Portable lithium batteries or 'power banks' have become the must have promotional tech gadget over the past couple of years. The global market for these devices is forecast to grow to £14 billion by 2020. They typically offer an increasingly good branding opportunity / cost per item ratio. With the added bonus that they will definitely be kept and used.
The potential problem though is that due to their ever growing popularity some suppliers are sacrificing quality to maintain margins in an increasingly competetive market. They are subject to the same compliance requirements as other electrical items and need CE, Reach and RoHS certification. They also need battery reports to allow them on cargo aircraft and the handling rules for dangerous goods need to be followed. Even with all this though some lower quality models have found their way onto the market and some highly respected brands such as Samsung have suffered as a result.
Clearly a more stringent certification would be nice and the world renowned American testing facility United Laboratories has developed a specific accreditation for power banks - UL2056. We make sure all of the power banks we supply meet the existing standards and will be looking out for ones that meet this new standard with interest.
A superb branded gift but not one suitable to be in the 'cheap and cheerful' price bracket.