The Box and Goodies -
The box that the RAVPOWER RP-PB04 comes in looks like it is intended to be on a store shelf, but you might not think that it is a battery until you take a closer look. RAVPOWER chose to wrap their cardboard box with a plastic shell. This helps protect the box from crushing, but does make photographing it something or a pain. Our picture taking aside, the box is pretty decent.

On the front you have the model number and on the back you have a little bit more detail.

Inside the box are the things that are the most important. You get the RP-PB04, a charging cable, multiple tips, and a cloth case to put it all in. Like we said, everything you need.

The RAVPOWER RP-PB04 -
The RAVPOWER RP-PB04 looks like most of the other portable batteries on the market. There is really not too much you can do with this type of product to be honest with you. Inside there is a 1000mAh rechargeable battery that should keep your phones and tablets running for a while.

In keeping with the trends going on in the market the RP-PB04 has multiple ports on it. You can charge two different 5V devices at the same time. The dual ports are also there to allow more greedy devices to charge. One port is 5V 1A (Amp) and the other can handle 2A devices. This is a nice touch although we would be interested in seeing if someone can swing two ports with 2A capability. To keep the RP-PB04 full and ready to go you use,… you guessed it a USB cable that is standard on one end and a mini USB on the other.

The top of the PB04 has a power button, although most of the time you will not need it. When you plug in a device the power will start to flow on most occasions. There are LEDs there to let you know the level of power remaining in the PB04. Overall the RP-PB04 is a nicely built product: now we get to see how it performs.

Performance -
Performance of a battery is more than just “how long does it let me use my phone” it is also about incidentals and of course aesthetics. Incidentals are items like grip, weight, heat buildup and ease of use. Aesthetics are becoming more important because nobody wants an ugly hunk of plastic sitting next to their expensive device.  So let’s talk about each of these in turn and see what we get.

Battery Life -
The amount of “charge” time you can get out of any portable power source is the most important reason to buy one. In some cases the battery stuffed inside is enough to recharge your phone (or other device) once or maybe twice. The RP-PB04 has a 10000mAh battery that was able to charge an iPhone 5 from 10% to full a total of five times. It was able to recharge a Note II from 10% to full a total of 4.5 times. In short we were impressed with the charging capabilities of the RP-PB04.

Heat -
The Ravpower RP-PB04 did not heat up or create any additional heat which is good if you want to use this inside a laptop bag or something similar.

Aesthetics -
The RP-PB04 is a fairly clean looking product. It is not going to win any awards for beauty or inspire you with awe, but it is also not going to look like crap when you are using it. It is one of the cleaner looking ones that we have seen and it is functional to be sure.

Value -
Value is another very subjective topic. What is expensive to some might be a deal to others. You can look at this topic in multiple ways. One is raw price and the other is what you get for the money. Each is accurate and both are correct ways to look at price/value. We tend to look at features, performance and real-property when we discuss value. However, we also take into account the raw cash cost of the item.  The Ravpower RP-PB04 goes for about $40 on the internet with the lowest price we saw at about $36. This is a solid price for a product that will let you recharge your phone or tablet multiple times on the go. There are a few other competitors out there with similar prices so the RP-PB04 will have some competition.

Conclusion -
The mobile power market is still a small one, but as the mobile market grows the need for this type of product will grow as well. Right now we have tablets, phones, watches, headsets, and more that rely on power every few days (in some cases every few hours). This need will grow over the next few years and will make the demand for devices like the Ravpower PR-PB04 grow. The Ravpower line up (and the RP-PB04 in particular) has some excellent performance to back up their place in the market. With its weight, capacity, and fairly slim design it will be replacing our older backup power source when we go on the road.

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