Intelli ScoutPro 240W 24,000mAh power bank review
You really should click the above link. The below is outdated and on a device that doesn’t exist for sale.
I received the ScoutPro portable power bank 11 days ago and have endeavored to throw everything I had at it to test the limits of what claims to be the world’s smallest 240W power bank. I also received an organizer and a USB-C cable. I’ll probably review the organizer later but the Intelli USB-C cable is a cable, it works, seems tough, that’s the review for it.
TL;DR – large beast of a power bank. Works really well. Possible discrepancy between what’s pictured and what’s shipped. I dig it.
Update on of June 29, 2022: I received a replacement. I was not informed that what I had was a prototype pre-production model. As such this review is not on the released version. I am currently working with the new/released version and hope to have a review on it within a week. It has a screen, 4 ports, quite a different feel.
Quick note as there are issues I encountered and I am unable to raise my contacts. Problems are generally is the case with most crowdsourced hardware campaigns near shipping, but just mentioning. It’s listed as both the ScoutPro and Scout Pro depending on where you look. The packaging I’ve got says Scout Pro, which is listed as a 20,000mAh charger on their website, but lists 24,000 mAh as the battery on the case (which is listed as the ScoutPro Max.) There are minor changes from the PR specs I received in October and the unit that showed in December and the Indiegogo specs and everything seem much cooler than the website.
While I take this all as pre-production v production, I will note them but I do not assume this is intentional.
Charging for one wireless 15W Qi, one apple watch, 2x USB-C 100 watt ports, and one Quick Charge 3 USB-A port that can also support 24W charging (Huawei is listed / Super Charge Port). The Qi/Wireless charging has a magnetic feature that works with Magsafe. Worked fine with my Moment M-Force case on my Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, and served to make sure the phone clicked into the right location for charging.
I didn’t have an Apple watch to test the ScoutPro with, but it appears you can charge the Apple Watch and a phone at the same time wirelessly while charging three other devices at a total of 240 watt output.
On my phone when plugged in it claimed Super Fast charging, which seems to clock in about +5200mA when wired and screen off. I was able to take my phone from 4% battery to about 100% with a quarter of the listed battery capacity. Assuming this was correct the ScoutPro used about 6,000mAh to fill up my 5000mAh battery. Or about 84% efficiency if we were going 1 to 1. I doubt we are because I didn’t factor in voltage and it’s late and I need sleep.
I could get from 4% battery to just under 100% in about an hour on my S21 plugged into a USB-C. Specs say 85% efficiency max. Just noted this after writing the whole article and coming back to proofread at 2am.
I did not have a great Qi charging rate. I’m not going to blame the ScoutPro however as I’m sort of convinced at the moment many wireless things are messed up on the S21 Ultra due to their last update. Every charger I have is fast and then switching back to slow.
Intelli ScoutPro issues encountered
The first thing I noticed was that the estimation on battery life was initially just off. On the unboxing video, which I’m editing tomorrow you can see at power up it showed 99%, within two minutes that was 90%, and if I’m not mistaken by the end it was below 50%. This over about six minutes. I will stress this problem went away after the first charge to full.
My guess is it had to calibrate. It seems to be calibrated now. It’s gone through a few cycles and other than the first 3% it seems to go exactly as I’d expect a battery to go.
Advertising images these days are generally close to accurate as it’s pretty easy to update. Images on the Intelli website show a different display than what I see. They show a large battery in some or a cool looking multi-function display, I see just a percentage. I also see what port is charging – picture below is cool. Reality is “that’s ok I guess.”
They show from left to right (with the charging top facing you,) USB-C, USB-A, USB-C. What I have is USB-C, USB-C, USB-A. Minor things, but if they’re important to you should be noted.
They also list this brick as pocketable. Yes. You can fit this insanity in a pocket. Barely. Have a good belt handy is all I’m saying. Maybe suspenders. Clean underwear.
As noted above the 15W magnetic charger worked for me but not at great speeds, but I still highly suspect this could have something to do with the update my S21 got.
Untested territory
While passthrough charging appears to work as advertised, I did not get a chance to prove the claims of being able to fully charge this device in under an hour. My two attempts were foiled by life. It’s a pretty quick charge when combined with the KOVOL charger I just reviewed.
This is a feeling based on charging my kid’s phones and some earbuds, but I don’t feel like the Qi charging is very efficient. Feels like it drains noticeably more than it transfers.
Overall
The ScoutPro is a fast charging brick that delivers a lot of power to a lot of devices at once. The unit I got the display isn’t that cool but everything appears to be as stated. While I pick things apart, this brick of a charger makes me happy. It’s been relatively cool to the touch with the loads I’ve been able to apply (between 130 and 160 watts).
You can read about the Intelli ScoutPro and how to obtain one on their Indiegogo page and on the Intelli website.
Update: Why you should pass on it
In further testing I noticed that I could charge my S21 Ultra less than two times over two days. That’s 10,000mAh, figure let’s call it 13,000mAh from the battery with conversion loss, I should have no problem charging that thing twice. Day 1, fully charged, I took a 3% S21 and charged it close to 100 and had maybe 70-73% showing left on the Intelli ScoutPro. That was about right. I’d be happy with high 60s even.
Day 2, turned it on for a few minutes to charge a Qi earbud… talking few minutes, 250mAh max device. Shouldn’t have moved the percentage more than 1%. Noticed it moved at least 5-8% in a couple of minutes… took the buds off, I mean we’re talking under an hour and probably not even 30 minutes.
Later day 2 turned it back on to charge the S21 Ultra again and it claimed it was at 17%. Plugged in because even at 17% I should have been able to get some charge and I suspected the percentage was off because why would I lose 50% battery overnight? That 17% left was a hopeful dream. I got maybe +500mAh out of the last 17% which lasted only a few minutes.
Total guestimated power I got over two days was at best 6800mAh.
I don’t doubt there’s sufficient batteries in there to deliver, but what I’ve got is not. Still no response on my inquiries.
