The best power banks to keep your tech going on the go (2024)

How the GH Tech Team tests power banks

We tried out the best power banks by charging up a range of phones (both Android handsets and iPhones) and tablets, and timing how long they took to recharge. We looked at the design, portability and convenience of the models too.

The models featured in this list are a mix of those we’ve tested hands-on and expert recommendations from our rigorous research.

This pocket powerhouse may well be the only power bank you need for refuelling almost all your gadgets, with a small and lightweight design that packs in far more ability than you’d expect. The 10,000mAh capacity is one that we’d consider more than enough (that’ll almost get you two smartphone recharges) but it’ll also be enough to get a decent amount of juice back in your tablet, laptop or headphones.

The short built-in USB-C cable is super convenient, as is the surprisingly fast 30W power output. We used this to keep our iPad running while in use during our travels, and it couldn’t have been more handy. This is also solid, well-built and lightweight – we’d understand being concerned about the built-in cable getting damaged, but it’s reinforced well and doesn’t feel like it would be easy to harm.

We also love that it’s got a little built-in colour display to show off the current battery percentage. We’ve found that to be a reliable way to keep an eye on the battery level when we’re recharging the power bank itself too – it’s much more informative than the light-up dot system. Overall, we’d struggle to come up with real downsides to this, although it’s a shame it doesn’t come with a pouch like most portable chargers used to.

Key specifications

If you want a large capacity without the high price of Anker’s Prime power bank range or its 737, we’d recommend looking at this model which goes for about half the cost (if not even less). It gives you enough juice to deliver seven charges to an iPhone 8, and the ability to power three gadgets at once.

You miss out on super fast charging for laptops that you’ll get from pricer power banks, but the 15W available via the USB-C port here is enough to refuel an iPhone at a reasonable speed, which is all most of us need.

In addition to that port, it includes two USB-A ports, so you could use this to charge up your phone, earbuds and Apple Watch all at the same time.

Key specifications

A budget-friendly option that does the basics without overcomplicating things, the Anker 321 is the best power bank if you want a convenient model that’s only about the size of a small chocolate bar.

It’s super pocketable, making it easy to bring with you for an evening out or just to pop in your coat pocket for the day. The capacity here isn’t large, but it’s enough for a top-up to keep your phone going or to recharge your headphones if you notice they’re running low before a train journey.

The maximum output is 12W and that’s shared between its USB-A and USB-C ports, meaning it could end up being rather slow if used to power up two devices at once. If size matters most though, this is a top compact option.

Key specifications

Just need a little battery top-up from a power bank that’ll fit in your bag? This little helper is the one we’d recommend, especially because it has a built-in connector for your phone which is perfect if you tend to forget your cables or just don’t have the space for a tangled mess.

For iPhone users, this is a go-to power bank to pop into your work backpack for the day. It may not quite have enough capacity for a full phone recharge but it’ll have enough to restore some juice if you’re out for the evening and can’t get back to a mains charger in a hurry. It’s easy to use, and the simple flip-up connector charges more quickly than other convenient power banks that attach with magnets.

Don’t have an iPhone with a Lightning port and need an option with USB-C instead? You’re in luck – we also tested out the USB-C version of this power bank and it’s just as much of a lifesaver, with the added benefit that it can charge our earphones, Kindle, Bluetooth speaker and other gadgets.

Key specifications

If you’re after a compact magnetic battery pack for newer iPhone models, we think this is the one we’d pick. It has half the capacity of a 10,000mAh version, but that’s enough to restore over half of the battery for most iPhones and may be all you need for a quick top-up.

An added bonus is that there’s a clever metal kickstand that folds flat from the back. It clicks into position well and would be good for positioning your phone for watching videos at your desk in either portrait or landscape mode.

It’s not the fastest, limited to 7.5W like a lot of magnetic chargers, but it did manage to get an iPhone 15 Pro back to 50% capacity from empty in an hour and 15 minutes. Once it reaches that point, though, it doesn’t last much longer, running out entirely after getting the phone to over 60%. It does get fairly hot in the process too, which is worth noting.

Not bothered about the built-in stand? We’d go with the Anker 321 PowerCore Magnetic 5K, which has the same 5,000mAh capacity, but is a little slimmer and lacks the kickstand.

