How to Choose the Best Promotional Power Charger For Your Budget

Austin Texas: External Power chargers for iPhones and iPads are all the rage these days.

Promotional power chargers are one of our most popular promotional items because of their functionality.

Think about the last time your phone ran out of battery power while you were out and about or on the road. Now think of how handy a portable charger to quickly re-charge your device would have been at that time – and how much you would have appreciated the branded promotional item.

But with hundreds of models and styles to choose from, how can you be sure you are selecting the right power charger.

Here are a few tips to choosing the right promotional power chargers for your budget and needs:

1) Plastic vs. Metal Case

As with most buying decisions, price is important. I prefer to look at this option as most bang for your buck.

Most promotional power chargers come in two case options–metal shell or plastic shell. Everything else looks pretty much the same.

Plastic shells allow a full color insert inside vs. a one color imprint for most metal cases as a standard entry level offering.

However, metal cases tend to have a higher perceived value–especially when they are laser etched.

2) How Much Power (mAh) is Right?

When you see mAh ratings(milliampere-hours), it simply measures the amount of charge a battery can hold. 2200mAh is pretty standard for charging an iPhone. Lower than that will negatively affect charge time.

When you get into tablets, you will need a minimum of 6000 mAh to power it up.

For most promotional use–such as for trade shows and referral gifts — 220 mAH power chargers are sufficient.

When giving employee gifts or incentive gifts, the higher mAh rating is usually appreciated and worth the extra money.

3) What else should you consider on your promotional power chargers?

There are several other factors that are crucial in determining which is the ideal external battery charger for your needs.

Other things to consider are:

a) warranty – A good battery charger should have no less than a full one-year warranty against defects

b) certifications – Higher priced power chargers have passed EMC tests and are fully FCC compliant. In addition, all our products are CSA/UL certified and have passed all CSA/UL safety tests. They should also be RoHS compliant.

c) charging cycles – Usually the lower the price, the fewer the charge cycles. Higher quality power chargers can deliver a lifetime charge cycles of over 1,000 – vs. 200-300 charge cycles for lower priced ones. This means more usage — and more visibility for your brand..