Meet the reviewer
Vango Powerbank: first impressions
This lightweight, portable power bank is built for car campers who like a little luxury at camp. These days, most of us camp with at least one device, whether that's your phone, a camping lantern or bluetooth speaker.
Most of these devices can be easily charged with a lighter, slimmer power bank that you might take hiking, but this one packs an extra punch, with the ability to also inflate air tents like the Vango Joro Air 450 and awnings without you having to pump by hand.
For that, you might expect more weight and bulk, but you can easily hold this device in your hand, which weighs only 17 ounces (about the same weight as a football), and slide it into your backpack when you're not using it.
• List price: £72.50
• Weight: 17 ounces / 540 g
• Dimensions: 16 cm X 5cm X 10 cm
• Outputs: 1 X USB, 1 X 12V
• Charge time: 8 hours with micro USB cable (included)
• Capacity: 4 tents and 2 phones
• Best use: Car camping
The Vango Powerbank is easy to use. Just charge it at home (eight hours till full charge) using the Micro USB cable provided then switch it on and it will light up to show you how much power remains. Plug your phone or other device in to charge using the USB output or plug your pump into the 12V output on the side.
With the capacity of inflating four large tents and charging two phones on a single charge, it solves a lot of your camping tech problems in a lightweight package. The only way we can see to improve it is to add a second USB output so you can charge two devices at once.
Vango Powerbank: in the field
Camping is all about getting away from technology and into the great outdoors, but when I'm car camping, I like to keep my phone juiced up. With my job at Advnture, I frequently geat other techy gear in to test, like air tents and camping lanterns, and a little extra power goes a long way. I've been testing this out on camping and backpacking trips around Scotland this summer, as well as on a few long day hikes.
Here’s how it performed:
Ease of use
When it comes to technology, all I really want is to not have to read the instruction manual, and while this comes with one for those who need it, I'm happy to say this is super easy to use. Mine came with a bit of charge so I just turned it on using the power button and a panel of lights showed me how much charge it had left. I plugged my phone right in and it started doing its thing.
Satisfied that we were going to get along, I brought it along on a car camping trip where my friends had several large air mattresses and a popup awning that required inflating. They had a hand pump, but I jumped in with this charger and saved everyone's arms. It's really nice not to have to pull your car up next to your tent to use the cigarette lighter for inflating camping gear.
Charging capacity
This power bank won't charge items like your laptop, which is what I'd really like for the type of remote work I want to do but it has one USB output for things like your phone, bluetooth speaker, camping lantern, or whatever else you like to have along at camp, and the 12V which works for pumps.
Between those two, it can inflate four air tents and two phones on a single charge and has about an hour of continuous use with the 12V output, which it is pretty great. Since you're not likely to be inflating four tents at once, it means you can take it on a couple of camping trips without needing to recharge it, though I'd personally just charge it before every trip.
It does take eight hours to fully charge, so just remember to do it the day before.
Weight and portability
I usually hike with a very light and slim Belkin charger to make sure I have backup power for my phone and headlamp. At 5cm thick and just over 500 grams, this is definitely a bit bulkier and heavier in comparison and it wouldn't be my first choice for backpacking or hiking, but only because I have a lighter one.
As a camping charger that's built to pump up tents, it's really light and portable and you can easily slide it into the pocket of your backpack – or even a jacket pocket for that matter.
Vango Powerbank: the bottom line
If you need a power bank with a little more functionality than a phone charger but still want something light and portable for camping and other active adventures, you'll find this is easy to use, perfectly portable and provides plenty of power.
