Mediasonic ProBox Rechargeable 7800mAh Dual USB Power Bank (HE1-78U2) Review @ ModSynergy.com
By: Michael Phrakaysone
We live in a different world than the one 50-years ago. Today's world is technological, one where we as people depend and revolve around mobile devices of all kinds, for communicating, business, and entertainment. Some may say that we have become dependent on technology to the point that it has affected the world on a social level and deteriorated aspects in general that were once great in our world.
What would happen to businesses today if their computers and infrastructure crashed? Would they be able to get by? The world would seemingly come to a halt. What about schools using pencils, pens and paper? What has happened with the lost art of cursive writing that I once learned as a child? That's likely a thing of the past with schools trading in pencils, pens and paper for iPads, tablets, and notebooks. The pen is dead, long live the pen. The pencil is dead, long live the pencil. Paper is dead, long live paper.
So in the end technology has indeed changed the world in many ways, both good and bad.
With all of the mobile devices that we have become attached to at the hip, for many years now I've noticed that battery technology has stayed the same, it hasn't really improved much over the years as drastically as some other technologies have excelled. We all can agree that devices have become more powerful ridiculously quick, but battery technology has become stagnant. We are stuck with what we currently have.
That's why we have rechargeable USB power banks saturated all over the market now, so that we can top up our devices that seemingly die so quickly on the go, on the road, when we don't have access to a power outlet, or in an emergency.
The problem is finding a good rechargeable power bank that doesn't kill you. Have you seen my Stanley FatMax LEDLISL 10W Lithium-Ion LED rechargeable spotlight review? The flashlight contains tons of warning stickers on the unit relating to the Lithium-Ion battery inside, and tons of warnings inside the manual. When you're dealing with Lithium-Ion batteries, you better make sure you get a good one, or else bad things can happen, I'm talking about unexpected fires and explosions. Lithium-Ion battery is serious business, unfortunately not all companies care about this, they just care about the bottom line. There's also lots of Lithium-Ion batteries out there with bogus capacity claims. Keep reading and I'll tell you what to look out for when looking for rechargeable battery power banks and lithium-ion batteries in general.
Today I review the Mediasonic ProBox Rechargeable 7800mAh Dual USB Power Bank. The model I'm testing today is HE1-78U2 and is offered in eight stunning colors for your own personal style and tastes. Mediasonic advertises that the ProBox Dual USB Power Bank features Sanyo battery cells that are made in Japan, offers two USB ports, one giving off 1.2A and the other giving off 2.1A maximum output current. Other advance safety protections include preventing cell overcharges, cell over-discharges, cell over-current, USB port short-circuit protection, USB port output current protection, and input voltage protection. The last point I found out that gives more confidence is $1 million dollars worth of product liability insurance.
Without further ado, let get onto the Mediasonic ProBox Rechargeable 7800mAh Dual USB Power Bank (HE1-78U2) Review.
About MediaSonic
Admittedly I could not find any company information on Mediasonic's website, which lacks certain information as it isn't fully complete, but this is what is mentioned on their Facebook page...
Mediasonic is a leading manufacture for external hard drive storage devices, and Apple Product Accessory.
Mediasonic HE1-78U2 Product Overview
Mediasonic ProBox Power Bank 7800mAh capacity with dual USB port can charge virtually any two USB devices simultaneously including smart phones, tablets, and digital cameras with standard USB 5V power input. ProBox Power Bank is built with top quality Sanyo battery cell made in Japan and integrated with many safety protections to assure long life battery cycle and high efficient charging.
Mediasonic HE1-78U2 Product Features
- Two USB ports to charge two USB devices simultaneously
- Charge most of mobile devices including smart phones, tablets, and digital cameras with standard USB 5V power input
- One USB port up to 1.2A current output support fast charging for most smart phones and mobile devices
- One USB port up to 2.1A current output support fast charging for most smart phones and mobile devices
- Triple safety protection design for safety and reliable usage
- 7800mAh Battery Capacity
- LED light indicator for Battery Capacity
- Power On / Off button
- Design and Manufactured in Taiwan
Mediasonic HE1-78U2 Product Specifications
- Sanyo Battery Cell 7800mAh (Made in Japan)
- Battery Protection IC for safety protection
- Safety Protection: Cell overcharge, Cell over-discharge, Cell over-current, USB port short-circuit protection, USB port output current protection, Input voltage protection
- Power Button: Press for Power On, Press and hold for 1 second for Power off
- Power Specifications: Safety Certification: CE / FCC
- Input Voltage: DV 5V
- Input Current: 1A Max
- Output Voltage: DV 5V
- Output Current: USB 1: 1.2A Max; USB 2: 2.1A Max
- Output Watt: 16.5 W
- Product Dimension: 65.4 (W) x 107 (D) x 23.7 (H) mm
- Product Weight: 190g
First Impressions
As pointed out earlier, the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 7800mAh dual USB power bank is offered in eight stunning colors for your own personal style and tastes. Each package for the eight different colors is color matched accordingly. Mediasonic was kind enough to send three different colors for today's testing in the form of white, baby blue, and brown.
