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Power
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Portability
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Features
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Value
Summary
The MAXOAK 50,000mAh Portable Charger is simply the best laptop power bank you can get your hands on. A massive battery capacity with great effciency, six charging ports, a sturdy aluminum casing and ten included laptop adapters make it a versatile and fantastic device.
- Massive capacity with enough power for three laptop charges
- Six charging ports for simultaneous charging of six devices
- Sturdy aluminum casing
- Ten laptop adapters included
- Quite bulky and heavy
- Not compatible with Macbooks
Good laptop power banks are hard to come by. We’ve seen a few good ones—like the RAVPower 23000 Portable Charger, but that was more of a regular power bank that also happened to have a laptop charging slot. The MAXOAK 50000mAh K2 Portable Charger however is specifically designed for laptop charging. Let’s take a look at it in this review.
Design and Portability
One thing that immediately stands out about the MAXOAK K2 is its aluminum design. Apart from the top and bottom cover, the casing is entirely made of aluminum with a grainy brushed finish, similar to what we’ve seen on some Jackery power banks. It not only gives the power bank a stylish look, but makes it a very robust and sturdy device, and is a nice change up to the usual plastic shells we see on power banks.
In terms of size, the Maxoak K2 is a proper beast. It measures 8.1 inches in length, 5.3 inches in width and is 1.3 inch thick. To be fair, for such a large capacity power bank it’s not as thick as you’d expect it to be. It’s about the size of a small purse, and compared to the Anker PowerHouse 120,000mAh we reviewed last week, it’s relatively portable. It’s weight of nearly 3 lbs doesn’t make it the most easy to carry around, but for those who really need an extra charge or two for their laptop occasionally, it’s an easy concession to make. And in all honesty, it’s impossible to make a 50,000mAh power bank pocketable (for now at least).
A downside to the huge capacity is that it’s a no-go for travelling on planes. The flight limit stands at 100Wh, and since the Maxoak contains 185Wh of power, it is too large and can not be taken on any airplane, not in hand luggage or checked luggage.
Features
The MAXOAK K2 comes at a rather high price, so you expect it to be packed with features. But how feature-rich is it exactly?
Let’s start off with the charging capabilities. As you can see the power bank has a whopping six output ports to charge devices with. On the far right we have four USB ports. The top row of ports can output 2.1A, while the bottom row of ports can both output 1A. This means you can exclusively charge tablets with the 2A ports and small devices like your smartphone with the bottom two ports. It would’ve been nice if they were all smart charging ports that automatically deliver the most efficient amperage for your device. But to be fair, how often are you going to be charging four tablets simultaneously anyway?
Next to the USB ports we find a 12V/2.5A slot which can be used to charge small laptops, like a 12 inch Acer Aspire, and even other portable devices like a portable tv or projector.
Next to that we find the 20V(19.5V)/3A charging port. This is the slot you’ll probably be using the most as it is the port to charge large laptops with.
You can use all of the ports simultaneously to charge six devices at once without loss of charging speed. Also, the MAXOAK K2 supports pass through charging. meaning you can also charge devices while the power bank is being charged.
Also on the front cover of the device we find the power button to see how much charge is still left in the power bank, which is indicated by four flashing LED lights and increments of 25%. With such a huge capacity, it would’ve been nice if there were a few more LED’s, since the increments of 12,500mAh are simply too big. It gives you a slight idea of how much is left, but not with pinpoint accuracy. Eight or ten LED indicators would’ve been great, or even better: a battery percentage display.
A very nice bonus and something we also saw with the RAVPower 23000 power bank, is that a whopping ten different adapters for various laptop models are included in the package. They include adapters for laptops from Acer, Toshiba, Lenovo, Sony, Samsung, Asus, Dell and more. You can try to explore at which one of the adapters fits in your laptop yourself, or read the manual with proper instructions on which adapter your laptop needs. Which is explained comprehensively and is very understandable for anyone, even those without technical knowledge.
Unfortunately but as expected, there’s no adapter for macbooks. This is not Maxoak’s fault however. Apple laptops use a proprietary plug that isn’t compatible with most third party chargers since they use different voltages. So if you’re looking for a power bank to charge your Macbook, the Maxoak K2 isn’t the right pick.
Power
Now we get to the most important aspect: the power. As you know, the power bank possesses a battery capacity of 50,000mAh—or 185Wh(rated at an internal voltage of 3.7V). But is this actually true? First off, we know a lot of power bank manufacturers inflate numbers. Second, during charging a lot of capacity is lost due to heat and voltage conversion. So in the end you’re usually left with about 60 – 70% of the actual battery capacity the power bank is rated at. The MAXOAK K2 however, shows some very impressive numbers. After some testing with a USB watt meter the MAXOAK K2 draws a total of 168 watt hours. That’s obviously still less than the stated 185 Wh, but it’s still well within a 10% range. Which is very impressive, especially if we compare it to the ±30% we normally see on power banks.
Now how many times can you actually charge your laptop with this power bank? This of course, depends on the size and model of your laptop. It is able to charge a Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Yoga 14 inch laptop three times in total and still has some juice left in the tank. On a full charge it is also able to charge a Sony VAIO 15 inch laptop with an output of 4.5A three times, which is superb. By the way, 4.5A really is the upper limit for the power bank. Any laptop above 4.5A (90+W) will not be charged by the power bank. You can easily check the output of your laptop by reading the specs on your laptop’s charger.
Besides laptops, you can use the USB ports to charge your tablets, phones or other portable devices. The 50,000mAh capacity is enough to charge an average smartphone twenty times, and most tablets will be charged at least eight times. it also charges them quite fast. it’s not Quick Charge compatible, but charges an iPhone 7 in one hour and thirty minutes and a Samsung Galaxy S7 in two hours.
With such a huge capacity, you’d think it’d take a very long time to recharge the power bank. However, the input port is not a simple micro-USB to USB port, but a 16.8V/2.5A port. Which means the power bank will be charged through an AC outlet and will be charged fully in about twelve to fifteen hours. That’s very impressive if you think about it, since it’s just as fast as a 25,000mAh power bank being charged with a 2A adapter.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for the ultimate laptop power bank, the MAXOAK 50,000mAh portable Charger is by far the best pick. The massive capacity of 50,000mAh is enough for three laptop charges, and the whopping six output ports make it an extremely versatile device to also charge phones, tablets and other devices with. It’s unfortunate that airplane travelling is not an option and that it’s not compatible with Macbooks, but all in all, it’s an extremely useful device with incredible value.
Check MAXOAK prices on AmazonTechnical Specifications
Not compatible with:
- Macbook
- Lenovo Yoga 3
- Lenovo Yoga 900
- Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700
- Dell XPS 12(USB-C)
Measurements: | 5.3 x 8.1 x 1.3 inches |
135 x 205 x 33 mm | |
Weight: | 2.77 lbs (1.25 kg) |
Charging ports: | 1x 20V/3A output |
1x 12V/2.5A output | |
2x 5V/2.1A USB outputs | |
2x 5V/1A USB outputs | |
Safety features: | 6 built-in security protections |
Compatible with: | iPhone, Android, tablet, laptop (Samsung, Acer, Lenovo and more) |
Pass-through charging: | Yes |
Smartports: | No |
Qualcomm Quick Charge: | No |
Battery indication: | 4 LED’s |
Flashlight: | No |
Battery capacity: | 50,000 mAh (185Wh) |
Total max output (V20): | ±4.5A (80W) |
Total max output (V12): | 3.5A (36W) |
Total max output (USB): | 6A (30W) |
Input: | 16-17V/2.5A |
Time to charge itself: | 10 – 15 hours |