Nimble’s new modular power bank can be shared with a friend

Power banks are Helpful but boring. Believe me yet Tested more than 100 power banksI’m qualified to bemoan the lack of innovation. These rectangular battery packs are mostly utilitarian. become big Power banks for laptop And skinny Phone power banksbut new designs are rare, so Nimble’s SharePower software immediately brought a smile to my lips.

The Nimble SharePower is a modular 10,000mAh power bank that you can cut in half to give you two separate, fully functional 5,000mAh chargers. They attach magnetically using small pogo pins, and each half has its own built-in USB-C (one cable that doubles as a carrying loop and one foldable connector). The idea is that when friends or family run low, you can cut in half and share the power.

Sharing is caring

This thoughtful design works beautifully, and within seconds of opening it, I found myself taking the power banks apart and putting them back together again, because the magnetic mechanism is so satisfying. When used together, you have a compact 10,000mAh power bank that can output up to 35W to charge up to three devices simultaneously, with a built-in cable and two USB-C ports. A digital display shows you the exact percentage remaining.

They are about 3 inches square and about 1 inch thick when together. Break it down, and each 5,000mAh module works independently to deliver 20W. The top half has a USB-C cable loop, a USB-C port, and four LEDs to show remaining power. The bottom half houses the pop-up USB-C connector, the USB-C output port, and the digital display that displays the remaining power as a percentage.

What’s really great about Nimble’s SharePower is that it balances the load. So, if you cut one half off and a friend uses it to charge their phone, when you put it back together again, the other half will share the power. Instead of half being fully charged, it’s split evenly. This was a technical challenge, Ross Howe, co-founder and CEO of Nimble, told WIRED, and the company talked to the chipset provider for some of the larger foldable phones (with split batteries inside) to work on load balancing to ensure the swing wouldn’t continue until it ran out of power.

Photo: Simon Hill