Sony CP-B20 20000mAh USB power bank

Hi,

Today I went to my local yodobashi camera store on the lookout for a fairly large USB power bank. I couldn't believe what I found. I present to you, the Sony CP-B20 20000mAh USB power bank!



This is not a review as I only got this a few hours ago, so I wont go into too much depth!

Package contents

Sony CP-B20 power bank
Sony CP-AD2 USB power supply
50cm micro USB cable

Power bank specifications

Lithium ion battery: 6x ~3400mAh sony li-ion cells with hybrid gel technology
Total rated capacity: 20000mAh
Total output capability after conversion loss: 5V 12000mAh (60Wh)
Weight: 550g
Maximum output across all 4 ports: 5V 6.9A
Maximum output on a single port: 5V 2.4A
Retains a minimum of 80% charge after 1 year of storage.
Maintains 90% capacity after 1000 charge/discharge cycles (hybrid gel technology)

Bundled USB power supply specifications

Input: 100-240V AC, 50/60hz
Output: 5V DC 2.1A





This thing is a monster. Sure it weighs a fair bit, but Sony claim you can charge most smartphones 6-8 times from this (taking conversion and efficiency loss into account). I'll post some tests soon - for now it's sitting on my desk topping up to full capacity.

The hybrid gel technology is interesting - does anyone here have any more information about it? I did google but couldn't find much information.

I like the fact they include a high quality high current USB power supply with it too. There is also a 10000mAh model, which does not come with a power supply.

I think this is going to be a great power bank to keep around for disaster situations and travel, considering there are many lights, games consoles, phones and chargers that can charge from USB ports these days. People living in a small apartment probably don't have room for a generator or large sealed lead acid batteries for emergency power, but could easily store a couple of these.

$90 on Amazon, not too bad a price. They also have a 10,000mah Sony bundled with a smaller unit for $75. I've got quite a few smaller than 20,000 mah so I'll keep an eye on this....

which other units do you have? I'm looking at some 15000-16000mAh units for
around $30 on amazon to recharge my cell when camping, run USB fans & lights;
any particular brand to stay away from? thanks

I also have:

• 10000mAh Sony that is very similar (2 ports instead of 4 and smaller) - I got this recently to carry with me if I'm taking a day trip
• 3000mAh Sony - only 1 port and lives in my work bag to give me an extra charge on my phone
• 4400mAh nobrand bought from a convenience store (pretty much all convenience stores here carry a selection of smaller USB power banks that will be of reasonable quality) - works OK but turns off too early when trying to charge very small devices
• 4000mAh PortaPow unit (quite old) - OK but the battery no longer holds as much charge

I have had others but they have been recycled or in a couple of cases left at work for emergency needs.

If you want to buy something that will last you a long time then I'd recommend anything by a well known brand and stay away from lesser known brands. Lesser known brands can be perfectly fine but some use junk cells and in one case I saw one that had sand added as a filler to make it heavy with almost no battery cells inside at all! (It's on CPF somewhere)

For a limited budget just check reviews on the item online, the awful ones tend to get reviewed as such. Buy from larger online retailers that can ship stock from your country rather than ordering from the famous sites that ship directly from China. Use the same kind of precautions you'd use when looking for li-ion cells for your flashlights. I would avoid packs that turn on automatically when you connect a load as some of them use stupid methods to determine that a load is connected such as looking for the USB shield to be grounded. You want one with a "start" button.

Saying that, when I wanted my 10000mAh one I chose a Maxell (well known) brand one first of all, and it puffed up during the first charge (!) so I immediately returned it to the store and specifically hunted down the Sony variant. Even a well known brand could cause trouble if you are unlucky.

For me I will be sticking with Sony for these units from now on because they use quality cells from a known source and good electronics. It costs a little more but the peace of mind is worth it.

I'll admit, it is nice as a plug-n-play unit! A lil costly, espc considering most of us cpf guys can diy a pack like that. May not be as pretty tho, lol.
The +2A each port is nice! Makes good use of the newer smart phn speed charging abilities. Kinda disappointed in the loss between battery and output. Thinking an auto-switch in the ports so it knows when to power a port during use would help that allot (kinda like old boom boxes had when you plugged them in and they went off batt powered). I have to say, other than cost (yeah, I'm cheap), I'm impressed! Ty for sharing!

40% conversion loss? Is that an unavoidable law of physics or poor design?