REVIEW – We review a lot of batteries at The Gadgeteer and with good reason. If you have a lot of gadgets, you need a lot of power, and eventually you’ll find yourself needing a battery. Most battery backups are fairly big and clunky but the Baseus Blade 2 is quite sleek and is powerful enough to charge your laptop. I gave it a spin and (spoiler) it’s my favorite battery right now and part of my EDC.
What is it?
The Baseus Blade 2 is a slim 65W portable battery backup with “smart” features.
What’s included?
- Baseus Blade 2
- a USB C-USB C Cable 100W
- a protective bag
- some stickers
- some literature (warranty, user guide, etc)
Tech specs
Max Input: 60W By USB-C Port
Type-C1 Input: 5V⎓3A; 9V⎓3A; 12V⎓3A; 15V⎓3A; 20V⎓3A
Type-C2 Input: 5V⎓3A; 9V⎓3A; 12V⎓3A; 15V⎓3A; 20V⎓3A
Type-C1 Output: 5V⎓3A; 9V⎓3A; 12V⎓3A; 15V⎓3A; 20V⎓3.25A
Type-C2 Output: 5V⎓3A; 9V⎓3A; 12V⎓3A; 15V⎓3A; 20V⎓3.25A
Type-C1+Type-C2 Output: 45W+20W
5V Total Output: 5V⎓6A
Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
Item Weight: 11.6 ounces
Design and features
The Baseus Blade 2 is a battery designed for powering your most energy-consuming gadgets, starting with your laptop. My personal laptop that I use for work and Gadgeteer reviews is a Lenovo Yoga 9i dual screen. I should probably write an in depth review of the laptop by itself because it has plenty of quirks, but it comes into play in this review because it really sucks up the power. It has a big battery (which comes in at about 20,000 mAh). The Baseus Blade 2 has a 12,000 mAh capacity, which you might think would give me about half a charge. However, I guess since I’m working while it’s charging, I found the Baseus Blade 2 runs out when my computer is around 30% if I charge from empty. One bonus is that the laptop charges super fast with the Baseus Blade 2. I would estimate that the Blade 2 goes from full to empty in about 20 to 30 minutes if I charge my laptop with it. I have no idea how it dumps energy into my laptop so quickly, but it’s a pretty neat thing to have if you’re in a presentation and you realize you need that little extra bit of power to make it through.
The size and shape of the Baseus Blade 2 is why it’s part of my everyday carry. At under half an inch wide, it slips right into my work bag and doesn’t make it look like I’m smuggling a brick in there. It also has an illuminated screen that tells you how much charge is left in percent and in time, and it has an app that will show you how power is being split if you’re charging two things at once. The app also allows you to set a time limit on charging and you can view other information such as temperature and how much time until the battery runs out. It also allowed me to change the screensaver on the battery screen from “base on user” (which I didn’t understand and thought was kind of annoying to a custom message. In my case, it’s “Get to work!”
I like the Baseus Blade 2, but I do wish it had a larger capacity. Probably the current capacity is fine for most users, but I’ve got the two screens on my laptop and the Blade 2 doesn’t give me that much extra working time. It’s a good insurance policy though, so I still carry it every day in my work bag. The company does make a version called the Blade with a capacity of 20,000 mAh, but it’s twice as thick. I would prefer something that stayed slim and just was twice as large because fatter chargers make my messenger bag appear overstuffed. One other gripe is that the screen on the Baseus Blade 2 stays on when I’m charging it and when I’m using it to charge . I’m confused about why it stays on all. To me that’s just extra battery being used that could be used to charge my phone or other gadget.
I’ve had the Baseus Blade 2 for a couple of months and it’s been a little quirky. I set a timer in the app mostly to test it, and when the timer was up the Blade 2’s screen was blinking with a lot of Chinese characters that I couldn’t understand. Also, one time I tried to charge two things at once and when I tried to look at how the energy was being distributed, it wouldn’t show me any data. I didn’t care that much because I was just curious, but if that’s something you want to explore, that may or may not work…it doesn’t seem to be reliable. These are all minor things, of course, but still, room for improvement.
What I like about the Baseus Blade 2
- Thin and powerful, just like I’d like to be
- Charges stuff up super fast!
What needs to be improved?
- Maybe a little more trouble shooting on what the display screen shows
- Bigger capacity at same width would be cool.
Final thoughts
I am a big fan of the Baseus Blade 2. It is a great EDC battery backup with a few nifty features!
Price: $99.99 plus 30% off coupon currently.
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Baseus. Baseus did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
