5 ms·

20Ah for 23 bucks? Seems like it's almost too good to be true. Wouldn't surprise me if it was just half that, would explain the price and weight.

heelix 1y ago
I'll find out if this is true. Hiking buddy of mine pointed it out on Friday, so got one on the way. Was $18 when he called it out, $23 by the time I ordered. Apparently they have a bunch of random stuff like this. They must have some outdoorsy folks in marketing.
- etempleton 1y ago
  Thru hikers just kind of find this stuff. They are obsessed with weight and recommendations spread quickly through word of mouth on the trail and on forums.
  - nunez 1y ago
    Us one-baggers also find the weirdest things, for the same reason.
  - prawn 1y ago
    And sometimes there are items that flare up and get popular before disappearing, leaving stragglers to scour second-hand lists. I remember people talking about CostCo ultralight quilts and similar.
  - heelix 1y ago
    Mine came in at 288g, which is a bit more than the 280g that the article mentioned. The nightcore NB10000 w/cable comes in around 167g. Will see this week how it does from a battery performance perspective.
- Fricken 1y ago
  Some endurance athletes do love their gummies. I'm not one of them.
- eru 1y ago
  > They must have some outdoorsy folks in marketing. Perhaps it's just their Germanity shining through?
slipperybeluga 1y ago
The picture on Amazon says 10Ah. Not interested until there is independent verification. The Haribo licensing lends some legitimacy, but way too many fly by night companies selling a fraction of what they advertise.
- Kwpolska 1y ago
  Haribo specializes in making candy, not electronics. Branded swag tends to be bottom-of-the-barrel.
- tzs 1y ago
  There are two models, one listed at 10Ah and one at 20Ah: https://www.amazon.com/DCHK-10000mAh-Charging-Portable-Motorola/dp/B0DPWVJLXT/ https://www.amazon.com/DCHK-10000mAh-Charging-Portable-Motor... https://www.amazon.com/DCHK-20000mAh-Charging-Portable-Motorola/dp/B0DPWVYMN5/ https://www.amazon.com/DCHK-20000mAh-Charging-Portable-Motor...
Ekaros 1y ago
It is there somewhat for no-name brand. For product that is actually supposed to pay something for a brand it feels low. Unless these are promotional items that fall from back of the truck...
phito 1y ago
Also I doubt that Haribo has special light battery technology. Seems more likely that they lied on the capacity... Article doesn't test the capacity
- ricardobeat 1y ago
  This is a white-label product, they likely just used lighter plastic or a cheaper frame (cost savings? white color?) and accidentally made it attractive for hikers. The weight difference to the Nitecore pack being mentioned is only ~15g.
  - ndnxnxb 1y ago
    While the price is only 1/5 of the Nitecore packs. This seems off, either nitecore is putting a very heavy premium on their products while not using obvious weight saving options, or the Haribo pack simply will not deliver on capacity
- grues-dinner 1y ago
  If a video game company can fund building a fusion reactor, maybe a stealth breakthrough in energy densities coming from a sweet company is just how things roll these days!
Timshel 1y ago
Capacity appears to be inline with others: https://old.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/1li5rxw/20000mah_haribolicensed_gummy_bear_power_bank_is/n4tdyen/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/1li5rxw/20000ma...
- catlikesshrimp 1y ago
  The author of tfa refers to r/ultralight, but fails to note the capacity reported there. Then he writes (or generates) an "article" that might be advertisement, making emphasis on price and fleetingly mentioning the brand products. It doesn't feel sincere.
  - batiudrami 1y ago
    Liz is a lady, and I am confident she did not AI generate this article. Aside from it clearly having her authorial voice, here is another piece she has written: https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/23/24326077/i-asked-chatgpt https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/23/24326077/i-asked-chatgpt
    - eru 1y ago
      > Aside from it clearly having her authorial voice, [...] LLMs are pretty good at imitating styles, if asked to do so. It's just their default style that's easy to recognise. (You are probably right in everything you say! I just wanted to point out that style of an article isn't necessarily a giveaway.)
thegrim33 1y ago
Man it drives me crazy when people/products use Ah instead of Wh as a way to specify battery "capability". Without knowing more details about the battery, "20Ah" alone does not convey enough information to determine how long the battery could power a given load for. If I need to power a 100 watt lightbulb, will a 20Ah battery power it for an hour? 10 hours? 10 days? No way to know. Wh is the unit of stored energy, Wh is what I want to see. Even the official Amazon product page for it doesn't list a Wh figure.
- esperent 1y ago
  Isn't that 20Ah figure always relative to the internal voltage of the lithium batteries, 3.7v? At least that's what I always assumed.
  - nerdsniper 1y ago
    10 years ago most of these battery packs were relative to the 5V output voltage, so they advertised lower amp-hours. That stopped making sense with fast charging at higher voltages so they restandardized on 3.7V. But watt-hours would make infinitely more sense for all batteries.
    - baobun 1y ago
      Huh, I didn't get that memo so have been played a fool assuming 5v until now. Advertising mAh corresponding to a different unadvertised voltage than the output is just misleading advertising.
    - xp84 1y ago
      Then the fact we’ve “standardized” on mah as the unit is just another in our long proud tradition, same reason we still use “Watts” as the main measure of light output, even when it has to be made up for use on LED bulbs.
      - eru 1y ago
        Could as least use Coulomb (or just count electrons), instead of taking Current = Charge / Time and multiplying by charge again. For what it's worth: 1 mAh ~ 2.25 * 10^19 electrons. Or with SI-prefixes: 22.5 exa-electrons (= 2.25 Ee).
NedF 1y ago
> Wouldn't surprise me if it was just half that, This was openly crowdfunded in Japan. Please explain the lie/scam for us? How does Makuake rip people off? https://www.makuake.com/project/haribo_dcglobal/ https://www.makuake.com/project/haribo_dcglobal/ Is this comment anything more than the normal shit HN negativity? Nihilism is so cool, thinking is so hard, if I try I might fail. Sure you might be right. Just want to know where the scam is here?
- daveguy 1y ago
  Because 20ah for a 5v battery is ~357 Wh/kg which is more than the highest density lipo as of 2024 []. Do you honestly think they are putting the most cutting edge lipo technology in a gummy bear branded battery pack? I agree with your GP, it is unlikely. Maybe at least consider the density vs SOTA before you accuse someone of being a nihilist. [] https://www.cei.washington.edu/research/energy-storage/lithium-ion-battery/ https://www.cei.washington.edu/research/energy-storage/lithi...
  - gruez 1y ago
    To be fair, as others have mentioned, claiming internal battery amperage compared to output amperage is a common enough fudge that they're not materially lying.
  - wkat4242 1y ago
    True and the plastics used aren't typical low weight, the attached cord also weighs (which many power banks don't have). I doubt it even uses a GaN DC-DC converter. There's no way this could be lighter than one designed specially for lightness if the capacity was real.
  - daemonologist 1y ago
    I assume they're using Ah at the cell level (3.7v nominal), and then maybe rounding up slightly. (This is the absurdity of using Ah to measure the capacity of consumer-oriented power banks. They usually output 5v over USB A or a variable voltage over PD, but measure current at the cell level. Of course this fact or the precise voltage is rarely stated anywhere.)
mrheosuper 1y ago
It sounds correct to me. Ugreen powerbank is also at the same price range.

