A green symbol to the right of the percentage display indicates that fast charging is currently active.
A display that can be turned off (maybe with long pressing the touch button) would be very useful here, especially for camping or similar situations where the power bank may be placed directly next to the bed.
The specified capacity is maintained.
The following values were measured using the Kowsi KWS-X1. During fast charging (tested with a MacBook Pro at 20 V and 1-1.5 A), 66.7 Wh are available, which is not a bad value, especially considering the higher output power.
The voltage remains constant in all charging modes, although it drops below the stated values by a few percent.
The capacity display is not particularly accurate; when it showed 0%, the power bank continued to charge for another 10 minutes at 18 W.
Fast charging charges 89.3 Wh into the powerbank before the it stops charging.
At maximum, the power bank charges a device at a constant power of 33.5 W ± 1 W (tested with 2023 MacBook Pro):
Voltages measured with various devices (2 m USB-C to USB-C cable):
- 5.06 V @ 0 A (idle 5V fixed)
- 4.94 V @ 0.5 A
- 11.90 V @ 1.2 A
- 14.92 V @ 0.15 A
- 14.92 V @ 0.5 A
- 19.62 V @ 1.7A (PD3.0 35 W)
- 8.83 V @ 1.2A (PD3.0 10 W)
The voltage regulation at increasing current seems to be just fine, there is no significant drop, but keep in mind, that this also depends on the cable used.
Protocols available:
USB-A:
- QC 2.0 5V/9V/12V
- QC3.0 11.95V
USB-C built-in cable and external USB-C cable output:
- PD 12V 2.9 A 35 W PPS 37.6 W
- Fixed: 5, 9, 12, 15, 20 V
- PPS: 3.3-11V 3A 3.3-16V 2.4 A
- QC2.0 5, 9, 12V
- QC3.0 11.89 V
- PD3.0
The built-in Lightning cable was not tested since no testing adapter was available, but I can confirm that a Lightning device (iPhone SE 2020) was charged way quicker than on standard 5 V power supply, and it is also shown in the display (green icon).
Sink mode setting of the KWS-X1 was not enough to keep the powerbank powered on, it turns off after 30 sec.
As soon two devices are connected at the same time, only 5 V 3 A is available. Devices with quick charging compatibility will fall back to 5 V charging.
A problem occurred when charging one USB-C device. Occasionally, the charging process restarts arbitrarily without a second device being connected. It seems as if the power bank renegotiates the voltage with the device for some reason, or the device or power bank restarts the charging process. I noticed this with only the Switch 2, but there were no problems with the laptop and smartphone (both Samsung and Apple devices). It could well be that the Switch 2 still has maybe some problems with fast charging which will be fixed in upcoming updates since other fast charging devices are just working fine, but this is pure speculation.
In general the EnergyQC 20000 is a solid power bank that you can’t go wrong with and that can charge virtually all devices (quickly). Big advantage are the built-in cables which came in handy for me many times. I used it for over a month now and had no issues beside the ones I already mentioned.
One downside is the surface of the case, which looks worn after only a short time of use, and the fallback to 5 V if more than one device is connected. Of course, I can’t evaluate how good the long-term durability is, especially since I don’t know the type of battery cells used, but I have no problems so far.
Thanks for reading. 