Price: £49
Rating: 8

Zendure's A5 power bankis identical to the PC Advisor Gold award-winning Zendure A2, but higher in capacity and with an additional USB output. We loved the A2's considered balance of good value, useful capacity, decent build quality and portability, but if you're going on a longer trip or have both a smartphoneand tabletto charge you may find this Zendure the power bank better suited to your needs. Also see: Best power banks 2014/2015

For an extra £16 (the Zendure A5 costs £49 at Amazon), you get everything the A2 offers but with 2.5 times the capacity - with 80 percent efficiency that's roughly 12000mAh usable, and enough to last you several days away from the mains - plus an additional 1A (5W) USB output. Both A2 and A5 feature a single 2.1A (10.5W) fast-charging output, which is ideal for charging a tablet, but you should note that this power bank has only a 2.1A maximum output. In other words, although you can connect two devices to it, you will lose the benefit of fast charging with both operating at around 1A.

The main trade-offs are in the Zendure A5's larger, heavier (but still portable) design, and in its price. However, it's worth pointing out that while this power bank is more than twice the price of, for example, the £22 similar-capacity RP-PB13 Deluxe from RavPower, several features add to its worth.

With the Zendure A5 you'll benefit from passthrough charging (allowing you to use the A5 as a USB hub, simultaneously charging both it and your devices), auto-on (removing the need to fiddle around with buttons, you just plug it in and go) and a rugged design built from crushproof PC/ABS composite material with dual-injection molding and a shock-absorbing central belt.

Zendure also claims that 95 percent of the battery's capacity will remain after six months, which means you could potentially chuck this power bank in the glovebox and forget about it until you need it.

At this price and capacity, and with these features, the A5's closest rival is perhaps the LimeFuel Rugged L150XR, which costs $84 (around £52), but you'll need to factor in shipping costs from the US (you'll get free UK delivery with the Zendure). While that power bank offers two 12W outputs (which are able to simultanously operate at full-pelt), can charge itself slightly faster with a 2A (rather than the 1.5A here) input, and is waterproof, this cheaper Zendure is significantly smaller and lighter, and it looks just as cool and feels just as tough. And hey, speed isn't everything. (If it is to you then read our advice on how to charge your smartphone or tablet faster.)

This probably isn't a device you'll carry in your pocket, at 320g and 127x73x24mm, but Zendure supplies the A5 with a soft carry case. This isn't cushioned, yet the A5 is tough enough that it doesn't need protecting - the case merely keeps together both power bank and the also supplied flat Micro-USB cable, and in that sense it's very handy.

As with most other power banks a four-LED system is used to show how much power remains. It's easy enough to understand, although the 4250mAh jump between each LED means it isn't the most accurate of systems. Using a 1.5A/7.5W charger you can expect to fill this bank in 11 hours, but allow extra time with a phone and/or tablet connected.

Unlike most other power banks we've reviewed there's no LED torch, although we can't say we miss having one.

Read next:How to improve smartphone battery life.

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Buying Advice

Zendure's A2 is a brilliant power bank, winner of our Gold award and currently at number one in our best power banks chart. With an extra USB output and larger capacity this should be a better device, although we'd rather those additions didn't entail the loss of fast charging (with two devices connected) and the extra weight and bulk. Still a very good deal, even at �49, this is the Zendure for those with multiple devices to charge or longer journeys to take.