[General Accessories] vectron:
This is a review of genuine Yoobao Thunder 13000 mAh external battery: http://www.kevikev.com/Yoobao-Thunder-13000mah-Power-Bank-for-USB-Mobile-Devices-YBTHUNDER13000.htm

With so many reviews behind my belt, this is a first time I'm specifically referring to a product as "genuine". Here is a reason why. Yoobao is a popular Chinese manufacturer specializing in cases and batteries, but it's not that well known in the States because there are only 2 US dealers with www.kevikev.com being the only one verified by Yoobao (I actually checked that on Yoobao website). I came across HK products that look identical to these, but was informed by their sellers those weren't real Yoobao, only lookalike. That obviously turned me away, until I got an opportunity to review the real Yoobao product with samples provided to me directly from kevikev online store.

External batteries continue to push their capacity while maintaining small footprint. This Thunder model goes all the way up to 13000 mAh with a dimensions of approximately 136 mm x 74 mm x 28 mm. Higher capacity also means more battery cells and increased weight, which in case of Thunder is about 300g. I wouldn't call it pocket friendly, but you have to trust me - this is a kind of battery you want everybody to see due to how cool it looks! Personally, I wouldn't even call it Thunder but rather something like Ninja Warrior! That's how it looks to me :) It has a very solid hard plastic material on the top and the bottom and two end sides, while around the grip sides it has a red rubber material stamped with snow flake pattern. The power/control button is in a shape of a warrior mask where the eye light up blue/red depending on it's charging cycle. Also, there are 5 hidden light elements around it to indicate charging capacity of the battery partitioned in 20% increments. This battery has 3 ports, one micro-usb battery charging input, and two full size usb device charging outputs. In addition, it comes with a very bright torch LED light. A very nice bonus if you are in the dark (like during power loss) and need an extra light source which can last you over 500 hours at full battery charge, or just a way to light up usb ports so you can connect your smart phone or tablet. Along with Thunder battery, you get a high quality usb to micro-usb cable. I actually like the rubbery texture of that cable, it has a premium feel to it. Also you get Apple 30-pin adapter, and to my surprise a premium quality wall charger rated at 1A. This way you can use a wall charger with included cable to charge up the battery, and then use the same cable to charge up your device. This external battery came already pre-charged to about 80%, and when I was charging it up to 100% I felt wall charger getting a little warm, but nothing to be alarmed.

Even so this external battery looks very cool, it doesn't matter if it can't deliver. So here is what I found while putting it through my test. Since it already came pre-charged, I didn't have a chance to time a total charge up time. But since input is rated at 1A, we are talking about 12-13hr from empty due to its 13000 mAh capacity. The manual which comes with a battery mentions that Output 1 is rated at 1A while output 2 is rated at 1.5A. From my test I was able to to confirm that both outputs provide 1.6A of charging current which is what I typically see from most of the 2A wall chargers. This is a very good indicator that you can charger your Note 2 fast from either of the ports and don't have to worry if you are plugged into Output 1 or Output 2. For my test I actually had my N2 with ZL9k3 battery down to single % digits, and let it charge overnight. Yes, the rated capacity is 13000 mAh but the actual capacity available to phone/table battery will be less due to efficiency loss of conversion through 5V usb port. That is a know fact and common to every single external battery. According to my calculation of charging time and N2 battery percentage change I determined the actual capacity of Thunder to be around 8800-9000 mAh, which is very good and on par with 30-35% efficiency loss expected from these high capacity external batteries. This is a very impressive number considering you can fully charge your Zerolemon battery with Thunder or charge your N2 almost 3 times with stock battery.

Overall, this is one Awesome battery in terms of looks and performance!!! It's not your usual rectangular brick you keep for emergency out of sight. Thunder is something you would want to keep on your desk as a center piece to show off. And the cool looks are backed by a solid built and a great performance of high capacity and fast charging of your device. What is more important, you are dealing with an authorized Yoobao US dealer who will honor its 6-month warranty and can service/replace the product if you need to. This one gets my recommendation!

Also, I want to mention that I'm working on getting you guys an exclusive 10% off coupon for purchase of this battery... Here you go, hot off the press: the coupon code is kk001. It should work with this battery or any other purchase total of $50.

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. I tried to take the last few in the dark so you can see LEDs better: