Nitecore NB10000 GEN2: the Ultimate Ultralight Powerbank for Hikers?

After doing some quick research, I found the Nitecore NB10000, which is supposed to be the lightest 10.000 mAh powerbank to date at 150 grams.

Let’s see if it lives up to it’s rather high price 🙌

Disclaimer: I bought this product with my own money, this review is not sponsored, and there are no affiliate links on this page. All opinions are my own.

Overview

The Nitecore NB10000 is a really lightweight powerbank at only 150 grams that retails for $60 with a total capacity of 10.000 mAh, enough to charge most phones 2 times.

You can use the USB-C port to charge the powerbank, and charge your devices with that same USB-C port or the additional USB-A port.

Power ⚡

The powerbank has a rated capacity of 10000 mAh.

But what’s important to know, is that the powerbank has a actual usable capacity of 6400 mAh in real-world scenarios.

That’s less than the rated capacity because of two reasons;

1. Inside the powerbank conversions are happening that result in a loss of power.
2. Not the whole capacity is used to make the battery last longer.

That doesn’t mean the Nitecore NB10000 is bad, every powerbank has this.

But what’s cool, is that Nitecore is really transparent about it, and even engraved it on the powerbank itself:

Usually it’s not listed anywhere, and you just have to guess the usable capacity.

But now, I can calculate that my iPhone 13 mini with a capacity of 2406 mAh should be able to charge 2,6 times in theory.

Build quality

My first impression isn’t too shocking.

Imperfect out of the box

The packaging was sealed, the product was definitely new, but it already had several scuffs and imperfections on the sides.

I’ll beat up this powerbank anyway, so didn’t bother sending it back, but it’s a bit disappointing for a powerbank at this price point.

Ports

The ports look somehow a bit flimsy to me too, and they’re not 100% centred in their casings:

I’ve read some stories online of these ports coming lose, but that might just happen to a very small amount of users.

Rattling button

This is very minor, but I noticed that the power button rattles a bit when you shake the powerbank.

You won’t notice this in everyday use, but it definitely lacks a bit of a premium feel.

Overall

Besides that, the powerbank feels pretty solid.

But being so thin, I’m wondering how it will handle a drop on some rocks.

Handy features

The powerbank is pretty simple, but it has some nifty features that I like.

Charge powerbank quickly(ish)

You can use USB-C to charge the powerbank up to a speed of 18W.

That translates to roughly 4 hours for a full charge from 0% to 100%.

Would be nice if it could charge even faster for when you do hikes that are longer than just a few days, since you now have to spend at least 4 hours in villages to recharge the powerbank.

The big brother of this powerbank, the Nitecore NB20000, charges slightly faster at 30W.

Input & output with USB-C

You can not only charge the powerbank by using the USB-C port, but you can also use the USB-C port to charge you devices at a maximum speed of 20W.

That’s really nice, and not every powerbank has that.

It allows you to charge you devices a bit faster, and to carry less cables.

Use both ports at once

You can use both ports on the Nitecore NB10000 to charge two devices.

That’s pretty cool, but for me personally it isn’t so useful because I don’t carry a USB-A cable with me on my outdoor adventures.

Pass through charging

You can simultaneously recharge your powerbank via the wall using USB-C, while also charging another device through the USB-A output.

Charging goes really slow this way, but it’s nice if you stay in a mountain hut and wake up to both devices fully charged..

Battery indicator

An absolute must for every powerbank is to see how much charge you have left.

The Nitecore NB10000 has 4 leds next to the power button, but unfortunately only 3 of them are to show how much battery you have left:

• 3 leds: 100%
• 2 leds: 70%
• 1 led: 30%
• 1 led flashing: almost empty

Currently, the 4th led is used to indicate low current mode, which I never had to use so far.

(low current mode is meant for low current devices like headphones and smartwatches)

Personally I wish there would be 4 leds to indicate how much power there is left.

Crazy small form factor

It was not the weight, but the size that surprised me most.

Here’s a quick comparison in size to the Anker powerbank I previously used:

They can make it this small because they use a different kind of battery inside the powerbank.

Most other powerbanks use a couple of stacked cylinder batteries that you can compare a bit to AA batteries, while Nitecore uses a flat 1-piece battery that’s more comparable to a smartphone battery.

Charge tests

I wanted to see how quickly, and how often, the Nitecore NB10000 can charge my iPhone 13 mini.

I don’t have a fancy way to meter & track the charging, so I just created a little iOS shortcut to log the battery percentage once in a while.

Here’s the results with the USB-C port that should be able to charge at 20W:

• 25% – 12 minutes passed
• 50% – 27 minutes passed
• 75% – 48 minutes passed
• 100% – 124 minutes passed

I was able to fully charge the phone 3 times, and 1 time to 26%.

That’s actually more than I expected!

Note: iPhones automatically slow down charging after reaching 80%, which is why it took so long to reach 100%.

Usage Timeline

New

Condition: Great, not excellent

The powerbank already had some scuffs and imperfections right out of the box.

Initial Usage

Condition: Great

A few more small scratches appear, but nothing mayor. Also noticed the powerbank can get pretty hot near the ports.

3 Months of Use

Condition: Good

Learned that holding the power button for 10 seconds accidentally basically bricks the powerbank until you plug it in again, that’s not great.

After several trips, the power bank has developed scratches, especially on the carbon, but it still works like new.

6 Months of Use

Condition: Good

The powerbank survived it’s first 10-day hike, and still works. The corners of powerbank are rather sharp and were making holes in my ziplock bag, so I filed those down a bit.

1 Year of Use

Condition: Good

I’ve taken the powerbank on several multi-day hikes, use it during holidays, and it’s still going strong. I’m considering to buy a second one for longer trips off the grid.

Conclusion

I think this is a great little powerbank, and recommend it for everyone who goes on multi-day hikes where the bit of weight saving is nice.

But it’s still a pricey powerbank compared to other brands like Anker, especially because the build quality doesn’t seem top notch, so it’s up to you to decide wether 50 grams in savings is worth paying double for.

While I love the small form factor and weight, I’m personally still a bit undecided about whether it was worth the investment.

However, I’ll be happy with it if the powerbank is going to last me a few years.