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

Sunflowers, French Steel, and the Yellow Jersey

Watching Le Tour de France this year, I found myself transported back to August 1983 as the Peloton in Stage 10, Bastille Day, flowed through the French countryside like a brightly colored ribbon. I was in my twenties, visiting family in the Charente-Maritime region of France, completely obsessed with bicycle racing—and convinced I was much stronger than I was. My connection to cycling—and to France—runs deep. I was born in France, and my very first real road bike, at age fifteen, was a Mercier . To me, it wasn’t just a bicycle; it was a work of art made from beautiful French steel. I rode that bike for miles, through high school, into college, and until the day someone decided they needed it more than I did. I hope they at least appreciated the craftsmanship. Its untimely disappearance led me to a Schwinn Voyageur, and later, when I started racing around Illinois, to a Raleigh Competition . But during that summer of ’83, while staying with my Uncle Jean Paul in Lagord, just north of L...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Big Rip and the First Tee

The telescope (Celestron) sits quietly under its cover, temporarily blinded by Southern California's annual meteorological hostage situation – June Gloom. Somewhere above that thick gray ceiling, photons that began their journey before humans appeared are streaming across the cosmos, only to be intercepted by a marine layer that seems to have veto power over astronomy. Instead of observing the universe, I find myself imagining – The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by physicist Katie Mack. According to modern cosmology, the universe may eventually end in a Big Rip, a Big Crunch, Heat Death, Vacuum Decay, or some other catastrophe that sounds suspiciously like a rejected heavy-metal album title. Astrophysicists spend their careers calmly discussing the possibility that reality itself could suddenly cease to exist because a quantum field had a bad day. It's a remarkable way to start a Saturday morning. One moment you're contemplating the ultimate fate of spacetime...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rediscovering the Magic of Summer . . .

Summer mornings, especially on a holiday weekend, have a special magic. The air is cool, the world quiet, and the day full of possibilities. This July 4th weekend, Lori and I decided to capture a bit of that magic by beating the holiday traffic with an early morning bicycle ride. We went through our usual pre-flight checklist: Stretched out the morning stiffness. Filled the water bottles. Strapped on the helmets. Checked the tires. Three tires passed inspection. The fourth had apparently declared independence. The rear tire on my e-bike was flatter than a Kansas highway. “Well, it looks like we’re not riding today,” Lori said, with the calm acceptance of someone who had already mentally promoted coffee to the day’s main event. “Why not?” I replied. “I’ll ride my old bike.” She gave me that look —the one that safely translates as, "Are you sure about this? " “Absolutely,” I said. “Why not?” I dragged the bike stand out and surveyed my options. One glance at the aggressive gear...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Yellow Legal Pad

In this episode, the Art of Refiring July 1st is staring me in the face, less than two weeks away. For years, retirement seemed like something that happened to other people. Suddenly, it's on my calendar. I've been thinking a lot about the dreaded "R-word" lately. Not because I'm worried about having enough to do. Quite the opposite. What fascinates me is this strange paradox: Why does retirement make so many of us nervous, while having a job—even one that regularly drives us crazy—somehow feels comforting? Let's be honest. Most of us spend years complaining about meetings that should have been emails, reply-all disasters, impossible deadlines, and that one coworker who insists on microwaving leftover fish in the breakroom. Yet when the idea of walking away finally arrives, we hesitate. I think I've figured out why. A career isn't just a job. It's a highly structured coping mechanism. For forty-plus years, somebody else has basically decided what I...
Post a Comment
Read more