MGCOOL are a new sub-brand from now-well-known Chinese manufacturer Elephone. Like we learnt a couple of days back, the MGCOOL wing will focus on accessories and gadgets, while Elephone take care of the smartphone business.

Speaking of accessories, some of the most popular ones that everyone seems to have or want to buy these days are power banks. We recently had the chance to play with the MGCOOL Power Thunder 16000mAh power bank, a $50 gadget that’s been on sale for a bit.

MGCOOL Power Thunder Review

I’m myself a big user of power banks. In fact, it’s safe to say that I’m spoilt by them. There is, at all times, at least one fully charged power bank with me (when I’m commuting/heading out, that is). So far, I’ve been happy with a 13,000mAh Huawei and a 20,000mAh Xiaomi power bank… the 16,000mAh MGCOOL Power Thunder is the newest addition.

It’s safe to say that the MGCOOL Power Thunder is the best-looking and feeling power bank I’ve used till date. That necessarily does not translate into practicality, because the eye candy is only the result of added material (and thus weight) that could otherwise have been avoided.

The novelty factor does wear out in a while, which is something I’m sure everyone will agree with. After a little while, especially with gadgets like power banks and such, you do crave for practicality over eye candy and such.

That said, what I do really like on the Power Thunder is the form factor. With dimensions of 153.1 x 65.5 x 23.3 mm, the Power Thunder is really easy to hold and put in the pocket. The textured rubber makes the gadget extremely grippy… and in the beginning, fun to hold.

The power bank weighs just about 300g.

It was a bit of a mystery for me in the beginning because both, the box and the power bank itself read ‘6000mAh’, with the ‘1’ scratched off of both. I had to check with online stores to confirm it was in fact 16,000mAh — funny but definitely not something you want to be happening to a buyer.

As for the charging and discharging capabilities of this one, it’s so far right on par with the 20,000mAh Xiaomi that I use. Given the capacity, it does take time to charge itself (I generally keep my power banks plugged overnight or more) but the power bank is pretty quick when it comes to charging other devices.

The MGCOOL Power Thunder is apparently Qualcomm QC 3.0 certified. I can’t verify the authenticity of the that claim, but what I can tell you is that the charging speeds seem to be at par with other power banks with similar certification. As for numbers, the Power Thunder supports outputting current in the following ratings: 5V – 6V 3A, 6V – 9V 2A, 9V – 12V 1A.

It’s convenient to have multiple ports on the power bank too. This one comes with a full USB 3.0 port, a micro USB and a USB Type-C port. Besides that, there’s a button you can press to find out the estimated battery left in the power bank. This is indicated by the four LEDs on the front.

In a nutshell, I believe the MGCOOL Power Thunder is for those who really want their accessories to look great, albeit at a cost. At $50 it’s pricier than most similar power banks (from Chinese brands such as OnePlus, Xiaomi), but it’s the extra style on offer that the brand is looking to sell to buyers.

You can purchase the MGCOOL Power Thunder from reseller stores such as GearBest and Geekbuying ($50 at the time of writing) and learn more about MCGOOL on their Facebook or Twitter.