PortaPow 3rd Gen Triple USB + USB-C Power Monitor with Data Blocker

This is a brilliant peace of kit and seems very accurate compared to another similar USB power monetor I own. When charging a power bank with a 1A input this shows a steady 0.99A sometimes just creaping over the 1A mark wheras the other monetor sits around 0.87A when testing both units from a 2.1A original Apple Ipad charger. I was very surprised to see the same power bank happily drawing 0.95A from all 4 of my laptops USB ports when checking them individually. Charging from the USB data/charge socket is slightly slower by around 100MA give or take a bit but the USB charge only port deffinatly charges devices slightly faster especially from laptops. Finally I can use this to test the discharge capacity of my power banks by running a 12V fan on the charge only port. The fan uses a USB to 12V boost module with a single channel 3 pin controller with a variable voltage resister so I can finally monetor the power banks health over time. I tested the unit to the limit by connecting a 4 port USB hub in line and charging 3 devices all at the same time with a power bank which has a very fussy 2.1A output I can happily say 2 smaller power banks and my Creative Sound blaster E5 amp all charged at the same time without any issues though the power bank did shut off when the output spiked briefly over 2.1A but with a mains charger the same set-up worked totally fine. This configuration also caused the voltage from the power bank to sag and drop below 4.5V triggring an audable beep which is deffinatly a good function. Finally I can use this to power the Sound blaster E5 as a pure headphone amp and charge the battery at the same time by using the charge only port.I can't wait for spring and summer where I can use this with my two portapow solar pannels connected in parallel by using a USB A twin male to female A cable to charge devices much faster to see how they react in different conditions. I should also mention this works fine when using the micro USB input though only cables with a thin housing should be use as its a very very tight fit though if using the micro USB input, devices which require data + charging won't be recognised correctly by windows even if plugging in the short cable and a micro USB extention at the same time. However, it is possible to use a female to male A Y-splitter USB cable to feed more power intoo the tester. For example, my Chuwi Hi10 tablet pulls 5V with no load attached but even with a small load such as my E5 with a fully charged battery which draws around 0.24A constantly the voltage starts to sag below 4.87V but if using a USB type A Y-splitter with one end providing data/power to the monetor and a pure power cable connected to a power bank, the voltage sits happily at 5.21V with no load attached and with the E5 the voltage sits happily around 5.16 to 5.18V which is how my laptop behaves so this unit deffinatly confirmed what I suspected that the Hi10's USB ports are slightly underpowered.All in all, this is an outstanding device and well worth the £9 price deffinatly one of the best USB testers on the market. Charging through the power only port is much faster compared to the standard data/power port and its an outstanding device. I should mention the device is much smaller compared to the images on the product page I was expecting a fairly large bulky device but was plesently surprised to see how small it is. Also, the screen is of a very high quality and will power off after 5 minutes simply hit the small button to turn on the display again. Also, values can be stored in 9 memories simply press the button to cycle through the memories and long press the button on a memory to clear the value and reset the counter to 0. If the device loses power it retains the stored values which is an outstanding feature.This is deffinatly a 10 star product deffinatly better than the rest and pocket sized. The fact that the screen turns off after 5 minutes is brilliant as the light could get distracting at night whereas my other unit constantly keeps the screen powered on. The didgits are easy to read though you should view the display from the center and the values appear much clearer in use compared to the product images. Finally, the short cable on this unit is brilliant as it won't block other USB ports and cant be easily knocked if using with a laptop whereas my older tester always appears to get in the way as its much bulkier and an be easily knocked possibly damaging the USB port.

I recently bought a Samsung S7 phone which supports the Qualcomm Quick Charge system. Being a bit 'nerdy', I wanted to see how much power the phone was drawing while it was charging wirelessly. I already own a PortaPow V2 Power monitor (which is incidentally a great device) but it only supports power supplies up to 7V. Normally this would be all you need for a USB connection but 'Quick Charge' allows for the voltages to go up to 9V and in some cases 12V (I think).So I started looking for a monitor that was designed to cope with the higher voltages and, sure enough, PortaPow have already developed one. It is the V3 and according to the spec will measure up to 20V. Like it its predecessor, it is very easy to use. Just plug it into the wall charger and plug the cable coming from your phone/tablet into the monitor. The monitor backlight will illuminate and the display will show the voltage and current. The display measures 1cm x2cm but it is clear and easy to read. The actual device itself is slightly smaller than the V2 and measures 6cm by 2.5cm.There are some other more 'esoteric' functions such as storing previous settings but personally I haven't found any need to use them. PortaPow claim it is compatible with 'Quick Charge' versions 1, 2 & 3. It definitely works perfectly with my S7 which I think is 'Quick Charge' version 2.I also tried it with the iPad just to make sure that I didn't get the 'un-certified accessory..' warning and it was fine with that too.I realise that this monitor is also targeted for use with Solar Panels with a USB output but I can't comment on that. However, if you want to check how well your wall chargers & cables are working (and they are not all the same) this is the device you need to find out and it doesn't even cost very much.