Joining the Xiaomi Malaysia online sale once again, I was determined this time to walkaway with my aimed Xiaomi 10400mAh power bank. Alas, it was wishful thinking because I had to settle for the Xiaomi 5200mAh power bank version instead.
Xiaomi Malaysia 5200mAh power bank
If you searched the power bank online, you’ll find some images which show it nicely packed in a clear plastic casing.
No clear plastic casing
This wasn’t the case for the one I bought and had to pay MYR15 for the shipping to boot. Why? Because Xiaomi Malaysia only provides free shipping for orders above MYR50.
What you’ll get in the power bank box are:
Manual
Power bank
Charging cable (less than 9 inches long)
Bottom of Xiaomi 5200mAh power bank
If you didn’t know about the 5200mAh specifications, you can find the input and output details at the bottom of the power bank. For the 5200mAh verison, its output is 1.5A – better than 1.0, but I’d prefer 2.0.
Top of the Xiaomi 5200mAh power bank
On the top of it, its the switch to power on the power bank. micro to USB port, USB port and the charging LEDs. Then, if I didn’t have anything better to do, I plugged the charging cable in both those ports. Yea, I’m weird that way sometimes.
But here’s a funny fact for you. The LED status is counted from the one nearest to the port toward the outside.
Xiaomi 5200mAh power bank LED status
If we took the above picture as an example, that’s the LED 1 and LED 2 being lit at this moment. This status means the power bank is only at 50% charge or less.
RTFM
Then, because we are sometimes lazy to RTFM (hover over the word to know what it means), here’s a scan of the page which tells you what the LEDs mean during charging and discharging.
Xiaomi 5200mAh power bank manual
Lastly, weight of this powerbank is not heavy and not light – makes it just nice. However, I would caution you from dropping it because though the aluminium casing feels good, I can’t stop thinking a dent will happen when dropped.
I hope this quick introduction of the Xiaomi 5200mAh power bank was useful to you and best of luck grabbing one this coming Tuesday.
If you’ve not heard the mention of Xiaomi or the rage of thousands of fans on their Facebook page when they were unable to make their purchases via the online store…my friend, where have you been?!
Who is this Xiaomi?
Xiaomi is a privately owned electronics company who happens to manufacture smartphones in China. They penetrated the Malaysia market only in May 2014 and off the bat teased consumers with their online sales strategy.
What rush are you talking about?
Xiaomi Malaysia decided to release only limited quantities of their Mi3 smartphone and 10,400 mAh powerbanks via their online store. They sold like hot cakes in 17 minutes!
The above batch was the 1st time in my life I had actually joined such an online sale where you’re at the edge of your seat, just to be sure you may be 1 of the few to complete the order successfully.
Though my aim was the powerbank, I found it quickly had been sold out. Then when I happened to check whether the Mi3 smartphone was still available, it was! For that 10-20 seconds, I was stuck between the decision of being a hero to just buy it or, leave it.
Knowing that scalpers are gunning to make a profit versus owners who truly wanted the device, I decided to purchase the Mi3 with hopes someone I know personally may want it.
Xiaomi Mi3 package
And yes, I had 1 friend who knew someone who really needed it. Lucky fellow is enjoying the new Xiaomi Mi3 now. 🙂
Back to the Xiaomi Malaysia rush. They didn’t stop there, many fans were still raging that they couldn’t complete their orders in time. So what happened was Xiaomi Malaysia did a sale only for their 10,400mAh powerbanks – which was nuts.
In less than 2 minutes, it was sold out online when the product was made available to the Malaysian consumers. -_-
I also took part in this round of sales, but browsed away empty handed this time because I was too greedy.
Too greedy thinking of the additional 4 units I wanted to buy at the same time for my other friends whom I know wanted it. And that had been my biggest flaw here. I could’ve completed my order of 2 units (maximum per person) first, then make the roundabout but I didn’t.
By the time I made the roundabout, I saw the infamous rabbit telling me all powerbank units had been sold out. T_T And to make matters worst, my 2 units were still in the shopping cart. *wails*
Must know before joining the Xiaomi Malaysia online sale
From this experience, I picked up a few tips you must know before you join the next sale tomorrow for the 10,400mAh and 5,200mAh powerbanks.
MUST have very fast internet (mine’s 20Mbps)
Create free Xiaomi Malaysia online store account.
Login to your account 5-10 minutes before the sale.
Complete your own order first to avoid personal disappointment, like myself above.
Another tip shared by a fan was to activate the browser’s autocomplete. However, know that this will only work for you if you’ve used the autocomplete before, after activating it.
You can start preparing for the next rush – tomorrow.
Well, here are the pros and cons between the 2 models for me.
Description / Capacity
10,400mAh
5,200mAh
Weight
Around 250g
Around 155g
Output current
2.1A
1.5A
The bigger the capacity, the heavier it is. But the bigger capacity, has a higher output – resulting in possible faster charging rates. However, 1.5A is sufficient to save the day when your car dies and your phone is down to the last percent after texting while driving.
My recommendation is think of how will you use the powerbank. If you’re carrying it everywhere, lighter would be better. If you’re storing it in a fixed place, then bigger capacity is better. If you don’t mind carrying the additional 250grams around, then the bigger capacity will be a winner. Capiche?
Good luck for tomorrow! *thumbs*
Updated June 10, 2014
The 10,400mAh units were sold out much faster than the 5,200mAh units. My observation was the bigger capacity sold out within the first 1-2 minutes.
