Under a thousand: A stylish, small power bank | Technology News

Those retro transistor feels

The power bank has a retro feel (Express Photo)

It starts with its design. Power banks are generally not known for innovative design and tend to be rather basic boxes with batteries, ports and with design elements disappearing as prices dip. Portronics has, however, managed to throw a spin of sorts on this. The Luxcell Mini 10k has a rather distinct appearance. We got the yellow variant (it also comes in green and black) and its colour definitely turned a few heads when placed on a table. The front is marked by rows of vertical lines and right above it is a transparent-ish panel which shows some of the (very covered) internals of the power bank, including LED lights that show the levels of the battery. The top houses a USB Type-C port and a Type-A port, and a button to switch the power bank on and off.

The power bank has a very ‘portable transistor of the 1980s’ vibe about it, making it a funky entry in a world that’s largely functional. It is also incredibly compact at just about 11.6 cm in length and 1.6 cm in thickness, and with a weight of 175 grams, it fits easily into the palm of your hand and is slim and light enough to be slipped comfortably into a pocket. It is much smaller and lighter than most smartphones, although it is slightly thicker.

Plenty of battery juice, delivered speedily

It can fully charge an iPhone 15 Pro more than twice (Express Photo)

Within that rather small frame, the Luxcell Mini 10K packs in a lot of battery punch. As its name indicates, it comes with a 10000 mAh capacity (a fact that surprised most people who saw it, as it does seem rather small), and is good enough to recharge an iPhone 15 Pro Max twice easily, and a Redmi Note 13 Pro+ one and a half times or thereabouts. And it does this recharging at a rather brisk rate too – the Type-C port is capable of charging a device at 20W while the Type-A port can charge a device at 22.5W. That might not sound too fast to those who have devices that come with 67W and even 120W chargers, but take it from us, those are very good speeds for a power bank in general, and exceptional at this price point. The iPhone 15 (review) anyway charges at 20W, and the Luxcell Mini 10k got it close to 50 per cent in about 35-40 minutes, which is almost as good as a power outlet in a wall. It takes about 45 minutes to get a Redmi Note 13 Pro+ half-full. You can charge devices from both ports simultaneously too, but that does kill charging speeds. You can also charge TWS, earphones, cameras and tablets off those ports, although not notebooks!

Charging the power bank itself takes about three to three and a half hours, using the Type-C port and a 20W charger – the power bank is supposed to support a charging speed of 15W. It is not crazy fast, but is decent enough. There is a small USB Type-C to Type-C cable in the box along with the power bank. The four LEDs in the ‘transparent’ section of the power bank indicate the amount of charge left in the power bank, and in a very neat touch, the first LED turns green if the device is perceived to be charging rapidly, although at what speed this happens is not specified. The Luxcell Mini 10K also comes with BIS protection layers and did not heat up while charging our iPhones, although did get slightly warm while charging Android devices like the Pixel 8 and the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ (review).

Small price for small product with big battery

A power bank that’s light on pocket and wallet (Express Photo)

It looks different, is compact, and is pocket-friendly in terms of both dimensions and price. All of these make the Portronics Luxcell Mini 10K one of the best options for anyone looking for a compact and yet relatively fast charging power bank for their phones and tablets. It does not have the charging speed of the StuffCool Mega (which remains our favourite portable power bank at any price point) and its LED battery indicators can be a little inconsistent, but it looks very stylish and comes at a much lower price point. 10000 mAh of battery in this size and shape with these charging speeds and at this price is a terrific deal in our book!