Key specifications

Always forgetting to recharge your Apple Watch before you head out the door? We’d recommend picking a portable charger that includes a dedicated charging puck built-in for the watch, which will help if you’ve forgotten to bring yours. This neat solution from Belkin combines fast Apple Watch charging with a useful 10,000mAh capacity, a single USB-C port and a grippy silicone exterior.

Your Apple Watch Series 9 should last for about 18 hours of use, so it’s not unlikely that you’d need to refuel when you’re away from home. With this compact model, you’re able to do that at the same time as restoring the battery of your iPhone. With it having effective 20W speeds, it’s worth noting that the Apple Watch charger is also the fast version of this tech that’s suitable for the latest Apple Watch models like the Apple Watch Ultra and Ultra 2 — this will also work to wirelessly recharge the 2nd-generation AirPods Pro.

There are only a handful of downsides: it’s a fair bit more expensive than comparable models, the body of the charger picks up dust and lint, and you could get something with 30W speeds or faster for less money, ideal if you want to recharge more than just your phone. But, if your priorities are recharging your smartphone, Apple Watch and AirPods, this is a great fit.

Key specifications

While it’s large and expensive compared to some of the others on this list, this chunky model is the best power bank to invest in if you want a versatile and impressive battery to charge up your laptop, iPad, phone and everything in between. It even gets our vote over our previous top pick of the Anker 737 PowerCore 24K by being lighter and a bit more compact.

The Prime Power Bank aims to be the only charger you need, it delivers exceptional speeds via its two USB-C ports, and includes an extra USB-A port for added flexibility. That means it can power three devices at once. It has a big capacity – enough to charge your phone over three times. On test, we used it to refuel our iPhone 15 Pro to 50% in 24 minutes and 59 seconds exactly (using 12% of the power bank capacity), it delivered a full charge back to an iPad Air in two hours and ten minutes and we also charged up a MacBook Air from empty to half full in a quick 38 minutes.

We love the informative digital display that tells you the battery percentage, time to recharge and output per port (among other useful stats). That’s something you won’t find on most rivals. It also has pass-through charging, so you can recharge the power bank while charging other devices at the same time, and it fits within the requirements for taking on flights too.

You can also add a highly convenient charging base to keep the power bank fully topped up for when you need it – we tested this too and it’s a great addition to the kit, whether you put it on your desk or bedside. Overall, if you’re okay with the weight and cost of this excellent power bank, it’s our top pick.

Key specifications

Not keen on wireless charging but also prone to forgetting your cords? Belkin has the power pack you need, with cables built into the device itself.

This battery packs in a respectable capacity while still being portable, and it has both an integrated Lightning cable and USB-C cable, which together should charge up all your devices.

We tested this power bank to restore half of the battery life to our iPhone 15 Pro, finding that it reached 50% full in an impressive 32 minutes over the built-in USB-C cable, only using one dot of the four-dot system that indicates its capacity.

It offers pass-through too, so that you can refuel the portable charger while also sending power over to your phone, earbuds or smartwatch. It's a little bigger than some rivals with the same battery size, but it's worth it for those space-saving built-in cables.

Key specifications

Qi2 is the latest innovation in the world of wireless charging, and it means you can deliver much faster wireless speeds to compatible devices which work with magnetic attachment. Before it arrived, faster 15W magnetic wireless charging was limited to models made or officially certified by Apple. Now though, it’s possible to get that super fast speed from a versatile power bank like this model from Anker.

This is best viewed as an upgrade to the older Anker 633 model, with a similar design and built-in handy kickstand, but that now has Qi2 and a battery percentage display. It’s capable of super quick speeds from its USB-C port too, refuelling itself at 20W and charging up other devices at 27W. With this much extra speed over the predecessor and a compact size for its 10,000mAh capacity, we view this as an ideal versatile power bank for travel, although it’s a model that comes at a high price.

Key specifications

At under £40 and with an impressive 10,000mAh capacity, a useful battery percentage display, dual USB-C ports and 30W of power that you can use for the simultaneous charging of three devices, this is one of the best value options you can buy right now.

We’re big fans of the informative display that not only shows you an accurate battery percentage (much easier to read than a dot system) but also the remaining time the battery lasts or how long it’ll need to recharge. Having this info within a single button press is super handy.

