RAVPower Portable Power Bank 12000 mAh Car Jump Starter Review ( Model RP-PB27 )

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.

Carrying case with handle

I recently received a RAVPower Portable Power Bank 12000 mAh Car Jump Starter Review ( Model RP-PB27 ) for a product review.  This definitely was different than the standard USB battery packs I have tested.  The package included:

- Plastic carrying case with handle
- 12V cigarette lighter adapter to charge the power pack in the car
- AC power adapter to charge the power pack in the house
- USB to microUSB cable to charge devices
- Cable to jump start your car

Inside the carrying case

First, I focused on the normal function of a USB battery pack and noticed the following differences based on other high capacity packs:

- The pack was a bit larger than a 18200 mAh RAVPower pack, but this one has 12000 mAh capacity which still isn't bad.
- While this does have a LED flashlight, it is definitely not the same as other packs I have tested (I will explain the difference later).
- It has two USB outputs which is common
- It has uses 4 LEDs to represent increments of 25% of remaining capacity which is common

RP-PB27 (Left) and RP-PB27 (Right)

The first difference is the LED flashlight.  It is definitely brighter, and has three modes:

- Normal: On like any other light
- SOS Mode: Blinks SOS in morse code (3 short 3 long 3 short)

- Flash: Just what you would expect, it flashes on and off

The flash mode isn't a fast "strobe" type of light that an emergency vehicle would have, but I would imagine if you are changing a flat tire at night and put this on your trunk it would help make sure you are seen.

Blue LEDs showing full charge, USB output ports, charging port and jump start plug

To test the battery pack, I used two DROK USB volt/amp meters and two load devices (switchable 1A/2A load).  From testing the devices, the volt/amp meters are not super accurate but they are a great way to perform some quick tests.

Here is what I found during my tests:

- Output 1 (Rated 1A): Was able to handle over the 1A rated capacity.
- Output 2 (Rated 2.1A): Was able to handle over the 2.1A rated capacity.

I was actually able to get each ports up to about 2.8A, but when I tried to push it to 3A and 4A the port actually shut-off which I believe was due to internal safety mechanism the pack has.  The pack was actually able to support a 2A load on each port at the same time, but that is over the rated capacity so I wouldn't recommend doing it.

From real world tests, the smartphones and Nexus 7 tablet I have tested never went over 2A so I think this battery pack can easily handle 2 devices without any problem.

Jump Start Cables

While I was looking forward to testing the ability to jump start a car, I was not able to test that feature out.  Initially my plan was to just remove the battery from my car completely, and try to jump it using this pack but once I read the instruction manual for the RAVPower pack it clearly stated that you should not try to jump start a car with a completely flat/dead battery so I figured a missing battery was also a bad idea.  It wouldn't be fair (or smart) to test the device for a situation it wasn't designed to handle.

I am going to try to think up a way to test it, and will keep the pack in my car in case I run across someone who needs a jump.  Either way, I will update this review if/when I am able to actually test the feature out properly.

Update to review : I just use the power bank to jump start a Chevy Tahoe (large SUV) with no problem, two times and the power bank still showed full charge - very impressed!

Here are the main points I noticed about this product:

Car Jump Starter: While I wasn't able to test this feature, I have to say this is pretty much the main unique feature of this pack.  I have seen other portable devices to jump start a car but they are usually much larger.  As a gift, this has that extra "oh wow that is neat" aspect that anyone who is into cars and technology would love.  It would also be good for anyone who just wants the peace of mind of having the ability to not only charge their phone in an emergency but also jump start the car.

LED Flashlight: Recently we have had a power outage or two on our street, and I quickly found my LED flashlight to be useful - not only to get around the house at night, but also to leave on as a night light for my youngest.  This light is actually much brighter than the normal packs, but as an emergency light for both the house and car it works great.  The flash function would be useful in situations where you need to make sure you are seen (such as a broken down car on the side of the road) and while I hope I never need the SOS function I would imagine if someone does need it they will be happy the feature is there.

High Capacity Battery Pack: At the end of the day, even if you never need to use the jump starter function or LED flashlight this is still a portable battery pack.  The 12000 mAh capacity is still enough to keep multiple devices charged.

Bottom line: This portable power bank is the perfect "just in case" / emergency use device.  The ability to charge USB devices, act as a LED flashlight and jump start a car are useful capabilities of any emergency kit and you get them all in one device.  Of course a gadget geek would love something like this, but even the average person could keep it in their car just in case they need it.

Amazon Product Page: http://amzn.com/B00SH1SN6C