Aukey Basix Slim 10,000mAh review: A battery pack that offers more than what you pay for

Aukey’s accessory lineup is wide-ranging, with items like charging cables, wall adapters, and battery packs. The company’s packs have performed just okay in the past, with overall efficiency failing to crack the top half of all the portable battery packs we’ve tested.

That changes with the 10,000mAh (37Wh) Basix Slim battery pack from Aukey. This $19.99 pack punches above its price in performance, although the overall build quality leaves us somewhat disappointed.

Note: This review is part of our roundup of portable power banks. Go there for details on competing products and our testing methods.

As its name implies, the Basix Slim is rather, well, basic and slim. It’s small enough to fit into a side or front pocket on your favorite backpack, or even your pants pocket if you’re in a bind. There are four total ports on it, three of which are in the front of the pack. There are two full-size USB ports, with a USB-C port in the middle. On the right side of the housing is a microUSB port (more on that in a minute). On the left side you’ll find the power button—well, really more of a status button, as you don’t need to press it in order to start charging a device. Just plug something in and the pack automatically wakes up and starts charging. 

Aukey

Pressing the button will, however, activate the status lights on top of the pack. There are four lights, each one representing a quarter of the pack’s capacity.

Overall, the Basix Slim is well designed, but the front two ports are just slightly too small for a standard USB plug. You can get one in there, but I often felt like I was going to break the cable, the port, or both every time I plugged or unplugged something into the pack.

As we do with all of our battery pack tests, we used the AVHzY USB Power Meter to verify the outputs of the various ports on the Basix Slim. All three ports were tested, with each one triggering Apple 2.4a, Quick Charge 2.0, Quick Charge 3.0, Samsung 9V, and Huawei 9V charging standards. We also verified that the USB-C port supports Power Delivery at up to 12V/1.5A.

We used the same meter to monitor how long it took to charge the Slim, as well as the amount of power it puts out when drained from a full charge.

Charging at 18W, its maximum input via the USB-C port, the Slim charged in 2 hours and 40 minutes. I did not test the microUSB port on the Basix Slim, and frankly, I’m puzzled why it’s even included on the pack. I suppose you could use an 18W charger with a microUSB cable to power the pack, and then use all three ports on the front to charge your devices, if you needed to. But even Aukey’s instructions advise users to use USB-C for charging the pack. Beyond that, using the microUSB port means you just have to worry about carrying one more cable. Nobody wants to do that. 

As far as overall efficiency is concerned, the Basix Slim has a total capacity of 37Wh. Of that total, the Slim output is 33.65Wh, meaning it used 90.94 percent of the total potential power available. That’s good enough for 7th place among the 31 different packs we’ve tested, besting the overall average of 83.7 percent efficiency.

Included in the box along with the battery pack itself is a single USB-A to USB-C cable, which can be used to charge either the pack itself or a USB-C compatible device.

The Basix Slim makes for an affordable stocking stuffer this holiday season, or a compact, easy-to-tote battery pack for yourself. 

• Basix Slim 10000mAh battery pack

  At $20 you might not expect much from this battery pack, but it earns its keep and then some, with good performance and a slim, lightweight form factor for easy portability.

  Pros

  • Supports USB PD
  • Three ports can be used at the same time
  • Highly efficient

  Cons

  • Overall build quality