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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
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Tzumi Endurance AC 12000 Review
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Price:  $29 List
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Manufacturer:   Tzumi
By David Wise and Austin Palmer  ⋅  Oct 25, 2018
47
OVERALL
SCORE
  • Portability - 40% 4.0
  • Capacity - 30% 6.0
  • Added Convenience - 20% 6.0
  • Recharge Time - 10% 1.0

Our Verdict

The Tzumi Endurance AC 12000 is Discontinued as of Winter 2019
REASONS TO BUY
Integrated wall adapter
Inexpensive
REASONS TO AVOID
Takes forever to recharge
Finishing close to the bottom of the pack, 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 does retail 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 also costs almost twice that of 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.

tzumi endurance ac 12000 - the endurance ac 12000 by tzumi.
The Endurance AC 12000 by Tzumi.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Performance Comparison


Our process of picking the best battery packs around consisted of conducting tons of research, selecting the products that exhibited the most potential, buying them all, and comparing their performance side-by-side in four weighted testing metrics. Keep reading to see how the Tzumi scored against its peers when it comes to portability, convenience, battery capacity, and recharge time.

tzumi endurance ac 12000 - this battery is about average to carry around in a pocket.
This battery is about average to carry around in a pocket.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Portability


For our first and most important rating metric, we put the portable in this category of products — portable chargers — to the test. For each battery module, we compared and scored their weight and form factor, as well as how easy each one is to carry in a pocket. In total, this trio of tests accounts for 40% of the total score for each battery pack, with the Tzumi Endurance earning a 4 out of 10 for its slightly below average score.

This battery has a rectangular shape that measures 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, making this battery much more suited to being carried in a backpack or laptop bag.

tzumi endurance ac 12000 - the tzumi was a bit of a disappointment in our discharge tests.
The Tzumi was a bit of a disappointment in our discharge tests.
Credit: Austin Palmer

Capacity


Following our assessment of how easy it is to carry the Tzumi, we moved on to ranking and scoring the electrical capacity of this power pack. We conducted two different tests for this metric, which is worth 20% of the total score for the Tzumi. First, we checked the authenticity of any claims regarding how many devices you can charge with the Tzumi and then used a dummy load to pull as much power as we possibly could from the Tzumi. This battery did slightly below average, earning a 4 out of 10.

tzumi endurance ac 12000 - this battery couldn't quite match its manufacturer's claims in our...
This battery couldn't quite match its manufacturer's claims in our charging test.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

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.

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.

tzumi endurance ac 12000 - you need a micro usb cable to recharge the tzumi.
You need a micro USB cable to recharge the Tzumi.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Added Convenience


Next up, we looked at any features on the battery that made it more straightforward and convenient to use. We looked for the presence of a built-in flashlight, built-in device charging cables, and how easy it is to recharge the battery pack, as well as what warranty is included and how many devices you can charge at once. The Tzumi did fairly well, meriting a 6 out of 10 for its results in our convenience assessments.

This model can charge multiple devices at once and includes a single micro USB cable with purchase.

tzumi endurance ac 12000 - this battery can charge two devices at once.
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.

tzumi endurance ac 12000 - the integrated wall plug on the tzumi is quite handy.
The integrated wall plug on the Tzumi is quite handy.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

However, it does lack any integrated cables for charging different devices and does not have a flashlight module.

tzumi endurance ac 12000 - we vastly preferred batteries with integrated wall chargers to ones...
We vastly preferred batteries with integrated wall chargers to ones that required a separate brick.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman

Recharge Time


For the last aspect of our testing plan, we ranked and scored how long it took each of these battery packs to recharge, which accounts for the remaining 10% of the total score. The Tzumi delivered an abysmal performance, earning a 1 out of 10.

This battery pack took an absolute age 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