INTRODUCTION

   Time flies by very fast and so once again summer is just around the corner so naturally most people i know are already planning for their highly anticipated vacation. Summer vacations however usually mean going to the beach on a daily basis (where i live anyways) and although in the past that ment only taking a towel and an umbrella with you today thanks to our smartphones, laptops and tablets things have become quite more complicated. Now there are some people who prefer getting up and going all the way to their cars to charge their mobile devices but leaving out the quite annoying getting up part and going all the way to your car that means you can't use the device while charging (not to mention doing so may help deplete your car batter). Portable rechargeable battery packs (power banks) have solved that problem for the majority of people but to date not many people are aware that there are some models which can also be used to charge their laptops and other not so "portable" devices. The AL390 Laptop Power Bank by Xtorm is one such model and we've spend the past month testing it with all our portable devices.

   Xtorm is part of the Dutch company A-solar bv and was founded in 2008 with the idea that today more and more mobile devices come to the market, which requires a lot of power. To contribute to the environment we have searched for durable applications to provide a solution to this problem. Meanwhile we are the manufacturer in the field of innovative and practical solar and power solutions for everyday use. We bring a complete range of affordable and user-friendly consumer products on the market that simply charged from solar power and USB. The products with the brand Xtorm have a contemporary character and are of high quality.

   The AL390 Laptop Power Bank by Xtorm features a high-quality 18.000mAh lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack which can be used to fully charge tablets up to 2 times and most smartphones up to 9-10 times (up to 90 hours of extra operation time according to Xtorm). It also has two 5v/2.4A USB ports for charging of mobile devices but what really separates it from most products of its category is the built-in AC 230v socket which can be used with laptops and virtually anything that uses a wall plug (as long as it's rated for up to 65W). Unfortunately all of the above mean that the AL390 is not the smallest power bank in the market today (far from it really) but all said and done people who are interested in such a device will obviously not be looking for one with just enough juice to charge their smartphones.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

You can see a picture of the product along with its main features at the front of the box.

The specifications list is placed at the rear of the box right next to a list of all the devices you can use the product with and a few words about it in 7 languages.

Xtorm has wrapped the AL390 inside a plastic bag and placed inside a formed piece of cardboard so no problems in terms of packaging.

Inside the box you will find the AL390 Power Bank, carrying pouch, power adapter with EU plug, EU travel adapter and the user manual.

THE AL390

The enclosure of the AL390 weighs 638g, is made out of hard plastic and measures 186mm in length, 129mm in width and 28mm in height (thickness).

This is a large power bank but certainly not the largest and to showcase this we placed it right next to several of the models we're using in the lab.

The on/off button is placed at the top of the device and can also be used to check the current charge of the internal lithium-ion battery thanks to the 4 blue LEDs placed next to it (Xtorm claims the battery comes pre-charged but obviously noone should wait for that to last many months).

Moving on the left side of the device we find the DC charging input.

At the front of the AL390 we see the two 5v/2.4A charging USB ports, AC charging on/off switch and a charging LED indicator.

The AC port is covered by a hard plastic cap so you will need to remove it.

You can use the AC port with compatible EU plugs but Xtorm also bundles a travel adapter which can be used with EU/DE, UK and USA plugs.

CONCLUSION

   18.000mAh may sound like a large number to some people (although during our tests as expected we hit roughly 13.000-13.500mAh) but having used and reviewed power banks with battery capacities of up to 30.000mAh this is not what impressed us with the AL390 by Xtorm but rather as mentioned earlier the built-in AC 230v electrical socket. This for some weird reason is something we almost never see with similar products so we all feel it’s a great feature since it allows you to use pretty much any electronic device that doesn’t need more than 65W to operate. Of course the AL390 could be perfect had Xtorm placed a 5v/1.5A USB port instead of two 5v/2.4A ones (2x2.4A & 1x1.5A would be ideal) since they may just be too much for the rechargeable batteries used in many smartphones. We do realize that the AL390 was never ment to be used on a daily basis (much like most power banks) so that shouldn’t be an issue (besides fast charging is never a bad thing when your device is out of juice) but still it would certainly put the mind of many at ease. Finally a jump-start feature for cars although not very important still it would also be nice to see especially since there are plenty of such models available in the market today (that makes me wonder why Xtorm hasn’t released something similar to date).

   Over the last few years Xtorm has become quite popular in the EU (unfortunately their products are not available in the USA) since they make high quality products that perform extremely well due to the battery cells they use so naturally they retail higher than similar products by not so popular manufacturers. To be more specific the AL390 Laptop Power Bank currently retails for 137.99Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag that places it right next to several other models that offer capacities up to 30.000mAh and the already mentioned jump start feature for cars. Overall quality may be far from identical so that’s always something to take into account but what really makes it stand out from them is the AC 230v electrical socket and since the AL390 never let us down during testing it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (High Quality Cells)
- Built-In AC 230v Electrical Socket
- Very High Capacity (18.000mAh)
- 2 USB 5v/2.4A Ports
- Pre-Charged
- Seperate AC Output On/Off Switch
- Bundle (Carrying Pouch / Travel Adapter)

CONS

- Size (For Some)
- Price (For Some)
- Availability Outside The EU
- Jump Start Feature Would Be Useful