Mine was dead handy for taking places with me, but it’s dying.
Can’t really go wrong with the Anker ones, I’ve got a couple and they do the job
Seconded. 65W Anker and it’s never let me down yet.
There’s a beefy one now with 160W max with 3 USB-C (2 with captive cables) each capable of 100W, plus a USB-A. 25Ahr charge capacity.
Also you can get a power station with an AC inverter if you really want it all. They typically have a range of outputs, even a cigarette lighter socket, and often contactless charging on top. You can also get a solar cell to charge them. However with increased capacity comes increased price.
I really only need it to keep my phone charged when we have a power outage or we’re camping for a few days or to give my steam deck a boost if I’m on a long journey. The bigger the capacity you go for and with the more bells and whistles you have, the more things there are to go wrong and the more you pay.
Ah of course… keep it simple might be best
Nah they’re all simple. The basic specs I listed are just that, the devices themselves are completely straightforward, almost too much so. Literally just a single button to wake it up and flip between screens that show input/output values and remaining charge. Power stations will also have buttons to turn on/off AC and DC outputs separately.
The thing you pay more for is charge capacity in Ahr (they like to list mAhr as it has extra 000) and input/output power in W.
Anker
There are literally tons of choices now, all pretty decent. It’s all grey label Chinese rebrands. Anker used to be the quality king, but Iniu and Ugreen are brands also on Amazon that are of the same quality.
The decision should be more about what you want from it. Power output of the ports, charge capacity, price.
If you have a laptop you should look into how much it uses to charge. 45W, 65W or 100W are common levels, and often available from power banks (although gaming laptops may prefer more, they’ll still take what they can get). Even if your laptop charger uses a barrel connector you can actually charge it from at least one of the USB ports - great to know when your relative loses their charger!
Phones don’t require that much. However you may want to consider the charging levels with multiple devices - a 100W port might downgrade to 65W if a second device is plugged in. It also might not, really depends on the product. Like I say, the choice is about what you want from it.
Great tips! Realistically I just need it for my phone
Then output power will be less of a concern, the main thing will be how many charges you get out of it. Compare your phone’s mAhr rating to the power bank’s.
Check out iniu. Their capacity to size is unmatched. I learned about them from Captain drone YouTuber a while ago.
