The 9 best power banks and portable chargers in 2024 — November top picks | Tom's Guide

Nov 06, 2024

Here are the best portable chargers to keep your devices juiced up while you're on the go

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Power banks and portable chargers have become an essential addition to your gadget arsenal — keeping smartphones, tablets, wireless earbuds and even laptops topped up in those clutch moments where you're away from plug outlets.

In those moments, be it on a long-haul flight or out in the great outdoors, it can be a painfully anxious time to stick everything on low power mode and pray your tech makes it. To combat this, you need something reliable, durable, and packed with the capacity and speed to charge.

With that in mind, we've done a battery (pun intended) of tests on some of the most highly rated portable chargers on the marked — pulling together a list of the best picks that are worth your hard-earned money.

Personally, I've been using a combination of two. First, the Sharge Shargeek 170 brings a ton of power and capacity to a surprisingly portable, eye-catching transparent aesthetic — sure to keep even my beasty MacBook Pro powered on a long flight, or even keep my iPhone 15 Pro and Meta Ray-Ban glasses topped up over a long weekend.

And second, if I just need something smaller for the day trips, Ugreen's Nexode 12,000 mAh has come in handy with its 100W power delivery in such a small package

We've got these best portable chargers ranked in order of what we would buy, with shoutouts for the best portable charger, our favorite budget charger, and the best portable charger for iPhone.

Here's a quick overview of the best portable chargers you can buy right now based on our testing and reviews.

Best Overall

The Shargeek 170 brings a whole lot of capability in its unique, transparent design. The 24,000 mAh capacity is capable of charging your average laptop twice over, the 140W max power delivery ensures super quick power ups, an IP66 waterproof ensures durability in all conditions, and that $179 price tag is seriously good value for money.

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Best ultraportable

If you need something small to throw in a small backpack pocket for the day, Ugreen's 12,000 mAh power bank is an amazing option with full 100W charging support. Plus, you get all of this for just $49. This is a steal for its capabilities!

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Best for iPhone

With its MagSafe connection, the mophie Snap+ Juice Pack Mini is an excellent portable charger for the iPhone. Even if you don’t have an iPhone that supports MagSafe, or simply have an Android phone, you can still charge them with its USB-C port.

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Best large capacity

The Anker Prime 27,650 mAh power bank is one of the best big capacity portable chargers around to power all of your devices. If you're looking for amazing power efficiency for your on-the-go lifestyle, this is it because you'll spend very little time charging your phone to get back a lot of battery.

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Best For Travel

With its svelte size, the Scosche PowerUp 600 is the ideal portable charger for travel because it packages a 5,400 mAh battery. What makes it unique is that it can also help to jumpstart a car if it has a dead battery.

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Best Apple Watch

If you own an Apple Watch, there's a built-in charger for that with the Satechi Quatro. This versatile charger features a 10,000 mAh battery and a separate wireless charger for phones.

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Best Anker

The Anker Power Bank Fusion 10K is an all-in-one portable charger that includes an integrated USB-C cable to charge your gadgets, along with flip out prongs to directly charge it in an outlet without the need for a separate power adapter.

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Best For Camping

Get the convenience of charging your larger electronics, like tablets and laptops, with the Jackery Explorer 100 Plus. It packages in an immense 31,000 mAh battery in a compact size that's perfect for camping.

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Best solar

By harnessing the power of the sun, you may never need to pay to recharge the Mregb Sola Power Bank because it features an integrated solar panel to charge its 42,800 mAh battery.

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Jason brings a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Tom's Hardware, Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already.

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Sharge tops our list with its new Shargeek 170 charger for bringing a huge array of capabilities to a unique, transparent aesthetic at an attractive price. I've been using it for a while now, and the stable, fast power delivery to all of my devices has not let me down — even during the longer weekends camping away from any power outlets.

This is all thanks to the support of up to USB power deliver 3.1 standard — ensuring that beefy 24,000 mAh capacity is put to good use at 140W output. This means you can charge a MacBook Pro to 50% in just 30 minutes. Not only that, but the intelligent sharing of power (which you can see happen on that smart display) means you can boost multiple devices at fast speeds of up to a total output of 170W between the pair of them.

