New - Nitecore UM20 and UM10 USB Chargers

Nitecore announced two new Lion / IMR USB chargers with 1 and 2 bay respectively:

UM10: http://nitecore.com/productDetail.aspx?id=130

UM20: http://nitecore.com/productDetail.aspx?id=131

At first sight they look pretty compact and I like the storage compartment for the USB cable. They could be very good if you want to bring along a charger when travelling.

:rock:

I saw this earlier on their website. Its good to note that its charging current is now up to 1A. But we still have to wait for the review if this is per bay or it'll halve when charging 2 18650s. But it seems nicely built and I also like the way they tucked the USB cable. This would be great for travel

these look very interesting. Good concepts behind the use of the powerbank feature. Seems it is using battery length to automatically select the charge current, not a big fan of that since selecting the rate manually is much more accurate and flexible, but they are trying to make it easier to use with current typical cells.b

microUSB input is nice also with usb data compatibility.

Update: sorry looks like no powerbank feature exists.

Glad to see it, but I have a question. I would really like a charger like this that would also charge NiMH, but haven't been able to find one. Does anyone make a good one that will do both from USB?

They are looking pretty good. does two things that i do on the desk at the same time from the same socket and thats cool.

Timothybil said:

Glad to see it, but I have a question. I would really like a charger like this that would also charge NiMH, but haven't been able to find one. Does anyone make a good one that will do both from USB?

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When NITECORE told me about this charger I was under the impression it was multi-chemistry as they said it was like the D2 with added benefits. It is disappointing to see it is Li-ion only. If it had included NiMh it would have been the one to beat.

Looking through the instructions, it doesn't mention using it as a powerpack. From the design, I assumed that one function it would offer would be to have USB power output running off a Li-ion cell, but it appears to not offer this function unless I've read it wrong.

subwoofer said:

Looking through the instructions, it doesn't mention using it as a powerpack. From the design, I assumed that one function it would offer would be to have USB power output running off a Li-ion cell, but it appears to not offer this function unless I've read it wrong.

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I was looking for that as well, but it appears not to be. Nothing in the rather detailed instructions about the second USB device leads me to believe that is going to be possible.
Also, nothing is said in the UM20 Manual about one channel or two channel. If it is indeed two channel, then charging two 18650s at 1000ma would require almost two amps input, which many USB chargers would not be able to supply. Since many feature phone chargers only supply .7A, and USB 2 ports on computers are only supposed to supply .5A, this could be a problem for both the UM10 & the UM20. The Manual says nothing about what happens in a case like this.

The manual made it rather confusing, but Nitecore's YT marketing channel has a couple videos that make the set up a littel clearer: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoMD73pos-cPE0yJJceXyAg/videos

I could see this being a great travel accessory, especially if the charger can charge a device off the USB (which I'm still a little fuzzy on).

Regarding the Ni-MH question, I would think that any Ni-MH USB charger can piggyback on this, though it seems silly to carry two separate chargers. If you were at home, on the other hand, I don't see any benefit to not just using a separate outlet.

I guess time will tell how well this system works.

I sure made a big mistake i thought it offered powerbank support. Now this is looking a lot less interesting. :thumbsdow

These are nice travel chargers for those whom prefer to travel light as you can charge your li-ion batteries and your iPhone from one power socket and a small 5W iPhone or 12W iPad USB charger, very clever idea.

It would be a killer device if it could also act like a powerbank and had the ability to charge Eneloops but sadly they stopped halfway their brainstorm session...

It doesnt look like a charger for someone travelling light. I like the fact that I can charge both cell phone/gps and my flashlight batteries at the same time from a single wall outlet. And most hotels only have 2 sockets which means need to travel with power splitters, but with this that need is solved.

StandardBattery said:

I sure made a big mistake i thought it offered powerbank support. Now this is looking a lot less interesting. :thumbsdow

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By "powerbank", do you mean the ability to charge a cell phone (or similar) off of a charged 18650 cell without a power connection? I was wondering if it could do that.

Do you actually have one in hand? I'm really interested in whether or not it has this ability...

I will gladly accept being wrong here, but I don't think it can. After reading the manual and watching the videos, it looks like the power is switched between the charging circuit and the USB output jack, based on conditions and the position of the Priority switch. That leads me to believe it is an either/or situation. It would have been nice to include that option, maybe triggered by having no power on the input jack with a charged cell present and a connection on the output jack. Maybe in Rev. 2.

jag-engr said:

By "powerbank", do you mean the ability to charge a cell phone (or similar) off of a charged 18650 cell without a power connection? I was wondering if it could do that.

Do you actually have one in hand? I'm really interested in whether or not it has this ability...

Click to expand...

Yes, that's what I mean. BUT I don't have one in hand yet.

Like others here I looked again at the video and the manual and agreed with their assement that at least at this time this does not seem to be a feature offered by these chargers (I was mainly looking at UM10). It seems so obvious.... but right now... they are not talking about it. However... maybe they still have time to add the feature before the product ships. Best to stick with XTAR retail charger line I think, but fun to play with others ones.

The UM20 specs say USB input and output. To me that says "powerbank"

From the UM20 User Manual:

When there is a power deficit for the UM20 to charge both batteries and USB device
simultaneously, the UM20 will prioritize the charging of the batteries or the device
following the user's preference.
When the top switch is set to BATTERY, battery priority mode will be activated. In this
mode, the UM20 will charge the batteries first. When batteries are fully charged or
removed, the UM20 will then charge / power the USB device automatically
When the top switch is set to USB, USB priority mode will be activated. In this mode,
the UM20 will charge / power the USB device first. When the USB device is fully
charged or disconnected, the UM20 will charge the batteries automatically.
NOTE: A small electrical current will keep passing through to the external device
connected to maintain the device in its full power state when i t is charged.

Nowhere in the manual does it mention powering the USB output from any cells loaded into the charger.

I still haven't seen any decisive evidence either way. To me it seems that it may or may not function as a power bank. I'll be keeping a close eye on this one, since I'm in the market for a power bank or two. :santa:

My gut feeling says "yes, they just neglected to state it explicitly", but it's been wrong before.

Now back to our regular programming.

Nitecores marketing department would have zoomed in on the powerbank feature if it was an option, it's not something they would forget to mention IMO but time will tell.

Timothybil said:

Glad to see it, but I have a question. I would really like a charger like this that would also charge NiMH, but haven't been able to find one. Does anyone make a good one that will do both from USB?

Click to expand...

I am am using the Xtar XP1 "Hummingbird". Uses a micro USB and will charge AA, AAA NiMh and 14500 and 16340. It is not big enough to do 18650. But for someone who travels as much as I do it is really nice and compact. I use 14500 in my SRT3 and AA NiMh as back up. I also use AAA in my 4/7 preon pen light and my ANR headset. So it handles most of my needs. Only drawback is it only charges one battery at a time.

I want to start carrying my Nitecore CR6 that uses 18650. So I pulled the trigger today on the UM10. Looking at both the Nitecore and Xtar websites, I see the UM 10 is slightly bigger than the Xtar MP1 that I presently have at home sitting in a drawer. It won't do NiMh, so I will have to start carrying my Sanyo USB charger again too. Still, the two combined should still be lightweight and compact enough for a frequent traveler.

time will tell.