Aukey PB-C1 2-in-1 External Battery and Cigarette Lighter

When Aukey got in touch about its latest power bank we had to take a look. Fire and batteries – you’re not supposed to put those together, right? Well you can take peace of mind from the fact there’s no open flame here. You slide across the button on the top of the External Battery to reveal a thin wire coil, which instantly heats up and within a second is glowing and ready to light your cigarette.

From a full charge Aukey says you can light around 240 cigarettes from the 7W element. That’s assuming it takes 30 seconds to light each cigarette, so we’d suggest you’ll actually get many more.

Unlike a flame, this element is windproof, making it ideal for use outdoors. That’s where the other element of this gadget comes into play, too. When you’re miles from a power socket and your smartphone’s on its last legs, a power bank can get you through the day.

Aukey doesn’t list the efficiency of its 4400mAh battery, but with most averaging 70 percent, it could offer just over 3000mAh to power your mobile devices. That’ll provide most recent Android phones with at least one full charge; iPhones and lower-end devices potentially two. (Check the spec of your phone’s battery to work out what you can expect.)

The Aukey offers a fast charge for your phone. Both the Micro-USB input and USB output are rated at 10W (5V, 2A), which may be twice the power of your standard smartphone charger. Rest assured this faster charge won’t damage your phone, with its battery drawing only what it requires. Given a 10W charger it will also refill its own battery in 2.5 hours.

It offers great value at just £13, particularly given its primarily metal build. The two end pieces are made from plastic, which we did notice easily scratched in our tests, but on the whole it looks good.

At 145g and 73x21x52mm, it’s large and heavy for a cigarette lighter, but for a 4400mAh power bank it’s extremely pocketable and very well sized.

A single LED is used to show how much power remains: when blue there is between 20- and 100 percent; when red it is below 20 percent. No other information is given on its status.

Verdict

This 2-in-1 battery and cigarette lighter is ideal for smartphone carrying smokers.