Tech Review: Moshi IonGo 5K Duo portable battery dual charger – £74.95

I find there are two key problems when it comes to portable chargers. Firstly, the battery life is often pitifully weak, and secondly, the batteries themselves can be so unwieldy that it stretches the truth to describe them as "portable" in the first place.

Much of the time the results are so unimpressive that it makes you question whether it is worth lugging the thing around with you for the sake of a few extra per cent's worth of charge on your mobile.

The IonGo 5K Duo, the latest product from Californian boutique manufacturer Moshi, promises the most dynamic portable battery on the market that will keep you powered up all day long.

We gave it a road test.

The Set Up

The portable battery has a capacity of 5,000 mAh, which is crammed into sleek, lightweight wallet that fits snuggly into the palm of your hand.

The "duo" part of its name refers to the fact that it features two pull-out cables – a USB-C connection (which fits most newer Android phones) and a Lightning extension for Apple products.

Both cables, which each measure around 10cm, fold into the battery's casing when not in use. A grey coloured vegan leather magnetic cover finishes off the whole package.

The battery functions in several ways.

It can be used to charge an iPhone or an Android phone – or both at the same time – as well as pretty much any devices which feature the aforementioned connections.

Also, the IonGo Duo itself can be recharged at the same time as another device is charging, by simply connecting it to a wall adapter through a USB-C port or via a USB-C laptop.

The power bank features a small LED indicator button on its front. When pressed it turns green to indicate it is charged to over 80 per cent capacity, and red when it needs charging.

It is built with the same battery technology used in the latest electric vehicles, with battery cells that are optimised for charging, discharging, and low internal resistance.

Moshi says the IonGo 5K Duo has been rigorously tested to ensure it retains 80 per cent of its battery capacity after 800 charge cycles.

In the package, you get an easy to follow quick start guide. As with all Moshi products, it comes with a 10-year global warranty.

The Verdict

As you may have gathered from the introduction to this review, I'm a fully fledged sceptic when it comes to portable batteries.

Having previously been cursed with products that either conk out in 15 minutes flat or stop working altogether after a month's usage, I wasn't exactly expecting the world.

To start with I charged a Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, which took an hour to get from five per cent to full using the phone's 'fast charging' setting – a rate of 1.6 per cent a minute.

I then disconnected the S10 and attempted to charge an iPhone 7 from scratch, which reached 45 per cent charge by the time the IonGo 5K Duo ran out of juice.

After charging the IonGo 5K Duo for three hours via a wall adapter through a USB-C port, I connected up an iPad, which took around one hour to gain 50 per cent charge.

When using the unit as a pass-through charger the results were less impressive, with the iPhone 7 taking more than two hours to gain 42 per cent battery.

However, the unit performed when attempting to charge two phones at the same time.

After charging the same items on numerous occasions over a three week period, I found the results to be broadly consistent.

My biggest criticism comes when charging the IonGo 5K Duo itself, as the LED indicator on the unit only changes colour when the charge dips below a certain level.

This makes it impossible to tell the exact battery life remaining and means that to a large extent, you are left resorting to guess work.

Overall, the IonGo 5K Duo functions well when connected to one item, making it ideal for use when away on a day out, but the dual function is slower and quickly runs down the battery.

It is easy to carry around and gets top marks for looks, although at £74.95 it is on the pricey side – particularly when faster power banks are available at a fraction of the cost.

Specs

Capacity: 5,000 mAh capacity

Weight: 118g

Dimensions: 8.9cm x 5.1cm x 2.8cm

DC Output: Lightning: 5V / 2.4 A USB-C: 5V / 3A

DC Input: USB-C: 5V / 3A

Price £74.99

Buy it from moshi.com