Review on TalentCell 12V Lithium-Ion Battery Pack For LED Strips, CCTV Cameras & More – Rechargeable With Multi-LED Indicator by Joel Gumbiner

Well, the battery does work, it's pretty simple to use, and the price point wasn't the worst for batteries of this size and power. HOWEVER. when you have a battery that you need to be able to power a device, having that battery show an accurate representation of the remaining power on it's power capacity display. is both imperative and expected.I've been using my battery now for two months. I don't usually use it for long at one sitting, maybe an hour to 90 minutes. It isn't used daily, maybe once or twice a week.Figuring out the cable and plug situation was not intuitive, but was figured out pretty quickly. Figuring out how it should be plugged into my device was similar.I was really pleased when it powered my device without a hitch (initially) and had a 5 light power level indicator.In the first month of using it (between 4-8 hours total in the month), the power level indicator dropped from 5 lights lit to 4. Awesome! Or so I thought.Month 2 goes by, less use is had because of holidays and appointments and work and every other thing in life that can take up time away from hobbies. Probably 3-5 hours of use this month. No problem, the power level indicator dropped to 3 lights out of 5.Then, I'm back to using it for the first time in about 2 or 3 weeks. The power level indicator still shows 3 lights, so I figure I should be good for a few hours of use.I get started and an hour in, my device is making struggling sounds and displaying behaviors indicative of low or insufficient power. Still 3 indicator lights, so I reseat my cables and attempt to continue.More struggles, more audible whining of not enough power. But I can get it going again, and I still have 3 lights. maybe it's just a problem because I wasn't as regular about the use?Less than 90 minutes of use and the battery shuts off completely. Flip the power switch, nothing. Reseat the cables, nothing. It's completely dead.Take it over to the charger, plug it in. BOOM, 3 lights.So. the battery indicator SUCKS, is not even unreliable, it flat out LIES.This, ultimately, means that I now have to replace the battery. I need this to be reliable and trustworthy. I take my batteries and devices out of the house, away from the chargers. If I can't be assured of enough power to use my device for 2-3 hours, then the battery is useless.Does it work? Sure.Can I make do? For a little while, but it will require charging the battery before any uses, to make sure that I will have the necessary power.Can I continue using this in the future? No. Without reliable power indicators, I cannot trust this battery to actually be fully charged. Without knowing the battery charge level, how fast that charge level is dropping, I would not feel confident taking my battery and any device it powers, out of my home. While I won't die for lack of the power in this battery, I could potentially lose income if I needed power for a work opportunity and had to depend on this battery.I can't truly recommend this battery unless you have no other real choices. And if you must buy this one, start saving for a replacement immediately. 2 stars