Plus, this is rated for IP66 waterproofing, which is a rarity in portable battery technology and ensures durability wherever you go. Just one quick note that whipping out this transparent battery may get you some looks going through TSA at the airport. It only takes a few seconds to iron it out, but that moment is totally worth it for the best portable battery on this list.

Ugreen's Nexode power banks launched this year, and with it came my favorite ultraportable option. No, it's not just because it has a cute face on that display (though that does make it immensely pleasant). Plus, there is a larger 20,000 mAh model...so why are we going for the lower capacity?

Well, it comes down to two reasons in my own use. First, those dimensions. It's as small as a standard Coke can, and the weight means it adds basically nothing to your backpack. But most important is what Ugreen has managed to do in a small package — 12,000 mAh of capacity and full 100W charging. That means whatever you may need some emergency power for, from your smartphone all the way up to a MacBook Pro, this can deliver it.

So while the two-port array can be restricting, and you'll see that juice drain fast if you do take it to 100W (literally a percentage point every 20 seconds), these can be easily forgiven for how much of a lifesaver this has been in emergency moments.

There’s something to say about MagSafe. It lends a helping hand with the mophie Snap+ Juice Pack Mini in keeping it fastened snugly on the back of a compatible iPhone with MagSafe for on-the-go charging. That way, you can always have it on hand — even when you need to top it off while waiting for your coffee in the morning.

With its 5,000 mAh battery, it’s able to provide nearly a full charge to most iPhones, but there’s also a USB-C port on hand to charge other phones and gadgets.

Anker’s well known for its lineup of power solutions, so it comes at no surprise that the Anker Prime 27,650 mAh power bank is our favorite large capacity charger. With its generous battery, it’s more than capable of charging small stuff like your phones and wearables — but it’s also powerful enough to charge laptops too.

What makes it better is that it features a maximum charging speed of 140W, which is ridiculously fast if your device can support it. For fast charging phones, it could take 30 minutes or less to get it back up to 100% capacity. Meanwhile, the unit itself charges at a speedy rate of 100W. There’s also a handy display that shows its charging capacity and the actual speeds it’s charging with its USB ports.

In our testing, it charges an iPhone 15 Plus up to 25% with 10 minutes of charging, which turns out to be the third fastest time. It's also one of the few power banks that keeps your gadgets honest about their charging speeds because the display shows the current charging speed — so if a phone maker makes a claim that its device charging at 50W — the Anker Prime 27,650 mAh can verify that.

You just neve know what can arise when you’re vacationing or traveling, which is why the Scosche PowerUp 600 is the perfect companion to keep your gadgets charged. There’s a 5,400 mAh battery capable of speedily charging phones with its 10W charging speed.

However, its value in being a portable charger for travel is its unique ability to jumpstart a dead car battery. The last thing you need to worry about while traveling is a disabled vehicle, but you can save yourself time and heartache by bringing it back to life with the Scosche PowerUp 600.

The only downside is that it puts up the slowest recharge times in our testing: 26 minutes to get an iPhone 15 Plus up to 25%. If you're not particularly concerned about how fast it needs to charge, it serves double duty for just in case emergencies.

One of the most versatile portable chargers out there, the Satechi Quatro Wireless Power Bank, doesn’t just have enough fuel in the tank to charge all of your gadgets wired or wirelessly with its beefy 10,000 mAh battery, but it also packs an Apple Watch charger that lets you conveniently charge on the go.

This means you won’t have to remember to bring along your Apple Watch charger since it integrates one, which helps to save you space in your bag — and it also means less clutter when you have to charge. With its 18W charging speeds, it’s fast enough to give you a decent charge in a short amount of time.

Beyond its utility, the Satechi Quatro Wireless Power Bank posts remarkable charging speeds. Our testing shows it takes 13 minutes to get an iPhone 15 Plus up to 25% battery.

