Besiter Eclipse: A nicely designed power bank [Review]
As we become more and more reliant on our portable devices, running out of battery power at a crucial moment is always a risk.
Fortunately there are plenty of USB power banks on the market to give your device a boost. The latest to come our way is the Besiter Eclipse from UK company Kavson. It claims to have one of the most powerful batteries available, making it able to charge an iPhone 6S up to 5 times and a Samsung Galaxy S7 up to 3 times over.
Out of the box, first impressions are that it has a weighty, solid feel and is compact enough to slip into a bag or pocket. The finish is part matt black, part a shiny gunmetal color which is a magnet for fingerprints. Both ends are flat so you can stand it upright on a desk. There are two standard USB outlet ports for 1 Amp and 2.2 Amp devices at one end and a microUSB charging port on the side. An LCD readout -- motion sensitive so it comes on when you pick the unit up -- shows you how much charge is remaining, much better than the row of LEDs you get on many competitors. There's also a useful extra feature in the form of an LED light that flips out from the side.
The Eclipse comes in four capacities from 2500mAh (Eclipse 1) up to 10,000mAh (Eclipse 4). Our review unit was a mid range 7500mAh Eclipse 3. It's also available in white and chrome as an alternative to black and gunmetal, presumably to appeal to Apple users.
If you have a device with fast charging capabilities it works quickly using the 2.1A socket. It will charge other devices at a slower rate on the 1A though and you can use both USB ports at once -- you only get one cable with the device though. It generally takes the same amount of time as charging from the mains and the LCD counts down the amount of capacity left in the Eclipse as it works. Putting a full charge into a Kindle took about 15 percent of its battery life.
Overall the Eclipse is a neat design with some clever features like the capacity readout. It's reasonably priced compared to other similar devices too. If you need a power bank there's no real reason not to consider this one, it is worth going for one of the higher capacities though.
In the UK you can buy direct from the Kavson website, the Besiter Eclipse costs from £10.99 to £19.99 depending on capacity. In the US you can find the 10,000mAh Eclipse 4 version on Amazon for $22.99.