Summing up the results of our competition, details under the cut.
This time I will quote some commentators, they were too interesting ideas and they had, for example, Alexander Noskov talks about ultra-portable batteries:
Carrying a large power bank in your pocket when you don't need it is wrong. To achieve a balance between convenience and functionality, you still have to divide into segments. I would conditionally divide power banks into three categories:
- Urban (to last until the evening) ~ 1000 mAh.
- Travel (3-4 charges) ~ 7-9000 mAh
- Hiking-field (from 5 charges and more). Here the design a la a protected phone is already important – a waterproof and shockproof case, bumpers, etc.
I would like to dwell on the first option in more detail, because design is important there as nowhere else. It appears to be a flat semicircle with a protruding USB connector. Nothing extra, minimal size, simple charge indicator strip. Production costs are minimal, an excellent choice for every day. You can safely give to friends and family without risking bankruptcy. The design is universal, suitable for any smartphone, does not interfere with making calls. That's all I need as a city dweller to be happy.
Farid Pasiev writes about the important role of design:
I use a power bank for 2-3 charges, I am not ready to carry portable 'power stations' with me, for this I need a suitable lifestyle (hiking, touring, traveling far from civilization). But just for small cans I consider a very important feature – design. When you charge it while sitting somewhere in a cafe, in the auditorium of the institute or in any other crowded place, it is always more interesting to pull something original out of the bag. My ideal is a steampunk bank, I would definitely buy one, unfortunately at the moment there are very few interesting solutions on the Internet. Well, the very idea of 'portable energy' in your pocket, I think, is very close to the direction of 'steampunk'. In the wake of popularity, such powerbanks would be popular and would find their customers.
And Ilya Subbotin says that such accessories should keep up with the times:
There will be no composition, because one thing is in mind: the smartphone as a class is developing rapidly, so an accessory, especially such as an external battery, should keep up with the times. Therefore, in short about what I would like to see in an ideal battery:
- Lack of heat and wear resistance of the case
- Supports NFC and USB charging for a choice of charging scenarios.
- Reconsideration of design following from the previous point.
Maxim aka 'The Great Kukuruzo' correctly notes that, in principle, external batteries are 'crutches' designed to solve the problem with autonomous work:
The perfect power bank is one that doesn't exist.
In 95% of cases, this is a crutch for modern smartphones that are not able to survive even daylight hours during normal use. And the words 'crutch' and 'ideal' should not be put in the same sentence.
In the remaining situations, and these are tourist trips and business trips, it should be compact and lightweight, because carrying something with you, both in weight and in size, resembling a steel ingot is not good at all. However, this raises the problem of the capacity of this thing, so it must be equipped with the ability to charge not only from the network, but specifically: a solar panel and a dynamo machine (of the same type as in flashlights).
The connectors are standard USB plus a pair of built-in cables for popular connectors that won't get lost on the road.
The device must be protected from external influences, so as not to throw it away on the same trip after the first rainstorm or fall on the hard floor of the station in the case of a business trip. The colors should be contrasting enough – like protected phones.
You also need the ability to quickly check the charge level (a row of LEDs) + you can have a built-in LED flashlight as a bonus.
Well, something like this.
There were many interesting comments, but it was time to determine the winner. Alexey Zhelezny becomes him and his comment:
My idea is to make the battery modular, with several pieces to be connected, each of which could be used as a battery, either separately or together. The size of such a block should be such that it fits easily into a pocket and weighs no more than 100 grams, with a capacity of 2000-3000 mAh. It is desirable that each unit has its own USB connector so that they can be used by me and someone else at the same time, or to charge several devices at once.
Accordingly, we get, at will, either a light 'pocket' battery that allows the smartphone to last until charging in the evening, or (by connecting, say, 3-4 such units) a capacious battery capable of providing several devices for quite a long time.
There must be a charge indicator. The more informative, the better. A small E-ink display is perfect.
And, of course, water and shock protection is welcome.
The modular system is interesting, and I am also in favor of using a small display with information about the exact charge. I have already contacted Alexey to transfer the prize to him. I ask the rest of the readers not to be upset, this is not the last of our enthusiast contests!
We are grateful to diHouse for the prize provided for the competition.