Energy ยท Gear Review
QiSa S86 Pro Solar Power Bank. Every feature, none of them deep.
A power bank with built-in cables, a hand crank, a solar panel, a flashlight, and a compass. Plugged into the wall, it charges phones well. The solar panel and crank, the reasons most people buy it, do very little, and the 40,000mAh label is very likely overstated.
Typical price
About $25 to $40
Label
40,000mAh, about 148 Wh
NWS verdict
Skip it for most kits
At a glance: QiSa S86 Pro 40,000mAh
Strengths
- Built-in cables charge USB-C, Lightning, and Micro-USB phones without carrying a cord.
- Its outputs include 22.5-watt USB-A and 20-watt USB-C fast charging.
- A hand crank and a solar panel give a last-resort trickle when there is no outlet.
- A four-mode flashlight is built in.
Limitations
- A bench test of a sibling QiSa model delivered about 31 percent of its labeled capacity.
- Owners consistently report that the solar panel and crank barely charge it.
- Its 148 watt-hour label needs airline approval to fly.
- Owners report the crank, compass, and level coming loose.
By Dan Whelan, founder of New World Survival
Researched from government agencies, university extension services, and other published sources. See our sources
The short answer
Is the QiSa S86 Pro worth it? Not as your main backup.
The QiSa S86 Pro works as an ordinary power bank with handy built-in cables. As a solar or crank charger, which is what the box sells, owners say it does very little. Its capacity is unverified, and the one bench test of a sibling QiSa model found about a third of the labeled energy.
For phone charging through an outage, a plain power bank from a brand that publishes honest capacity does more for the money. If solar charging matters, a separate folding panel does the real work. Our solar power bank comparison covers the alternatives side by side.
What the box says, and what we can verify
| The listing says | What we found | |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | 40,000mAh | No published test of this model. A sibling QiSa delivered about 31 percent of its label in a bench test. |
| Solar charging | Built-in panel, emergency use only | Owners report little or no gain after a day or more in full sun. |
| Hand crank | Emergency use only | No independent output test. Owners mostly give up on it. |
| Fast charging | 22.5 W USB-A, 20 W USB-C, 10 W USB-A | Owners report it charges phones well from a wall-charged battery. |
| Water resistance | IP67 | A manufacturer claim. We found no independent test. |
| Safety listing | Built-in protection circuits | We found no testing-laboratory listing published for this model. |
Listing details from the QiSa Amazon listing, checked October 2026.
Affiliate disclosure: New World Survival earns a small commission on qualifying Amazon purchases at no cost to you. This helps us cover operating costs and keep building new content. We only recommend gear we would put in our own kit. Commission never decides a recommendation, which is why this review tells most readers to buy something else.
What it is
A power bank wearing a multi-tool.
The S86 Pro is a lithium-polymer power bank labeled 40,000mAh, in an ABS plastic case. It carries built-in Micro-USB, USB-C, and Lightning cables for charging phones, plus a built-in USB-A cable for charging the bank itself. Three ports add 22.5-watt USB-A fast charging, 20-watt USB-C PD charging, and a 10-watt USB-A port. (QiSa listing)
Around that battery, QiSa adds a hand-crank generator, a small solar panel, a four-mode flashlight, a compass, and a bubble level, and claims IP67 water and dust resistance. The listing is candid on one point: QiSa says the hand crank and solar panel are emergency functions only and recommends charging from a plug for daily use and battery life.
That note is the most useful sentence on the box. Read it as the product's real description: a wall-charged power bank with backup features that are, at best, a trickle.
Specifications, as listed
Why it falls short
What testing found, and what no one has tested.
No independent lab has published measurements of the S86 Pro itself. The closest evidence is Footprint Hero's bench test of a sibling QiSa solar power bank labeled 38,800mAh. They charged each bank overnight, discharged it through a load while a meter counted the energy, and measured about 44 watt-hours delivered, roughly 31 percent of the label. That QiSa still finished first in their capacity test, which says more about the category than about QiSa. Its built-in panel added about 7 watt-hours over two days outdoors. (Footprint Hero)
A sibling model is not the same battery, and power banks always lose some energy converting to USB output. But a result that far below the label, from the same brand and the same kind of product, is the best evidence available. We now treat 40,000mAh as a marketing number and plan on several phone charges, not the eight or more the label implies.
The solar result matters too. A panel this small, even in good sun, adds a fraction of a phone charge per day. That matches what owners report.
Revisited October 2026: the first version of this review, published in September, estimated 25,000 to 30,000mAh from the unit's weight and rated it "Consider for backup power diversity." The sibling bench test above, and a clear pattern in owner reports about the solar panel and crank, moved our verdict to "Skip it for most kits." We also removed a hand-crank output figure we could not source, and corrected the airline section to match the FAA's current rules.
What owners actually say
Good on the wall. Disappointing in the sun.
These patterns come from retailer reviews. A theme appears here only when more than one owner raises it independently. In October 2026 the listing carried about 190 ratings averaging 4.3 stars, with 8 percent at one star.
Plugged in, it does the job
The positive reviews describe several phone charges from a full battery, convenience from the built-in cables, and peace on camping trips and during outages. Some mention it is bigger and heavier than they expected.
Solar and crank rarely deliver
The clearest pattern in the critical reviews: owners who left it in direct summer sun for eight hours, a full day, or three days, and found little or no charge gained. Several gave up on cranking because it takes too long. These are the features that justify the price over a plain power bank.
