A camera battery is a camera’s lifeline. We all carry spare camera batteries, even on quick visits to locations. They can be fussy and finicky and stop working for no apparent reason. Camera batteries have come a long way since my first digital camera, a Nikon 990. They are generally not interchangeable among different brands, even among the different models from the same manufacturer. In other words, batteries can be a source of pain.
Charging these batteries takes time. Until a few days ago, I had not tried charging them with an off-brand battery charger. That charger, the Llano Camera Battery Charger, and a Llano external power pack are the subjects of this review.
I have been used to plugging in the battery charger to the wall outlet, snap the battery in, and wait for it to finish charging, repeat as necessary. The only hints I get from the standard Canon chargers about the battery charge levels are the color of the indicator light and how fast it blinks. I do not have any experience with a third-party charger other than the ones that Canon includes with the cameras.
Disclosure: Although Llano provided the review samples, the post contains no affiliate links, nor do I get any commission from sales.
Llano camera battery charger
Llano provided me with one of their bundles that includes two Canon LP-E6NH equivalent batteries, a charger for two Canon LP-E6NH batteries, and a Llano 20000 mAh QC-4 Power Bank. This is one of the many options available in their Amazon store and there will be links to them at the end of the review. Their Amazon store seems to be more informative than their company site.
First impressions and features
The charger, batteries, and power bank had clean design lines. The charger looks like a make-believe camera, but its hinged lid reveals two battery compartments. The exterior finish is a smooth matte surface, and the lid snaps shut and stays shut with a magnetic latch. There is also an SD card storage slot, but it did not make much sense. Most photographers have card cases and keep them all together. It is there if you like to use it.
Llano battery charger for Canon with cable, pouch
Llano battery charger for Canon with two LP-E6NH batteries
Llano battery charger for Canon with two LP-E6NH batteries
Llano battery charger and two batteries for Canon
The round display in front shows the charge levels in both battery wells. You can snap a battery, press the small round button, and see the battery charge level. That is a good feature.
The battery charger uses a USB-C power input, but you provide the power supply. The good news is that you may already have a suitable charger for your smartphone. Today, most phones seem to have switched to USB-C ports for charging and connecting.
If your power supply provides 18W, the charger will go into the quick charge mode and finish the job faster. The green indicator light stays steady in fast charge mode and blinks in regular charge with a lower power supply. In my first test, my phone charger provided enough juice for a quick charge.
The battery insertion is easy and seems secure. You drop in the battery and apply gentle pressure to make it snap into its well. The front display shows the level of the charge in each battery well. The enclosed user guide is too tiny for me to read. I scanned the English pages and made a PDF file for anyone to read more easily.
The batteries
The bundle I received included two LP-E6NH equivalent batteries with 2400 mAh powers, as they claimed. In the past, when I used off-brand batteries, my camera complained and told me to replace the battery. I was concerned about that kind of rejection when I inserted one of the Llano batteries into my Canon R7.
I shut the battery compartment and turned on the camera, and there was no complaining! It came on with no warning messages on the display, and the camera functioned normally. There is no other feature to look for or mention about the batteries other than they work!
The external power bank
One of the nice features of this bundle was the external power bank with 65W 20000 mAh capacity. It has both USB-A and USB-C ports and a small display showing the remaining power in percentages. Either one of the USB ports can be used to charge the power bank or attach it to the device to be charged. It can even charge two devices at once with the right cables, and it comes with a pouch, a charging cable, and a tiny user guide. Since I could not read the small print, I scanned the pages and combined them into a PDF. Here is the PDF user guide for the power bank.
The power bank may be an attractive option for photographers travelling to places with no electric power outlet. With this external power bank, the batteries can be charged anywhere. Just plug them together and let them do their thing. I tried it with two batteries in place, and it finished reasonably quickly, as they were about 65% full. According to the information on their site, charging with the external power bank will take a little longer than the wall power. But the convenience and accessibility to power certainly make it worth having one.
Llano 65W 20,000 mAh external power bank
Llano 65W 20,000 mAh external power bank with pouch and user guide
The partners in battery service by Llano, the charger and power bank
Charging via power bank
The newer Canon bodies (like other brands, I am sure) have a USB-C port for in-camera charging of the batteries. This power bank will service that function, too. According to their statements, the power bank will be good for four rounds of charging two batteries. To top it all, you may use it to charge your phone and even your laptop or tablet. A nice companion!
The Llano battery charger in use
I had a fully drained Canon LP-E6NH battery, and I tested the charging time using my phone charger. From the start, I took photographs of the charger’s face with my phone, sometimes waiting for the number to go up. The full charge from zero to 100% took less than two hours, one hour and 50 minutes. The process seemed fast. But honestly, I have never timed a Canon-provided charger. Here are the screen captures at different times. I manually added the capture time on the lower left corner of each image.
This charger can charge two batteries at the same time, but my Canon charger cannot. That’s nice!
As I said earlier, I also tried charging a battery with the power bank, that too went smoothly but I did not time that one. Just being able to do that anywhere, anytime, sounds attractive to me.
Conclusion
Llano is a relatively new entry to the field without much track record
Its products appear to be well-made and well-thought-out
The battery charger worked as promised; quick charge single or double batteries
The digital display is convenient and useful, it also checks the battery charge level
There are some safety features mentioned on their product pages, but I am not qualified to comment on them; if they are there, thanks
The battery seems to function without any problems in my Canon R7
It is a little larger than the Canon charger
The power pack is very convenient
And Llano is planning to introduce a charger model with a built-in power pack!
Price and availability
Llano sells on Amazon
The chargers and batteries are available for Sony, Canon, Fuji, and Nikon cameras
They have just chargers, chargers with batteries, and the previous with power packs
Buy them at:
Charger Case Only:
One Charger Case and 2 Batteries:
Use the discount code llano0420 for a 10% discount
