Link to RAVPower Here
I have never been a big fan of external battery packs for my phone. However this winter's snow has brought some of the best snowmobiling in years to MA. Not knowing the trails too well, I downloaded the app from sledmass.com which shows all the trails in the state. Naturally, it uses GPS for navigation and "bread crumbs" feature. This drains the battery quickly especially in the cold.
Some snowmobiles have 12V power adapters in weathertight compartments...mine does not. My nearly antique sled does not produce power clean enough that I would trust it for phone charging. So I went looking for a small portable battery pack.
There are many to choose from but I picked this model for the following reasons:
1) Its small
2) It has an excellent flashlight built in
3) It has the ability to show you how much capacity is left
4) It can charge my iPhone from zero to about 90% or keep it topped off
5) It was 17 bucks...I've wasted money on dumber things
Flashlight
It's roughly an 80-100 lumen output based on my calibrated eyeball. It has 2 output modes high and low. I left it on high overnight and it was still burning bright (maybe a bit dimmer). On the low setting I can imagine days of continuous use. The beam has a lens over it which makes for a fairly narrow spot compared to other flashlights I have used. OTOH the tight beam is really nice for working on something under the hood.
Size & Weight
Its a tad bigger than a AA powered LED flashlight. It fits alongside my cellphone in the inside pocket of my Carhartt style jacket. It weighs very little.
Charging
The unit only charges at 1 amp which means it takes at least 3.2 hours to fully charge. In practice it took about 4 hours to fully charge the thing (4 trips to and from work @ 1 hour per). It charged my empty phone to about 90%. It was a little hard to tell the exact value as the iPhone goes into a charge/discharge mode when it gets full.
Discharging
The standard USB port can be connected to anything that plugs into one. The output seems to be limited to 1 amp (check owners manual for your devices needs). I leave it plugged into my iPhone in my pocket so it constantly tops off my phones battery. It can also be used to top off a partially or fully discharged phone too.
Environmental
The construction is reasonably rugged aluminum but its not waterproof in any way. The button and end cap is plastic and seems ok but not terribly rugged...if anything breaks it will be the button and connectors IMO.
Conclusion
It works to keep my phones GPS from draining the battery too much. The built in flashlight makes it a dual use item which is something I like. For $17 it seems to be worth the money. It is a Chinese made thing so I would test it in a non critical setting to weed out any "infant mortality" issues. Cannot speak to any long term reliability since I just got it.
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