TechRadar Verdict
The AOHI Future Starship promises a lot with its high output and detailed display. The design might be somewhat divisive, but it’s understated enough to keep a low profile, and while it’s heavy, its dimensions are admirably restrained given its output and capacity. It charges large devices with ease, but the 240W output will be overkill for many, and the capacity isn’t large enough for multiple laptop charges. Considering its price, many will be better off with something less powerful but less expensive.
Pros
- +
High output
- +
Useful screen
- +
Good size for its power
Cons
- -
Very expensive
- -
Small display
- -
Only three ports
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AOHI Future Starship review
The AOHI Future Starship is a large power bank with plenty of power to charge large devices on the go.
It adopts what you might call a cyberpunk aesthetic, with yellow markings and accents imparting a futuristic industrial look. The overall form is also reminiscent of some kind of a sci-fi gadget, injecting some interest in the typically straight-laced world of power bank design.
No doubt some will like it and others will hate it, but it’s not brash enough to totally preclude it from more professional settings.
At 23oz / 650g, the Future Starship isn’t exactly light, but its dimensions are relatively compact – it's not as thick or as long as some power banks with a similar wattage. The overall build quality is good, although there’s a small amount of flex to the side panels, so it’s not constructed quite as sturdily as some of the best power banks.
The large panel for the screen is somewhat misleading, as the actual display only occupies a very small area. What’s more, since it packs in quite a lot of information when charging, it’s hard to read at a glance if you want to quickly see how much battery power remains. It’s also relatively dim, which only adds to the visibility problem, especially at certain angles.
Still, the information the Future Starship displays is useful, as it includes readouts for each individual port, displaying their real-time wattage. There’s also an indicator to show whether the power is being outputted or inputted, which is useful to make sure the bank itself is actually being charged when plugged into an outlet.
Battery life is given as a percentage and in bars, which presumably is designed to make it easier to scan. However, in addition to the aforementioned issues with the display itself, the bars are too small to see from a distance because there are too many; four or five would have been enough, but there are 10, which is too many to parse quickly.
There are three ports in total on the Future Starship: two USB-C ports and one USB-A. It seems like another USB-C could have been squeezed in, and there are similarly large power banks out there with four, so it’s a small shame not to see this.
The two Type-C ports can deliver a max 140W each, both for output and for input. When used at the same time, one will drop to 100W, meaning the total output for both ports is 240W. It also comes with a USB-C cable rated for charging at 140W, which is nice to see, as not all large power banks include high-power cables.
The Future Starship managed to charge a Dell Latitude 5410, with its 68Wh battery, in just over two hours, which is an impressive performance, especially considering that I was using the laptop at the same time. The bank depleted from 100% down to about 20%, so it’s nice to know you’ll get one full laptop charge out of it, with a bit left in the tank for smaller devices.
It also stayed cool throughout, only warming slightly. Charging the bank itself also took just over two hours, which again is an impressive performance considering its large capacity.
However, the Future Starship is a very expensive power bank, and not many users will need such a massive output – and those who do would probably wish for a higher capacity to charge large devices multiple times. There are many cheaper alternatives out there that can handle laptop charging just as well.
AOHI Future Starship review: price & specs
Price | $199 / (about £157 / AU$312) |
Capacity | 27,600mAh |
Total wattage | 240W |
Number of ports | 3 |
USB-A | 1 |
USB-C | 2 |
Wireless charging | No |
Weight | 23oz / 650g |
Power-to-weight | 41.5mAh/g |
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