Zendure A8 Pro

We’re big fans of Zendure’s power banks, ultra-tough, ultra-compact, stylish and loaded with features. The A8 Pro sits at the top of Zendure’s line-up, a monster power bank for those with heavy-duty portable power needs or extended trips away from mains power.

With a 25,600mAh capacity and a higher-than-industry-average efficiency of 80 percent, you can expect 20,480mAh or juice for powering your phone(s) and/or tablet(s) away from the mains. To work out how many times you’ll be able to charge your particular device you divide 20,480mAh by the battery capacity of your phone or tablet. A Samsung Galaxy S6 (2,550mAh battery), for example, will receive eight full charges, while an iPhone 6s (1,715mAh) would manage 12 full charges – that’s an awful lot of power to keep you going away from a mains outlet.

That’s assuming you want to charge only one mobile device, of course. The Zendure A8 Pro has four fast-charging (2.1A/10.5W) ports, putting it in line with the more expensive LimeFuel L240X Pro. Zendure’s Zen+ devicerecognition technology delivers the optimum charge for each device attached to its outputs.

It’s worth pointing out, however, that the A8 Pro’s maximum power output is only 3.1A/15.3W, which means it can not simultaneously support more than one output at full-speed. While it will charge all four attached devices, it will do so slower than if it had fewer attached.

With such a huge amount of power to hand, the Zendure A8 Pro can take a long time to refill over its 1.5A/7.5W Micro-USB input – up to 20 hours from empty, or longer if you have an underspecified charger (as is standard with power banks a mains charger is not supplied in the box and you should use that provided with your phone or tablet).

This input is reasonably quick, but it’s not as fast as those we have seen rated at 2A/10W or, better yet, support Qualcomm Quick Charge. So it’s fortunate that the Zendure supports passthrough charging, which means you can plug it into the mains and a phone or tablet into one of its outputs and both devices will charge. In charge-through mode this input will operate a little faster at 2A/10W, but the Zendure will use only the power not required by your device, meaning your attached device will charge at full-speed before the Zendure does. .

Once that power is in the bank it stays in the bank, ready for when you need it. Six months after charging your Zendure, you should find 95 percent of its capacity remains even if you haven’t used it.

Display

One feature we particularly like in the A8 Pro over the LimeFuel, and one that we’ve not seen before in Zendure power banks, is the digital LCD screen. By pushing the small button on the front of the Zendure you can get an exact readout of how much capacity remains, so you won’t get caught short. This is a much more user-friendly solution than the four LEDs used by most power banks to show remaining charge.

That’s all this power button is used for. The Zendure will begin charging a mobile device as soon as it is plugged in, and unlike many other power banks on the market there’s no built-in LED flashlight for it to activate. For a device of this size we don’t have an issue with this.

And it is a large device – as you might expect, given the capacity. But for a 25,600mAh power bank, we think its 484g weight and 119x73x40mm dimensions are impressive. You might not want to slip it into a pocket, but throwing it in a bag or rucksack is no problem.

The silver A8 Pro has the same ribbed, ultra-tough design as the smaller models in the Zendure series, encased in a crushproof PC/ABS composite material with dual-injection moulding and a shock-absorbing central belt. Zendure has demonstrated its power banks’ ability to withstand the weight of a McLaren Spider, so we’re fairly certain you won’t need the included carry bag for anything other than keeping with it the flat grey Micro-USB cable.

Aside from the aforementioned LED torch, the only thing really missing is Qualcomm Quick Charge support. It’s something we’d like to see in a future generation of Zendure but, for now, the feature is primarily supported by flagship Android and Windows phones – cheaper devices, iPhones and iPads wouldn’t benefit. Plus, with 10.5W possible from a single output, this Zendure A8 Pro is plenty fast

USB-C is another one for the future, only recently breaking into the power bank market, but we’re really grasping at straws here.

Verdict

Incredibly well designed with excellent features including passthrough charging and an LCD panel, a tough build and huge amounts of power, that the £59 asking price doesn’t look so high after all.