Rolling Square Essential Power Bank Review

I’m a long-time fan of Rolling Square ever since I first discovered their versatile inCharge X cables. Not a day goes by that I don’t use at at least one of their products. So when Rolling Square offer to send me a package, I am always excited. This time the bundle included their travel friendly essentials: the 100w GaN charger, an international charger, and a 30w pocket travel charger alongside the 20000mAh Essential Power Bank.

Rolling Square commit themselves to being the lifehackers company, promising minimalist, but powerful tech to make life easier. And that shows in the Essential Power Bank. It has a nice simplistic design, but I’m confident it’ll be able to stand up to the daily usage I usually put power banks through.

The Rolling Square Power Bank comes in a few different capacity sizes. I was given the largest at 20,000mAh, but you can also get 10,000mAh and a 5,000mAh. All have their uses, making each one more suited to you depending on your lifestyle. I have to admit I am seriously impressed by how they managed to fit so much capacity into such a tiny body.

I love having an LED display on power banks, its just so much more efficient than the old lights that many of them use. I can see exactly how much charge the power bank has and decide when I’m ready to go. With older LED lights, the fourth one will only light up when the power bank is at 100%. But an LED display shows me its at 95%, and that would be ok for me.

It would be a nice feature if future versions indicated how long the power bank would take to reach 100%. It’s not an essential, but if your adding an LED panel then even an indication of minutes remaining would be really helpful. 

The max charging speed of this power bank is 20w, which is pretty standard. Personally I would prefer it to be a bit faster. Rolling Square make some incredibly fast charging tech, with a 100w gAn charger and charge cables up to 240w.

The benefits of a power bank is that your not tied to one location. You can leave your devices plugged in your bag and charge on the go. But Hopefully in the future though we start to see models that push what’s capable. I would love to see one that can reach speeds of 45w, but as GaN technology improves hopefully that isn’t far off.

The Essential Power Bank has two charge ports, one USB A and another USB C. The USB A is slightly slower charging at 18w, but you can use both at the same time, allowing you to charge two devices simultaneously. 

Packability is the area that the Rolling Square Essential Power Banks have really impressed me. Earlier this year I charged the Nebo 20k Power Bank – a monster by comparison. The 20,000mAh Rolling Square Essential Power Bank still carries some heft weighing 348g, but it feels far more pocketable. Especially when you consider how much power Rolling Square have packed such a small frame. 

One of the standout features is the other sizes in the range. Each step down in capacity is almost half the weight of the size above. The 5,000mAh Power Bank for examples weighs a meagre 99g. In a design the size of a chocolate bar.

The 20,000mAh is perfect for 95% of my needs; most days I have a daypack with ample room. But for that other 5% – like photography outings with my Vanguard Veo Range 21m, a compact bag with limited space, the smaller 5000 mAh would be the perfect fit. This compact power bank can neatly slip into the front pockets without any compromise.

Three power banks in three different sizes, both physically and it terms of charge capacity. 

The Essential Power Banks are all made with a rubberised coating. Simple and practical in design. Rubberised coating for power banks make sense to me, they grip surfaces better making it harder for them to get knocked or pulled off by the cable.

The downside of a grippy texture is everything sticks to it. Every bit of dust and fingerprint shows. Which can be frustrating at times but then its tech and not a fashion accessory. I have wiped it down a few times with a spare lens clothes but the marks soon return, so eventually I stopped fighting and just embraced it.

Currently at this time the only other 20,000mAh power banks I have reviewed are the Nebo 20k Rambler. You can see in the image below that the Rolling Square is significantly smaller, although a fraction wider. 

The Nebo is also slightly slower charging at 18w, and over 100g heavier weighing in at 457g. The advantages of the Nebo is the built in torch and  it is slight more rugged design. 

I’ve said many times – I never leave without a power bank. The anxiety of a low battery is just a hassle I don’t want to deal with. Truthfully, I’m also terrible at remembering to charge my power banks up. So for me to 20,000mAh is perfect. I leave it in my bag, ready to go, and often top it up at the office when I remember. And even if I forget, its often no big deal as they’ll be plenty of charge leftover. 

That said, I am finding the the 5,000mAh extremely tempting to grab. Where space is at a premium, its the perfect candidate for my camera bag. Making it in my opinion one of the best portable power banks for photographers. 

You can use the code “BRADSBACKPACK20” on RollingSquare.com for 20% off your first purchase.