The Mediasonic HE1-78U2 7800mAh dual USB power bank comes in a cheerfully designed eco friendly packaging where it utilizes mostly paper and just a bit of plastic, making recycling easier and effective than if all plastic were used.
We live in a plastic world, with enormous amounts of plastic filling up our landfills, and since there are many variations of plastic, not all plastic can be recycled at local recycling facilities, therefore they just sit and take up space in landfills. But with paper having a single variation, it's easier and able to recycle at any center. The box takes advantage of the slick design and eye popping colors of the power banks to make it stand out on store shelves.
Front of the box displays the actual power bank product with clear indication of its color and styling. Information on the front of the box clearly displays the product name, product capacity, color, what its used for, safety protection features available, the dual USB 2.1A/1.2A functionality, and the 7800mAh battery capacity the HE1-78U2 comes with. With the dual USB ports, one outputting 2.1A and the other 1.2A, the Mediasonic can be used with virtually any USB device on the market, ranging from Smartphones to full size tablets such as an iPad.
The back of the box showcases a diagram of the power bank with each port labeled, more products that its compatible with, an overview of all the safety protections on this unit, the dimensions of the power bank, and warnings associated with the product.
Two of the significant selling points of the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 is that it utilizes quality Sanyo batteries inside, and that along with the multiple safety protections including short circuit protection, Cell overcharge, Cell over-discharge, Cell over-current, USB port short-circuit protection, USB port output current protection, Input voltage protection, the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 includes $1 million dollars worth of product liability guarantee to ensure and re-affirm that you are operating a quality made battery power bank. I know there are numerous rechargeable USB battery power banks on the market today that do not specify what kind of cells are used inside, and I'm glad to see that Mediasonic advertises what brand of lithium-ion cells they are using. A one-year warranty is included with the product.
Again, safety is the number one priority when dealing with Lithium-Ion batteries. When things go bad with improperly made Lithium-Ion products, things can potentially become ridiculously dangerous. For the most part, thankfully, incidents involving lithium-ion fires and explosions have been a very small percentage.
Recall incidents back in 2006 where big name laptop brands such as Apple, Dell, Sony, HP, Lenovo, Acer, and other notebook makers were involved in multi-million dollar laptop battery recalls because of fire and explosion risks. Because of the battery chemistry, lithium-ion batteries fires burn intensely hotter than other battery chemistries and can explode sending the metal construction of the battery everywhere.
While there are many variables to why such fires and explosions may occur, sometimes its due to improper assembly causing components inside to short-circuit with each other, sometimes components on the safety PCB, MOVs, MOSFETs, capacitors, prematurely die causing safety protections to not work and or cause thermal runaway where the battery temperature reaches past its rated specifications, sometimes the battery themselves on the assembly line are not handled properly and are defective are used when they should not, sometimes its due to sometimes its due to simply over usage of the laptop battery by the customer and the failure to remove and replace batteries than have been worn down from extended usage too long. If you notice your laptop battery or a product with a lithium-ion battery is acting strangely and not in a normal manner, its best you stop using it.
Batteries inside laptop battery packs and found inside most common consumer lithium-ion products out there such as lithium-ion drills, hand vacuums, LED or HID flashlights, along with USB power banks such as the one I'm reviewing, are using lithium-ion battery cells that are commonly known as 18650 batteries. These offer higher capacity, higher amperage draw rate for intensive applications, higher current draw, different types are chosen specific to what the builder is looking to use the battery for.
Lithium-Ion batteries are made from a select number of makers, but what you want to keep in mind is to use the lithium-ion batteries made from the big name first-tier brands such as Panasonic, Sanyo, Samsung, Sony, LG. The safety tests for lithium-ion batteries is very comprehensive, therefore it's best to trust the big names as they spend a lot of money on research and development and safety.
Part of the problem now is 18650 batteries are starting to gain popularity that there's a lot of them being sold on eBay and online shops. However, with that popularity, you start to see second tier and third tier brand names popping up, and the bad cells usually are created from the Chinese vendors.
The second tier brands offer 18650 cells that can be usually trusted as these companies will use their own name and just shrink wrap their logo on top of cells made from Panasonic, Sanyo, Samsung, Sony, LG. The third tier guys are the ones you want to avoid at all cost, avoid it like the plague. These cells are made in China and are super dangerous, there are numerous cases where they've caught fire and exploded, burned down homes, exploded in someone's hand under operation, let alone falsified their capacity ratings, etc. Names such as TrustFire, FandyFire, UltraFire, SingFire, BRC, Boke, DLG, GTL, any unbranded cells, just do yourself a favor and avoid.
18650 is a term that refers to the physical size of the battery, in this case the diameter and length in millimeters, so 18mm x 65mm. They come in different battery chemistries that include Lithium-cobalt oxide, Lithium-manganese oxide, Lithium-Iron Phosphate, Lithium -Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide, and other chemistries being formulated.
And then there's variables of trickery, something I experienced in a portable security camera power bank that happened to be using lithium-ion batteries. I bought this from eBay of all places and it came from China (surprise). This thing would not work (thankfully) despite the LED turning on, so I decided to open it up to see what the issue was. Turns out this product was re-using 18650 cells that were from likely old discarded or recycled products, and they were selling as brand new again. The cells were pulled from likely old lithium-ion power drills or old recycled laptop batteries. How do I know this? Well these cells were legitimate Sony 18650 cells with aluminum solder tops on them from pulling from an old laptop battery. The guys assembling these did a hack job with their hands soldering on dinky thin wires (likely scraps) to connect the batteries together, along with gobs of glue gun and residue. I suspect the safety protection PCB was likely also a salvage. Absolutely unsafe and disgusting practice coming out of certain people in China all for profit. Just shameful.
Dealing with USB power bank's containing lithium-ion batteries, sometimes the saying you get what you pay for holds true, especially dealing with your safety and well-being.
Anyway back to the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 7800mAh dual USB power bank review.
With the purchase of the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 7800mAh dual USB power bank, you will find these items inside...
- Mediasonic HE1-78U2 7800mAh dual USB power bank
- Microfiber Pouch
- USB A to Micro-B charge cable
- Quick Installation Guide
The pouch that comes included with the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 is color matched accordingly and is from a microfiber material. It looks absolutely upscale and feels so nice and soft, a high quality item. It contains a front pocket so you can place the USB cable when transporting. The battery power bank fits snug into the main pocket and you can secure it further with the pull down draw-string. The ProBox logo is placed on a tag that is at the side of the microfiber pouch.
Visual Overview
The Mediasonic HE1-78U2 7800mAh dual USB power bank measures 65.4 (W) x 107 (D) x 23.7 mm and weighs in at 190 grams (according to Mediasonic) making it lightweight and portable enough for on the go applications. My digital scale indicated that it was actually heavier, 202 grams to be exact. Regardless, you can easily put the power bank in your bag, purse, backpack, breast pocket.
The power bank feels strong and sturdy with no flex or weird noises giving off confidence of quality. Hard plastic is used all throughout but feels thicker than usual, which is a great thing.
Of the three colors being reviewed today, I find that I like the baby blue color most appealing. All of the colors, the front face contains a shiny metallic shimmering flakes paint scheme which makes it stand out beautifully. This is one of the most beautifully designed battery power bank that I've ever come across. There's also a shiny ring across the top all around the power bank that adds to the visual flair. On the backside of the power bank the paint scheme is all matte finish. On the top of the power bank the ProBox logo near the bottom of the device and the words smart accessories in the middle. Just below this metal ring on the very top of the device there is a small LED strip which illuminates four bright blue LEDs indicating the current battery capacity, each blue LED signifying 25% for a total of 100% capacity.
The design of the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 is very minimalistic yet beautifully designed. There's only a single button on the device and that's on the right side of the unit. The single button is the power on and off button. Turn on the device by simply pressing the power on button once, the unit cycles through the LEDs. To turn off the device simply press and hold the same button for another second. It's that simple. After this you can use the device for recharging anything you want.
Out of the box the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 comes depleted and must be charged for the first time, this is normal when lithium-ion products are shipped around the world, they are usually shipped in very low charge state, for safety reasons and battery longevity.
Using a standard USB wall charger from ZTE and rated for 5V 700mA, it took from 9:45PM to 9:00AM, or 12 hours and 45 minutes to complete the first ever charge (from depleted state to full state) on the baby blue color model. This is about right for charge times on a capacity of 7800mAh (7800mAh/700mA = approximately 11.14 hours not factoring in efficiency loss), so I'm inclined to believe the capacity rating is truthful.
