REASONS TO BUY
Integrated wall adapter
Inexpensive
REASONS TO AVOID
Takes forever to recharge
The Tzumi Endurance AC 12000 is discontinued as of Winter 2019.
Tzumi Endurance AC 12000 Review
The Tzumi is a solid option if you are shopping on a tight budget and are looking for a larger battery pack
The Endurance AC 12000 by Tzumi.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
By David Wise ⋅ Senior Review Editor ⋅ October 25, 2018
Contributions From: Austin Palmer
Our Verdict
The Tzumi Endurance AC 12000 has a few standout features and some notable drawbacks. This battery is quite convenient to use and has a solid capacity, but is weirdly hard to carry in a pocket and takes an absolute age to recharge. However, it retails at a relatively low price, making it an alternate option if you are shopping on a tight budget, but are willing to pay a bit more for a battery that can give you between 2-3 charges on most smartphones, compared to the 1-2 of the smaller and cheaper battery packs.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Tzumi outperformed the Aibocn by a tiny amount and matched the performance of the RAVPower Ace 22000. Of these three batteries, the RAVPower Ace has the best capacity by far, but is a little less convenient to use and harder to carry than the Tzumi. The RAVPower Ace is also pricier than the Tzumi. The Aibocn is the least expensive of this group and easiest to carry, but has the least capacity and is slightly less convenient to use than the Tzumi.
This battery is about average to carry around in a pocket.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Portability
The Tzumi battery is rectangular, measuring ¾ of an inch thick, 5.6" long, and 2.9" wide, making it one of the bulkier batteries of the bunch. This battery is about average in weight, measuring in at 10.06 oz. on our scale.
These combine to make the Tzumi one of our least favorite to carry around in a pocket. It felt very cumbersome and uncomfortable to have in a front or back pocket, both while sitting or standing. We recommend carrying it in a backpack or laptop bag.
The Tzumi was a bit of a disappointment in our discharge tests.
Credit: Austin Palmer
Capacity
Using our testing apparatus, we were able to pull 65% of the Tzumi's stated maximum capacity out of it, with our meter reading a total of 7843 mAh discharged when the discharge rate was set at 2.4 amps. We reduced this to 1 amp for a subsequent test and got a little more power — 312 mAh — out of the Tzumi before it was fully depleted.
This battery couldn't quite match its manufacturer's claims in our charging test.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
There is an array of charging claims associated with this product, with the manufacturer stating that this battery can charge a Galaxy S8 three times, an S7 three and a half times, an iPhone 6 or 7 four times, an iPhone 6+ or 7+ three and a half times, a Galaxy Tab twice, or an iPad once. We used a Galaxy S8 to test this and found that it almost made it, but not quite. This battery managed to charge this smartphone 2.95 times before calling it quits.
You need a micro USB cable to recharge the Tzumi.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Added Convenience
The Tzumi model can charge multiple devices at once and includes a single micro USB cable with purchase.
This battery can charge two devices at once.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
It also has a built-in wall charging adapter, allowing you to forgo a separate wall adapter for recharging the battery.
The integrated wall plug on the Tzumi is quite handy.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
However, it doesn't come with integrated cables for charging different devices and does not have a flashlight module.
We vastly preferred batteries with integrated wall chargers to ones that required a separate brick.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Recharge Time
This battery pack took an absolutely forever to recharge, with over 11.5 hours elapsing before the LED indicator lights showed it to be fully recharged — by far the longest of the group.
Value
The Tzumi is actually an alright value if you want to maximize capacity while shopping on a tight budget.
Conclusion
While the Tzumi did have a few standout showings, its significant drawbacks in other kept it near the bottom of the standings.
—David Wise and Austin Palmer
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