INTRODUCTION

   Long distance running is something I’ve just recently gotten into since in the past i never thought that it was really important so walking for a couple of kilometers per couple of days seemed to be sufficient (trust me it's not). Anyways a couple of weeks ago i was away with a friend trying to put my latest Mizuno shoes to the test when suddenly after almost 30 minutes of running my smartphone indicated that it was almost out of battery. Luckily I’m always prepared for that so while in one armband i have my smartphone in the other i have a small credit-card power bank (sometimes i carry a larger one) which can give my smartphone roughly 3 extra hours of life which although not really much especially if you use your smartphone a lot but for me and for that specific day it proved sufficient. Today however we're going to be taking a closer look at a much higher capacity power bank solution, the PB Runner 10400mAh model by FSP.

   FSP Group is the 5th largest power supply vendor in the world. Since the company was established in 1993, our outstanding management team has drawn together our R&D expertise, our sizeable production capacity, outstanding product quality to consistently excel in this competitive marketplace. FSP group is a publicly traded company listed in the Taiwan stock exchange, symbol: 30.15.TW, with revenues exceeding over 600 million USD. FSP group provides OEM/ODM power conversion products and services to the majority of well-established manufacturers and is the leading volume supplier of desktop PC ATX power supplies. In recent years, FSP group has expanded its R&D and manufacturing capabilities to become one of the major power conversion supplier of power adapters, industrial PCs, servers, LCD/LED monitors, LCD/LED TVs, heavy duty industrial products (UPS), portable battery chargers, Uninterrupted Power Supply as well as providing off-the-shelf consumer products, partnering with many strategic manufacturers.

   The very first thing people see when they purchase something is its looks ad to be honest with all of you the PB Runner 10400mAh is nothing special in that area since FSP followed a very simple design. Now the good news is that when it comes to portable battery packs looks aren't really important so all of us here care very little about that. In the end it's the interior that matters most and by using A-grade Samsung cells FSP can guarantee the highest possible battery capacity, shortest recharge times and endurance through time. However the battery type used is only part of what makes the PB Runner 10400mAh so FSP has paired that with over current, over discharge, over charge and short circuit protections, two 5V USB charging ports (1.5A/2.4A) and a 5 million USD product insurance (just in case something gets broken because of the power bank). So the time has come for us to see if the first step in this segment of the market by a giant like FSP has succeeded or not.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The PB Runner 10400mAh gets shipped inside a small box that has a clear plastic window at the front (from where you can see the device) and the main product features listed right next to it.

You can see some of the devices the PB Runner 10400mAh can be used with on the left side.

Both the specifications and features are listed at the rear right above a text printed in 25 languages that points you to the official FSP product page if you want to read the user manual.

Inside the box FSP has placed the PB Runner 10400mAh, quickstart guide and a USB to microUSB cable.

THE PB RUNNER 10400MAH

The PB Runner 10400mAh power bank is not very small and to be more specific its matte body (top/bottom mate, side polished) weighs 295g and measures 130.4mm in length, 85.6mm in width and 28mm in height (thick).

At the top we find the on/off button and 4 blue LEDs used to display the current battery level.

Two USB charging ports are placed right beneath the LEDs.

A microUSB charging port is placed on the left side of the unit.

There's a small sticker at the bottom with the units electrical specifications.

The USB ports are tagged but unfortunately their output is only mentioned on the sticker.

CONCLUSION

   FSP may be one of the leading PSU (power supply unit) manufacturers in the world but manufacturing power banks is something completely different so no one here knew what to expect from the PB Runner 10400mAh. Of course a manufacturer with a perfect track record like FSP wouldn't leave anything to chance but the truth of the matter is that we can never be certain about anything, at least not until we see for ourselves. Well after testing the PB Runner 10400mAh for almost 3 weeks and after using it with 2 tablets and 5 smartphones many times over we've concluded that it can output anything from 6900mAh and up to 7300mAh (we can't pinpoint the exact output unfortunately). True even 7300mAh is not the advertised 10400mAh but if you've been following our power bank reviews then you should know that no model ever delivers 100% of the advertised capacity so this was not unexpected. The upper side with this result is that it's better than we had hoped when we initially started testing the PB Runner 10400mAh and certainly much better compared to many other power banks (perhaps due to the Samsung cells used or the craftsmanship a company like FSP can offer). Recharging the battery takes slight less than 6 hours which is not bad at all for a power bank with a real capacity near 10000mAh.

   The PB Runner 10400mAh is a rather new product so we didn’t' expect to find the best availability around. However things are even worse since we were unable to locate it anywhere online, at least not in the usual places we look when we finish our reviews. Still FSP assured us that this will change very soon and that the PB Runner 10400mAh has a recommended price tag of USD49.9/49.9Euros inside the USA and EU. Well if that's on the spot we're talking about a very honest offering by a very large manufacturer and i really don't think you can go wrong with it so if roughly 10000mAh is sufficient for your use and you don't care much about the rather simple design then simply go for it, it did get our Golden Award after all.

PROS

- Quality (Samsung Lithium-Ion Rechargeable Cells)
- 5V 1.5A & 2.4A USB Charging Ports
- Electrical Protections (Over Current/ Over Discharge/ Over Charge/ Short Circuit)
- Price (Recommended USA/EU)
- 5 Million USD Product Insurance

CONS

- Design/Size (For Some)