Using an original Apple Cube USB wall charger rated for 5V 1.0A, it took from 10:13PM to 7:51AM, or 9 hours and 38 minutes to complete the first ever charge (from depleted state to full state) on the white color model. This is about right for charge times on a capacity of 7800mAh (7800mAh/1000mA = approximately 7.8 hours not factoring in efficiency loss), so I'm inclined to believe the capacity rating is truthful.
As advertised, the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 contains lithium-ion batteries from Sanyo. I know Sanyo has 2500mAh versions of their 18650 batteries, so 7800mAh capacity rating for the HE1-78U2 would mean it contains three 18650 cells in parallel. The enclosure is wide and tall enough to fit three cells.
Turning the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 on its backside you see matte finish and a sticker containing product information, serial number, caution warning, and capacity rating. Interesting to note that the serial number contains the date of manufacture. It would have been great if we could know the date of manufacture of the Sanyo batteries, however, this is normally not shared with any accessory or laptop battery. The reason you want to know the date the battery was manufactured is because lithium-ion batteries start to wear immediately after they are manufactured. Ideally you want lithium-ion batteries that were most recently manufactured.
On the backside of the device, Mediasonic could have included four rubber feet on each end to prevent the power bank from sliding around different surfaces. There's only four plastic dimples that raises the device, however, it doesn't prevent the device from sliding around.
Furthermore, Mediasonic decides to add an eyelet near the top of the power bank so you can place your own wrist or neck strap to secure the power bank. I love this small, yet very useful feature, it will keep the power bank safe from falls. You must supply your own strap, but that's not too much of an issue. Kudos to Mediasonic for the wrist/neck strap eyelet.
With any power bank you purchase, such is the case with the Mediasonic, there is a USB charge cable included. The charge cable in this case is used to either recharge the power bank or recharge your USB enabled devices. If your device uses a proprietary USB cable, simply use that proprietary cable with the Mediasonic power bank, for example, for your Apple iPhone with the lightning cable.
Another great feature of the Mediasonic power bank is that it contains two USB ports, each with different output ratings, one outputting 1.2 A, the other 2.1 A, and both USB ports can be used at the same time to recharge two devices simultaneously. This means you can recharge large devices such as iPads, large tablets, cameras, with a 2.1 A USB port, or recharge smaller devices such as smart phones, MP3 players, PS Vita, with the 1.2 A USB charge port.
About the only thing missing with this USB power bank that could have set this product apart from others would be the inclusion of an LED flashlight. If Mediasonic included an LED flashlight integrated into this USB power bank it would have been very useful.
Results - How does it work?
The Mediasonic does everything it advertises without fault, and that's the best thing to expect from a product such as this, that it says what it can do and actually does it. It's been very reliable, very useful, very portable, all without reliability issues. I love the fact that it has two USB ports and that each can be used to recharge devices simultaneously, so for example I can recharge my Samsung DSLR using the 2.1A charge port and recharge my android smart phone with the other 1.2A charge port.
I was able to get about four total charges to my 1900mAh battery capacity Android Smartphone.
Another great thing about owning a rechargeable battery power bank such as this Mediasonic is the fact that you can use it to power action cameras for example. So your small action camera can have as much power as your power bank can handle, the battery bank basically powers the device for operation.
Where Can I Buy One? And for How Much?
I think one of the best things about the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 is the price. It's very competitive and affordable compared with other power banks on the market. And knowing that it contains assurances of Sanyo lithium-ion batteries and a $1 million dollar product liability insurance, I'd honestly go with this one at $49.99USD with free shipping directly from the Mediasonic website.
However, why pay more when you can purchase this Mediasonic HE1-78U2 on sale for $36.99USD plus free shipping through Amazon.com? For $36.99USD, the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 is an incredible product for the price, I don't think you can beat the price.
Why do I like Amazon? They are fast, reliable, honest, and return policy is great. I actually got money refunded back to my account after Amazon overcharged me on duty costs, talk about being an honest company, most others would keep the money and not say anything!
If you are thinking of purchasing the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 7800mAh dual USB power bank, please use our Amazon link, it will help us out greatly!
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Conclusion
My experiences with the Mediasonic HE1-78U2 7800mAh dual USB power bank has been very positive. The greatest part is the aggressive price point, Sanyo lithium-ion battery, and $1 million dollar product liability insurance so you can have confidence of owning a quality power bank considering you're dealing with lithium-ion batteries, which can be dangerous if done incorrectly and or with cut corners.
All in all, I can absolutely recommend the Mediasonic ProBox Rechargeable 7800mAh Dual USB Power Bank (HE1-78U2). For the super aggressive price and all around great performance, it earns our Editor's Choice Award!