Overall, we love how compact and slim this is – it’s ideal for stashing in a pocket or handbag, and it doesn’t feel heavy for the capacity too (it’s only about as much as a bag of ground coffee from the supermarket). Re-charging the power bank itself it is quite slow, you could get a faster charging model (although not without adding to the size) and many cheaper options, but those are fairly minor downsides, considering how good value this is.

Key specifications

At just about the biggest capacity you can bring on a flight and boasting enough ports to recharge three devices at once, we think this big Anker has to be the pick for a family trip where everyone’s phone needs some juice and you’ll be away from the plug for a long time.

It’s ideal for camping or a road trip. It can output a total of 30W, which makes it a decent option for a steady charge of three phones in one go.

Another unique feature here is that it can recharge at double speed if you use both of the Micro-USB inputs at once, although it’ll still take over six hours to get this back to full this way, so it’s best done overnight.

The good news is that even if recharging takes a little time, this has a massive capacity – enough to fuel up the iPhone SE almost 10 times.

Key specifications

You might not have realised that your phone can charge via magnets, but Apple’s “MagSafe” capabilities (introduced on the iPhone 12) have been around for some time now. They take some of the guesswork out of wireless methods by removing the need to position your phone and get the right alignment with the charger.

Instead, magnets within the phone snap into place on the charger, ensuring a reliable connection and consistent charge. There are a fair few magnetic wireless power banks on the market now, including several in this list, and the Anker 633 is a great value all-rounder that delivers the same capacity as the more expensive Anker MagGo Power Bank Qi2 while being faster and more capable than affordable 5,000mAh options.

It's about as compact and light as you'll get for this much juice, plus it has a kickstand, a strong magnetic hold and quick speeds if you use it with a USB-C cable. On test, we got our iPhone 13 mini back to half full in an impressive 25 minutes. It's also worth noting that this can be a bargain when on offer, and we've seen it go for as low as £40.

Key specifications

If you’re not fussed about having a kickstand on your magnetic portable charger and want the most compact and slim solution, the best one we’ve tested is this Anker 321 Magnetic 5K. In our hands-on testing, it didn’t get too warm in use when compared to other magnetic batteries and it delivered 50% of the battery back to our iPhone 15 Pro in a decent hour and 18 minutes.

That’s slower than a wired charge but close to what we’d expect for a wireless option that’s limited to a 7.5W speed. What’s more impressive is how the capacity holds up – there were still two dots left on the battery indicator once the phone reached 50% and while the charging speed slowed, it continued refuelling the phone to 80%.

This is a better performance than the Belkin 5,000mAh magnetic charger, which was exhausted more quickly, and can probably be attributed to improved temperature management. It also comes in five fun colours to match the look of your iPhone and is an ideal pick for topping up your battery without needing to remember a cable.

Key specifications

This one looks like a wall plug adapter, we know. But if your main focus in your hunt for a power bank is suitability for travel and versatility, we’re big fans of this design from Belkin that combines a wall charger and a 5,000mAh power bank into one device. It also comes with all the different travel adapters you’ll need, with its set of interchangeable plugs catering for the UK, US, Europe and Australia.

When used as a wall charger, it delivers 25W speeds, or 20W speeds when not connected to the mains. This means it’s much more designed for refuelling your phone and smaller accessories than it is for your laptop.

The Belkin Hybrid is an ideal way to reduce the wall charger and power bank that you carry around for travel down into a single item, although it’s worth being aware that other chargers are faster and have a greater number of ports. It’s also arguably a little heavy for just a 5,000mAh capacity.

Key specifications

You’ll notice this power bank has easily the smallest capacity of any model on our list. It’s not going to fully recharge your phone, but we’re including it because it is a handy option if you don’t want to add too much bulk to your travel tech. It’s an iPhone case (there are models for the iPhone 15, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max) that connects to your phone with its internal USB-C port.

When it’s time to refuel your phone, hit the button on the back of the Juice Pack, and it’ll start to trickle charge the phone, rather slowly. On test, this took us a full hour and 53 minutes to restore just 50% of the battery to our iPhone 15 Pro with a depleted battery. Once it reached 60%, the battery of the juice pack was fully exhausted, so that should give you some idea of what kind of backup power you can expect.

This is a good pick for when you’re in a pinch or if you just need to extend the overall battery capacity. You can leave the case on all the time and use the USB-C port to recharge it and the phone. It’s easy and convenient to use and would be a reliable travel companion, although we do wish it was a little faster and wasn’t such a fingerprint magnet. The case marks easily, so you’ll want to keep a cloth on hand.