Versatility is what the Anker Power Bank Fusion 10K is all about. That’s because this portable charger from Anker doesn’t force you to bring along other cables and adapters to use it. With its integrated USB-C cable, it packs 30W wired speeds that’s fast enough to power some laptops in addition to phones. You can also lean on its other USB-C port to charge another device simultaneously with its 10,000 mAh battery cell.

Recharging the Anker Power Bank Fusion 10K is also a cinch because it features a built-in foldable charger when the battery itself needs to be recharged. With this setup, you might not even have to worry about bringing any of your chargers and cables because it conveniently packages everything into its design.

Impressively, though, it posts the fastest charging times in our testing. It takes 8 and 21 minutes to get an iPhone 15 Plus to 25% and 50% respectively.

The Jackery Explorer 100 Plus is the perfect portable charger for camping because of how it packs a large battery that could get you days of powering your gadgets, without being too heavy to carry around. With its 128W charging speeds, it doesn't take all that long to charge smaller gadgets like phones and smartwatches. At the same time, that fast charging speed can also recharge laptops and MacBooks with ease.

For camping, the Jackery Explorer 100 Plus features a design that's shock and fire-resistant. And due to how it's still incredibly compact, it's not as burdensome like other traditional power stations that weight 10+ pounds. And finally, you can also get the optional compact sized solar panel to recharge it on days when it's sunny while you're camping, which is perfect when there are no outlets around.

This one's also pretty fast, taking 8 minutes to get an iPhone 15 Plus up to 25%.

At some point a portable charger's going to need to be recharged. With the Mregb Solar Power Bank, however, you may never have to connect it to a wall charger again because it features an integrated solar panel to charge its massive 42,800 mAh battery.

Its rugged design also makes it the ultimate portable charger of choice among survivalists who don't have access to an outlet for long stretches of time. While it packs a lot of utility, including two USB-C ports, it's one of the slowest charging options based on our testing. In fact, it takes 25 minutes to charge an iPhone 15 Plus back up to 25%.

Obviously, this shouldn't pose a problem if you're not too concerned about charging speeds, especially when it can charge itself with nothing more than sun power.

Finding the right charger capacity: You'll often see a four to five-digit number, with the letters mAh following it, and that's your first big indicator of how much this charger is right for you. If you're constantly refueling your phone and other gadgets, go for at least 10,000mAh. For each extra device you charge, add at least 5,000 to the mAh rating you're looking for. Just need to prevent your device from hitting 0 on late nights out? You'll be good with something in the under 5,000 mAh rating, provided you remember to charge it often.

Be a ports authority: If you hold onto your devices forever, and don't already know what a USB-C port is, you can probably just get whatever fits your price. But if you're the kind who wants faster charging, look for a brick that has PD in its name. The best portable chargers, at least for my money, charge devices the fastest and use the Power Delivery (PD) standard. Also, their USB-C ports mean you can refuel these power banks with the same cords used to charge modern laptops.

Utility to meet the demand: You just never know what needs charging. Whether it's your phone, wireless earbuds, or some other gadget, a portable charger needs to have the utility to meet the demand. That's why it's also good to look out for power banks that have other ports besides USB-C and charging pads on them.

Charging speeds matter: Having a huge battery is wonderful to get more charges in before the battery bank needs its own recharge, but it's also good to look at its charging speed. Faster charging speeds means your device will go from empty to full in a shorter amount of time. You'll want to look at 30W charging speeds at the very least.

You want a charger that was put through the rigors of refueling, so we did just that. With timers in hand, we kept draining an iPhone 15 Plus to 5% capacity and then timed how much time it took for each power bank to refuel it to 25% and 50% — all while keeping the display off on the iPhone 15 Plus.

Our ranking also factors in the portability and designs of each model, as especially small and pocket-friendly chargers can't physically store as many mAh of battery power as their larger brethren. Similarly, the smaller a charger is, the less likely it has more than two ports (one for gaining a charge, the other for giving power).

Those looking to keep their tech protected throughout each and every charge should check out our guide to the best surge protectors.

Here at Tom’s Guide our expert editors are committed to bringing you the best news, reviews and guides to help you stay informed and ahead of the curve!

Jason brings a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Tom's Hardware, Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already.

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