One of our biggest gripes with the majority of affordable power banks is that they use a four-LED system to denote how much capacity remains. That’s fine for the lower-capacity varieties, but when you’ve got a lot of power to hand the large jump between each LED makes it difficult to work out exactly where you are. Intocircuit’s Power Castle is one of the few power banks we’ve seen to offer an LCD display, enabling you to see exactly how much power remains. This LCD display is a god-send. Connect a device to one of its ports and the Intocircuit will spring into action, with the LCD display telling you which output you’ve connected it to and how much power remains. It’s a blue backlit display, which is ideal for use at night, but this backlight will automatically turn off after a few seconds to conserve power. Tap the button to relight the display, or double-tap to activate the Power Castle’s built-in LED flashlight. A short while (around 15 seconds) after unplugging your device the Intocircuit will automatically switch itself off, or you can long-press the on/off button. Also unusual at this price is passthrough charging, allowing you to connect the power bank to the mains for recharging while a phone or tablet is attached. Your device will be charged before the power bank rather than simultaneously, but this is still easier than separately plugging everything in overnight. Priced in line with the Lumsing 104000mAh Power Bank and TP-Link TL-PB10400, this Intocircuit power bank offers a tad more power for your devices – 11200mAh. You should expect at least 7800mAh to be available for charging your phone or tablet – or both, with dual 1A- and fast-charging 2.1A outputs mirroring the TP-Link and Lumsing. It will take longer to refill its own battery than either of those rivals, with its 1A Micro-USB input, but if you can live with that you may find the LCD display makes this Intocircuit Power Castle the better deal power bank. Its brushed-aluminium-alloy shell is aesthetically pleasing, and is a comfortable fit in the hand. The Power Castle feels sturdy, plus Intocircuit supplies a soft carry case in the box. It’s slightly heavier than the competition, but not so much that you will notice the weight it adds to a handbag or rucksack. Read next: How to improve smartphone battery life. Follow Marie Brewis on Twitter. Marie is Editor in Chief of Tech Advisor and Macworld. A Journalism graduate from the London College of Printing, she’s worked in tech media for more than 17 years, managing our English language, French and Spanish consumer editorial teams and leading on content strategy through Foundry’s transition from print, to digital, to online - and beyond.