The add-ons come loose
More than one owner reports the compass and bubble level falling off, the crank coming loose when its pin fell out, or the flashlight failing early. Every extra part is another thing that can break, and none of them can be repaired.
Some units simply stop
A share of owners report the bank no longer charging or holding a charge after a few weeks or months, or ports failing after a drop. Others report no trouble at all. Owners also report that seller support is hard to reach.
The one thing to know
Charge it from the wall, store it out of the sun.
A solar power bank invites you to leave it in a sunny window or on a car dashboard. NFPA's lithium-ion battery guidance says the opposite: keep batteries at room temperature, and do not place them in direct sunlight or keep them in hot vehicles. (NFPA tip sheet)
So the practical routine is the one QiSa itself recommends: top it off from a wall outlet, keep it indoors, and save the panel for a true emergency, when you can watch it.
NFPA also advises stopping use of any lithium-ion battery that shows an odor, a change in color, too much heat, a change in shape, leaking, or odd noises. Recycle it rather than putting it in the trash.
How it fails, and what to do then
A sealed unit with nothing to repair.
It holds less than the label
Not a failure so much as a disappointment on day one. Count the phone charges you actually get from a full battery, and plan your outage kit around that number, not the box.
A cable or add-on breaks
The built-in cables, crank, compass, and level cannot be replaced. A broken built-in cable means that output is gone; the regular ports still work with your own cord.
It stops charging
Try a different wall charger and cable first. If it still will not charge, or if it shows any of NFPA's warning signs, stop using it and take it to a battery recycling drop-off.
Getting help
Owners report that the seller is hard to reach. Buy through a retailer with a clear return window, and test the unit fully, wall, solar, and crank, within that window.
What it costs over time
Cheap to buy, costly per watt-hour.
There are no consumables. The real cost is how much stored energy each dollar buys. At about $25 to $40, a unit that delivers a fraction of its label costs more per usable watt-hour than a plain power bank from a brand that rates its capacity honestly.
Like every lithium battery, it loses capacity with age and charge cycles, and when it is done, it is done: nothing inside is serviceable. Budget for a replacement every few years if it lives in an outage kit.
Who should skip this
Most households, for one of four reasons.
You want a dependable outage backup
Buy a plain power bank with honest capacity and a known brand. Our USB power bank comparison covers them.
You want solar that works
A separate folding panel, like the BigBlue 28W in our BigBlue review, puts out far more power than any panel built onto a battery.
You fly
At about 148 watt-hours on the label, it needs airline approval. A bank under 100 watt-hours skips the approval step, though some airlines set stricter limits.
You want a crank for real
A crank weather radio pairs a crank with an emergency radio and light, which is where human-powered charging earns its place. A crank on a large power bank is mostly a novelty.
Where it fits in your readiness
Phone power for the first days of an outage.
A charged power bank belongs in the Survive tier: it keeps phones working for news, alerts, and calls through the first days without power. The job calls for a battery you can trust to hold what it says, which is why we point most readers elsewhere.
Power outages
The core use. Keep any power bank charged from the wall before storm season, and know how many phone charges it really holds.
Hurricanes
Long outages after landfall are where solar would help most, and where a small built-in panel helps least. Pair a power bank with a real folding panel.
Winter storms
Short daylight and cloud cover make built-in solar even less useful. Charge everything before the storm arrives.
Alternatives worth knowing
What to buy instead.
Maintenance
Charge, check, keep it cool.
- Charge it from a wall outlet, as QiSa recommends, and check the charge level every few months if it sits in a kit.
- Store it indoors at room temperature, out of direct sunlight and hot vehicles, per NFPA.
- Do not charge it on a bed, under a pillow, or on a couch.
- Inspect the built-in cables and the case. Stop using it at the first sign of swelling, heat, odor, leaking, or odd noises.
- When it is done, recycle it at a battery drop-off. Never put lithium-ion batteries in the trash.
Questions people ask
Before you count on it.
Does the solar panel actually charge the QiSa power bank?
Barely. The panel is small, and QiSa itself says solar and crank charging are for emergencies only. Owners report leaving it in full summer sun for a day or more without gaining a full phone charge. Charge it from a wall outlet, and treat the panel as a slow trickle, not a power source.
Does the hand crank work?
It produces a little current, which QiSa labels as an emergency function. We found no independent measurement of this model's crank output, and owners mostly report giving up on it. Some report the crank pin coming loose. Count on it for, at most, a few minutes of phone use in a true emergency.
Can I take the QiSa S86 Pro on a plane?
Only with airline approval. Its 40,000mAh label works out to about 148 watt-hours. The FAA allows power banks up to 100 watt-hours in carry-on bags, and up to two larger ones between 101 and 160 watt-hours only with airline approval. Power banks never go in checked bags, and many airlines set stricter limits. (FAA)
Does the QiSa S86 Pro really hold 40,000mAh?
Probably not. No one has published a capacity test of the S86 Pro. Footprint Hero bench-tested a sibling QiSa solar power bank labeled 38,800mAh and measured about 44 watt-hours delivered, roughly 31 percent of its label. Plan on several phone charges, not the eight or more the label suggests.
Can I leave a solar power bank in my car?
Not in summer heat. NFPA advises keeping lithium-ion batteries at room temperature and out of direct sunlight and hot vehicles. That conflicts with how a solar panel charges, which is one more reason to charge this unit from the wall and store it indoors.