review
Shargeek Storm 2 Review Transparent 100W PD DC Powerbank With Variable Voltage & OLED Display
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
Never starve for power with Shargeek's new 100 watt power delivery (PD) powerbank with DC input/output, smart OLED display and more! Very powerful indeed and, cool looking too - perfect for thirsty devices like a MacBook, Steam Deck and Oculus VR headset!
The clear enclosure is made of fireproof plastic
(polycarbonate), while side faceplates are made of oxidized aluminum
alloy, which is scratch and corrosion resistant. The side faceplates are
fixed to the enclosure via standard hex screws. The
transparent finish of the Storm 2 powerbank is really cool, letting you catch a glimpse of
the internal circuit board and components including a 3R3 power
inductor, Naxim SoC (NXWCR6), Capxon capacitors (100uF 25V), PowerPax SW3517S (an integrated dual-port charging chip) and 8 Samsung INR18650 32E 3100mAh Li ion unprotected batteries, providing a total 25,600 mAh battery capacity.
Aside
from the transparent casing, the Shargeek Storm 2 powerbank stands out
from competitors by including an OLED display screen (25mm x 15mm)
which shows useful information such as voltage of each battery cell,
battery cycles, estimated battery life, current, wattage, battery
temperature, circuit temperature, input status, output status and running
time.
Another neat feature you won't find on most powerbanks
is adjustable voltage. The Shargeek Storm 2 powerbank gives you the
ability to adjust the output of the DC voltage, which is useful when
charging low lower devices. The DC voltage can be adjusted between 3.3V
and 25.2V in increments of 1 volt or 0.1 volt.
There are a total of four connection ports for output charging, including a USB-C and DC port which support bi-directional input/output charging. The
Shargeek Storm 2 powerbank can be charged two ways: via DC input and
via USB-C input, which is quicker because the USB-C input supports fast
charging up to 100 watt (20V/5A). The DC input only supports up to 72 watts
(24V/3A). The minimum input charging requirement is 15 watts; hence the
Shargeek Storm 2 powerbank cannot be recharged via a computer.
As
far as output charging, you can use up to 3 ports at the same time so,
you can charge 3 external devices simultaneously. While convenient,
charging multiple devices at the same time reduces the output charge of
each port. When using one port at a time, the maximum output charge is
as follows:
- DC port=75 watts
- USB-C1 port=100 watts
- USB-C2 port= ~30 watts
- USB-A port = 18 watts
Shargeek Storm 2 is easy to use too, via a single multifunctional button designed to navigate between menus.
Storm 2 can be charged whilst charging external devices. When using an
100W charger (not included), Storm 2 charging time is just 1.5 hours. To
power off the powerbank, you can't just long press the button, which
would have been handy. Instead, you have to navigate to the
power off menu.
Shargeek includes a quality USB-C cable with a nice bumble bee colorway with similar performance to the Apple Thunderbolt 3 USB-C cable. The Shargeek cable isn't branded but feels premium. It is made of soft rubber (including the plugs) and supports high-speed charging up to 100W - enough to fast-charge a 14-inch MacBook Pro.
The Shargeek cable can also handle data and video transmission up to 10Gbps. The cable supports the
USB3.2 Gen 2 standard and USB4 standard, although only the limited
version of USB4 which is 10Gbps. USB4 is actually capable of 40Gbps which
is the Thunderbolt 4 standard. This means, you can't use the included
cable with Thunderbolt 4 and 8k video but, you can use use it to
transmit 4k 60Hz video.
A few other standards supported by
Storm 2 include Power Delivery (PD 3.0), Quick Charge (QC) 3.0 and Quick
Charge (QC) 4+, which is supported by some smartphones such as the HTC
U12 Plus, Xiaomi Mi A2 and LG G7 ThinQ. Quick Charge 4 is capable of
charging the device to 50% in just 15 minutes.
Shargeek also states that the included cable integrates an E-Marker
chip, which is good to know as this allows the cable to intelligently
control the charging and prevent damaging your devices. As far as transportation, the Shargeek Storm 2 powerbank can
be carried
without approval on a plane since the power rating is below 100Wh. Any powerbank between 100Wh and 160Wh usually
requires airliner approval. Dimensions of Storm 2 are 15cm long x 4.5cm wide x 6cm high and 597 grams in weight.
Potential deal breakers
- Non variable current output
- Expensive
- Unknown electronics
- Non self-replaceable batteries (welded together)
- Screen can't be turned off manually, unless setting the screen timer down to 1 minute (lowest)
- Doesn't support AC input
- No power off button
Selling points for Storm 2
- High power USB Type C powerbank for newer laptops
- Bi-directional input/output charging ports
- Transparent enclosure
- Included cable supports charging/data/video up to 10 Gbps
- 100 watt charging cable with E-marker chip protection
- Airline approved power bank
- Adjustable DC output voltage
- Supports PD 3.0, QC 3.0 & QC 4+
- Anti-glare LED display screen
- Short circuit protection
- 18 months limited warranty
- Passthrough charging
Accessories
included with Storm 2 are a 100W USB-C male to male cable (1.7 meters) and a thick canvas
drawstring pouch with Shargeek branding heat printed. You can buy the Storm 2 100W PD powerbank from Shargeek and amazon.
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