heelix 1y ago

I'll find out if this is true. Hiking buddy of mine pointed it out on Friday, so got one on the way. Was $18 when he called it out, $23 by the time I ordered. Apparently they have a bunch of random stuff like this. They must have some outdoorsy folks in marketing.

etempleton 1y ago
Thru hikers just kind of find this stuff. They are obsessed with weight and recommendations spread quickly through word of mouth on the trail and on forums.
- nunez 1y ago
  Us one-baggers also find the weirdest things, for the same reason.
- prawn 1y ago
  And sometimes there are items that flare up and get popular before disappearing, leaving stragglers to scour second-hand lists. I remember people talking about CostCo ultralight quilts and similar.
- heelix 1y ago
  Mine came in at 288g, which is a bit more than the 280g that the article mentioned. The nightcore NB10000 w/cable comes in around 167g. Will see this week how it does from a battery performance perspective.
Fricken 1y ago
Some endurance athletes do love their gummies. I'm not one of them.
eru 1y ago
> They must have some outdoorsy folks in marketing. Perhaps it's just their Germanity shining through?

slipperybeluga 1y ago

The picture on Amazon says 10Ah. Not interested until there is independent verification. The Haribo licensing lends some legitimacy, but way too many fly by night companies selling a fraction of what they advertise.

Kwpolska 1y ago
Haribo specializes in making candy, not electronics. Branded swag tends to be bottom-of-the-barrel.
tzs 1y ago
There are two models, one listed at 10Ah and one at 20Ah: https://www.amazon.com/DCHK-10000mAh-Charging-Portable-Motorola/dp/B0DPWVJLXT/ https://www.amazon.com/DCHK-10000mAh-Charging-Portable-Motor... https://www.amazon.com/DCHK-20000mAh-Charging-Portable-Motorola/dp/B0DPWVYMN5/ https://www.amazon.com/DCHK-20000mAh-Charging-Portable-Motor...

