Portrable 18650 charger - Nitecore LC10 or Folomov A1?

solars

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
14
Hi there,

I have:
  • 18650 Flashlight
  • USB-C Phone
  • USB camera batteries charger

And I'm now looking for the lightest charger so that I can use the 18650 that I carry anyway, to charge
these devices.

I came across the Nitecore LC-10 that seems pretty nice, unfortunately they use micro usb instead of usb-c.
Then there is the Folomov A1 which also looks nice, and has only the USB plug.

What I'm wondering is, since it always needs to convert the 3.7V of the 18650 to 5V, the Nitecore F2 might be more efficient, although heavier?

When would you chose which one?
 
Last edited:

terjee

Enlightened
Joined
Jul 24, 2016
Messages
729
Location
Bergen, Norway
You can find USB-A to USB-C charge cables, and should be able to use any of these chargers. Either of them would still have to convert voltage. One thing to consider is how well they'll pair up with your phone, if you can find an indication that they speak the fast charge protocol that your phone speaks, through specs or reviews. If you can't get confirmation, I'd look at output amperage of the different ones.

If you'll be charging as you go, it could be worth also looking into how each of these devices will behave for your use case. If I recall correctly, you could connect two batteries and an external USB device to the F2, and it'll all be charged eventually.

I'd expect efficiency of all of them to be somewhat new similar, with the exception of any imcompatabiltiy with your phone, and also solar. For solar, I wouldn't be surprised if there are significant differences, such a as if they'll restart after a voltage dip.

Sorry if I just gave you more questions than answers.
 

solars

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
14
No worries - I just learned that the powerbanks use the batteries in parallel mostly - so this means it doesn't convert down from 7.4 as I expected, but hast to boost up from 3.7 in any way.
So I guess it doesn't matter which charger I use.
 

Lynx_Arc

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 1, 2004
Messages
11,212
Location
Tulsa,OK
No worries - I just learned that the powerbanks use the batteries in parallel mostly - so this means it doesn't convert down from 7.4 as I expected, but hast to boost up from 3.7 in any way.
So I guess it doesn't matter which charger I use.

There are some that use 2 batteries in series but they aren't cylindrical batteries. I have one power bank I got that supports fast charging from Anker that works well. In a pinch you could use it to charge other devices including powering an 18650 usb charger of your choice. For charging phones I recommend a 10,000mah or greater power bank due to the losses in conversion and fast charging boosting it would give you 1 possibly 2 complete charges before running out of power and some power banks (the Ankers I have) support fast charging them too.
 
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