Skip to main content

Understanding mAh

In this episode -  Understanding Milliamp Hours (mAh) . . .



Adapted article from the How-To-Geek Newsletter by Kris Wouk.


When shopping for backup power (portable charger) for your phone, you're sure to encounter the term milliamp hours or the abbreviation mAh. Not sure what this means, let's examine it.


What Are Milliamp Hours?


Milliamp hours (mAh) is a unit that measures power over time.


A milliamp is a measure of electric current, precisely one-thousandth of an amp. Amps and milliamps measure the strength of the electric current. Add hours to this, and you get a measure of how long this current can flow at that strength.


Let's use a battery as an example. If your battery can maintain a current output of one milliamp for one hour, you would call it a one mAh battery.

You will see mAh used in many electronic devices with a battery, from phones, and watches, to Bluetooth devices. These devices range from hundreds of milliamp hours into the thousands in terms of capacity, but they're all measured the same way. One thing to note here is that milliamp-hours are only a measure of capacity. They don't dictate how fast your backup battery will charge a device.


Device Capacity -


The average smartphone has a battery capacity ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 mAh. But as phones have advanced, demand for batteries has increased, thus diminishing battery life overall. This means portable chargers are more popular than ever. To be of any practical use, you'll want a compact charger that has at least as much battery capacity as whatever you'd like to charge. After all, an older charger with a 2,000 mAh capacity doesn't do much for an iPhone 13 with a 3,227 mAh battery.


A charger with roughly the same capacity as your phone or tablet is better than nothing, but bigger is almost always better. Even if you don't use the maximum capacity of your charger, it's often better to have the extra power and not need it than find yourself without it.


For example, if you need to charge your smartphone while wilderness camping, you'll want a higher-capacity charger since you will have no opportunity to recharge. Look for a battery of about 20,000 mAh, especially if you're planning more extended trips.


Another option is to harness the power of the Sun - Solar power banks are starting to come down in size and price.


Here's a mountaineering tip: if you're like me, you use your smartphone as a camera, take videos, document ideas in Notes, listen to audiobooks, music, and so much more. Place your phone in airplane mode, especially when you know there is no cell signal. This will extend your battery.


More Power!


Charger capacity continues to increase as our devices' batteries get larger. That brings up the question, is it possible to have a charger with too much capacity for the devices you are charging?


While there are some downsides to larger capacity chargers, there aren't many, and none of them are dangerous. A charger with many more milliamp hours of capacity than you require won't damage your device.


The main downside of a charger with more capacity than you need is size. More capacity means larger batteries, which sometimes require more space for cooling. This can add additional bulk and steal valuable backpack space, but clever packing can solve this problem.


The other downside to a battery with a larger capacity is that it will take longer to recharge.


The bottom line is this; determine your phone's battery capacity and adjust accordingly. So, let's hit the trails this summer fully charged!


If you have a suggestion for a future podcast, email me at pball@sbcglobal.net or click the link  https://anchor.fm/patrick-ball/message and leave us a voice message.


I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

A Mother’s Day Reflection

With Mother’s Day here and the world bustling with cards, brunches, and busy schedules, I find myself reflecting on something a bit simpler: taking a moment to remember the person who helped shape my earliest sense of home. Mauricette Elaine (Bontemps) Ball. My Mom. We arrived in Cuba after leaving La Rochelle, France, in 1959—a transition whose enormity I only fully appreciate now. My mother, barely in her mid-twenties, stepped into Midwestern life with remarkable courage. Her smile could warm the coldest Illinois morning, and her hugs lingered long after she let go—quiet reminders that you were deeply loved. Born February 16, 1934, the third of four children, she grew up in Nazi-occupied La Rochelle. As kids, we listened wide-eyed to stories of soldiers patrolling her streets and fear shadowing everyday life. Yet she carried none of that darkness forward. What endured was resilience and an unwavering devotion to family—qualities she carried across the Atlantic and planted firmly in C...
1 comment
Read more

That Fateful Four-Letter Word

In this episode, A Masterclass in Efficiency. For nearly four months, the western border of our property has stood as a living monument to determination, dubious planning, and forensic-level lumber acquisition. Since February, our neighbor Steve has been conducting what can only be described as a masterclass in deliberate calculation. This was never going to be one of those slick home-improvement shows where a cheerful pair of men installs a fence between commercial breaks, sipping lemonade. No. This was real life in retirement. We scaled the vertical wilderness of our hillside. We mixed concrete with the precision of medieval alchemists. We bled, we sweated, and we fought hand-to-hand with a buried tree stump that had the structural integrity of a Cold War bunker. By this week—May 16th, for those keeping score—the glorious end was finally within reach. The fence stood proudly, the line was straight, and victory practically hummed in the air. Only one major task remained: installing t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Truth for Sale

This episode is inspired  by Elton John & Bernie Taupin On Memorial Day, I took my first bike ride  since the accident , seeking proof that my legs, lungs, and nerves still remembered the road. The morning air carried that familiar Southern California mix of ocean haze, exhaust, eucalyptus, and sun-baked asphalt. My tires hummed across pavement I’ve ridden for years. Somewhere between the steady click of the chain and the rhythm of my breathing, Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s The Captain and the Kid found its way into my ears. There’s a strange kind of magic when the cadence of a ride syncs perfectly with a song you know by heart. Suddenly, the music and lyrics stop being background noise and become a lens. And through that lens, the road started talking. I've been cycling on this road some, Can't help feeling I've been showing my friends around. I've seen it grow from next to nothing, To a giant eatin’ up our town. Called up the tealeaves and the tarots, Asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Giants We Chase

In this episode, The Gleam Within We grow up steeped in fairy tales and grand mythologies. From a young age, we are taught to scan the horizon for the hero—the knight, the savior, the titan who will arrive to make sense of the world. We marvel at the mountains' beauty and nature's majesty, yet, as the old wisdom goes, "we pass over the mystery of ourselves without a single thought." I remember being the little guy from a small town in rural Illinois, looking up at the world and seeing only Giants. I would listen to Earl Nightingale’s Our Changing World broadcasts, mesmerized by the towering figures of success and intellect he described. When you feel small, you naturally seek out those Giants for a glimpse of their light—hoping some of it might rub off on you, preferably without having to do whatever it was they did to earn it. In 1985, while I was earning my G.G. credential, I met Richard T. Liddicoat, the Patriarch of GIA. To everyone in the industry, he was the Fat...
Post a Comment
Read more