Ekaros 1y ago

It is there somewhat for no-name brand. For product that is actually supposed to pay something for a brand it feels low. Unless these are promotional items that fall from back of the truck...

phito 1y ago

Also I doubt that Haribo has special light battery technology. Seems more likely that they lied on the capacity... Article doesn't test the capacity

ricardobeat 1y ago
This is a white-label product, they likely just used lighter plastic or a cheaper frame (cost savings? white color?) and accidentally made it attractive for hikers. The weight difference to the Nitecore pack being mentioned is only ~15g.
- ndnxnxb 1y ago
  While the price is only 1/5 of the Nitecore packs. This seems off, either nitecore is putting a very heavy premium on their products while not using obvious weight saving options, or the Haribo pack simply will not deliver on capacity
grues-dinner 1y ago
If a video game company can fund building a fusion reactor, maybe a stealth breakthrough in energy densities coming from a sweet company is just how things roll these days!

Timshel 1y ago

Capacity appears to be inline with others: https://old.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/1li5rxw/20000mah_haribolicensed_gummy_bear_power_bank_is/n4tdyen/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/1li5rxw/20000ma...

catlikesshrimp 1y ago
The author of tfa refers to r/ultralight, but fails to note the capacity reported there. Then he writes (or generates) an "article" that might be advertisement, making emphasis on price and fleetingly mentioning the brand products. It doesn't feel sincere.
- batiudrami 1y ago
  Liz is a lady, and I am confident she did not AI generate this article. Aside from it clearly having her authorial voice, here is another piece she has written: https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/23/24326077/i-asked-chatgpt https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/23/24326077/i-asked-chatgpt
  - eru 1y ago
    > Aside from it clearly having her authorial voice, [...] LLMs are pretty good at imitating styles, if asked to do so. It's just their default style that's easy to recognise. (You are probably right in everything you say! I just wanted to point out that style of an article isn't necessarily a giveaway.)

thegrim33 1y ago

Man it drives me crazy when people/products use Ah instead of Wh as a way to specify battery "capability". Without knowing more details about the battery, "20Ah" alone does not convey enough information to determine how long the battery could power a given load for. If I need to power a 100 watt lightbulb, will a 20Ah battery power it for an hour? 10 hours? 10 days? No way to know. Wh is the unit of stored energy, Wh is what I want to see. Even the official Amazon product page for it doesn't list a Wh figure.

esperent 1y ago
Isn't that 20Ah figure always relative to the internal voltage of the lithium batteries, 3.7v? At least that's what I always assumed.
- nerdsniper 1y ago
  10 years ago most of these battery packs were relative to the 5V output voltage, so they advertised lower amp-hours. That stopped making sense with fast charging at higher voltages so they restandardized on 3.7V. But watt-hours would make infinitely more sense for all batteries.
  - baobun 1y ago
    Huh, I didn't get that memo so have been played a fool assuming 5v until now. Advertising mAh corresponding to a different unadvertised voltage than the output is just misleading advertising.
  - xp84 1y ago
    Then the fact we’ve “standardized” on mah as the unit is just another in our long proud tradition, same reason we still use “Watts” as the main measure of light output, even when it has to be made up for use on LED bulbs.
    - eru 1y ago
      Could as least use Coulomb (or just count electrons), instead of taking Current = Charge / Time and multiplying by charge again. For what it's worth: 1 mAh ~ 2.25 * 10^19 electrons. Or with SI-prefixes: 22.5 exa-electrons (= 2.25 Ee).

NedF 1y ago

> Wouldn't surprise me if it was just half that, This was openly crowdfunded in Japan. Please explain the lie/scam for us? How does Makuake rip people off? https://www.makuake.com/project/haribo_dcglobal/ https://www.makuake.com/project/haribo_dcglobal/ Is this comment anything more than the normal shit HN negativity? Nihilism is so cool, thinking is so hard, if I try I might fail. Sure you might be right. Just want to know where the scam is here?

daveguy 1y ago
Because 20ah for a 5v battery is ~357 Wh/kg which is more than the highest density lipo as of 2024 []. Do you honestly think they are putting the most cutting edge lipo technology in a gummy bear branded battery pack? I agree with your GP, it is unlikely. Maybe at least consider the density vs SOTA before you accuse someone of being a nihilist. [] https://www.cei.washington.edu/research/energy-storage/lithium-ion-battery/ https://www.cei.washington.edu/research/energy-storage/lithi...
- gruez 1y ago
  To be fair, as others have mentioned, claiming internal battery amperage compared to output amperage is a common enough fudge that they're not materially lying.
- wkat4242 1y ago
  True and the plastics used aren't typical low weight, the attached cord also weighs (which many power banks don't have). I doubt it even uses a GaN DC-DC converter. There's no way this could be lighter than one designed specially for lightness if the capacity was real.
- daemonologist 1y ago
  I assume they're using Ah at the cell level (3.7v nominal), and then maybe rounding up slightly. (This is the absurdity of using Ah to measure the capacity of consumer-oriented power banks. They usually output 5v over USB A or a variable voltage over PD, but measure current at the cell level. Of course this fact or the precise voltage is rarely stated anywhere.)

mrheosuper 1y ago

It sounds correct to me. Ugreen powerbank is also at the same price range.