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This $50 power bank is safer than my lithium-ion battery - and it's coming on my next flight
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By now, most of us have seen videos of the power bank fires on commercial airliners. If you haven't, well, here you go:
I'm flying again in a few days. As I'll be taking a power bank with me, I'm keen not to be in the news -- or in a national air accident investigation body's report -- as the owner of a power bank that went rogue on a plane. And to be honest, it's not just power banks on aircraft that bother me. I don't want that issue happening in the car, in my backpack, or next to my bed when I'm dreaming of the next bit of kit I'll be reviewing.
Also: You're charging your phone all wrong: 6 common myths, debunked
The problem is that lithium-ion batteries are flammable. But what if there was a safer alternative? There is, in the form of semi-solid-state batteries. And one company that's pushing these devices as a safer alternative is ReelCharge.
A compact, travel-ready power bank built around advanced semi-solid state battery technology that's safer than lithium-ion tech.
We think that modern lithium-ion batteries hold a lot of charge, but they don't. The explanation is that modern electronics are very efficient. A modern iPhone has a battery that's about the same capacity as a 5,000mAh power bank. That might be enough power to get you through a day of scrolling on your phone, but in food terms, it's about 16 calories, and a medium banana has more than six times the calories (around 100 calories).