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I have a small S49 quadcopter. After around 10-15 minutes, it often runs out of charge and needs recharging. My charger requires it to be plugged into a portable USB charger or to the mains. I have tried charging using my power bank, but it takes like 30 minutes to charge compared to 10 minutes at home using the mains.

What other methods of charging could I use to charge it that will preferably charge it faster?

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I couldn't find manual or just the specifications for this exact drone, but from what you wrote and what I see on the images it uses 1-Cell batteries charged with some USB adapter.
You didn't specify which USB power-bank you have or which power adapter you use to charge from the mains.
I assume it's some-kind of phone charger. These days phone chargers typically outputs current of 1.0-2.0A. So my guess is that your power-bank isn't capable of outputting these kinds of current.
Try looking for a power-bank with QuickCharge (QC). They are capable of giving out currents up to 4.5A

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I've looked up your drone; it appears to use a 1S battery with the "flat" variety of micro power connector (which I unfortunately couldn't find the proper name of).

Besides amping up the USB charger that your drone came with, there's a class of chargers that offer some of the best charging rates for small 1S batteries, and those are constructed for tiny whoop owners. They usually look something like this:

Typical whoop charging board

These things can independently charge several batteries and usually provide far greater charge currents than most USB chargers, often achieving full charge in minutes. There are countless variations, but the design is mostly the same: a PCB with several small battery connectors on one end which you plug your small 1S batteries into, and an XT60 or other higher-power connector on the other, which you plug either a power supply or a bigger 3-4S LiPo/LiIon battery into. Thanks to the very good power delivery capabilities of LiPo batteries, these chargers offer the same performance when battery-powered as when powered from mains (and sometimes even more, as some mains power supplies might actually provide less current than a lipo will).

Something like this would probably be a perfect field charger for your quadcopter as well, if not for one little compatibility problem: these chargers are made for "rectangular" PH2.0 connectors and you've got the "flat" ones.

If you're willing to wait a tiny bit, though, there's plenty of adapters for that sort of thing on the market that you can order, or even make some adapters yourself by getting a bunch of pre-crimped connectors of both types (also readily available, especially on chinese sites) and soldering them together.

PH2.0 connectors flat connectors

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  • $\begingroup$ Watch the current rating on a mains transformer. Many of those wall-wart things are only good for half an amp output, and the charger can pull 3-4amps. $\endgroup$ Apr 29, 2020 at 8:10
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks, pointed that out. $\endgroup$ Apr 29, 2020 at 13:39
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I use a 6-port 1s charger (there are several options) powered from a cordless drill battery.

The charger allows me to choose how fast I charge and works with up to 24v (check this, as some only work at lower voltages). The drill battery can handle about 100 charges, which is more than I'd ever need for an indoor racing session.

I used 1/4" crimp-on spade terminals to fit into the drill battery slots, and 3D printed a clip to hold them in place, but that's not really necessary.

If you fly larger outdoor quads too, their batteries are also great for powering a tiny-whoop charger. Use what you have and avoid buying another battery that may only last a few years.

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