Key specifications

Verdict: Best power banks

After our latest round of testing the top power banks on the market, we'd suggest most people pick either the Anker Nano Power Bank 10,000mAh, with built-in USB-C cable or the 533 Power Bank 10K from the same brand. Both of these pack in the latest innovations like an accurate battery percentage screen, quick phone recharging and a decent capacity in a compact size.

However, if you want more capacity, some of the best options we've used include the Belkin BoostCharge Power Bank 20K and Anker PowerCore 26800 Portable Charger, while the high-end Anker Prime Power Bank, 20,000mAh is a capable and versatile power bank for recharging all tech when you're on the go. It's the most powerful option we've tried lately.

Anker's tiniest 621 power bank is a super-mini option that comes either with a USB-C port or a Lightning port, making it the most portable pick on the list, while we'd go for the Belkin 10K with Integrated Cables if you tend to forget your cables, the Belkin BoostCharge Pro for Apple Watch + Power Bank 10K if you need to recharge an Apple Watch too, or top magnetic models like Anker's MagGo Power Bank Qi2 10,000mAh or Belkin's BoostCharge 5K + Stand, for easy wireless charging when on the move.

How to buy the best power bank

If you’re trying to understand watt hours, voltage and power management, then shopping for portable chargers can become a little bit daunting.

But you only need to worry about the basics to make sure you’re getting the right one for your needs. Most importantly, is it the right size and weight for your needs? Does it have enough ports? And is there enough juice to charge up all your devices?

Capacity

One of the most crucial considerations is capacity. You want to know how long your power bank lasts and how many charges it’ll give you.

It’s best to look at the main battery you’ll need to fuel up – we’re guessing it’s your phone – and work out how large of a power bank you need (of course, all phones have different battery sizes). The capacity is measured in milliamp hours (mAh) and the more you have, the more recharges you should get.

Here’s a rough guide:

• Small power banks with 4,000mAh to 7,500mAh can provide decent backup power but, at most, enough for just one full recharge or so. If it's smaller than 4,000mAh, it's only good enough for a small top-up charge.
• Mid-range power banks will pack in around 10,000mAh to 15,000mAh and charge up most phones two or three times. Need more than that?
• A big power bank with 20,000mAh or more will deliver almost five charges for an iPhone 13 – and we’d recommend this size if you want to charge bigger batteries like those in an iPad or laptop. These are also about as big as you can bring on a flight (more on that below).

Size and weight

Of course, bigger and smaller power banks also come with their benefits and drawbacks – one of the most important to note is that high-capacity ones will be bigger and weigh more.

Think about how you’ll be carrying it around and what you need it for – a power bank for your bag can be quite different than one for travelling or camping.

We tend to keep a mid-range one for everyday use and a larger one ready for our trips, while we also have a petite low-capacity variant as a backup battery that we might grab before heading out the front door.

Ports

Don’t know your USB-A from your USB-C or Micro USB? It doesn’t have to be too confusing. The older USB-A is the connector you’ll have seen often over the past 10 years or so (think little portable USB drives) while the newer USB-C connector is the one that has come with the newest Androids and iPhones older than the iPhone 15 (on one end at least, these still charge via Apple’s Lightning port). The iPhone 15 models have now adopted the USB-C port for charging too.

It’s worth getting a power bank with both ports as USB-C becomes more commonplace, and it’s the port that is faster and gaining popularity. When it comes to the power bank output, you’ll want to look for ones that can output at least 20W via USB-C, as this is the fastest speed to recharge an iPhone.

Wireless charging

Also known as “inductive charging”, this power transfer method works by placing your phone on a charging pad – once both devices come into contact, they’ll create a magnetic field which your gadgets can use to collect energy and restore their battery power.

We like wireless charging as a fuss-free way to refuel smartphones and earbuds, although it’s worth noting that it’s slower than the traditional wired approach.

There are now a good number of wireless power banks on the market, and the big benefit here is that you’ll not need to worry about bringing your cables quite as much.

Magnetic charging

Apple has added its clever “MagSafe” tech to every iPhone (other than the SE) since the iPhone 12. It uses magnets to ensure perfect alignment for a range of accessories including wallets, wireless chargers and, of course, power banks.

This makes it easy to quickly snap a charger right onto the back of your phone, and it eliminates any issues with alignment that you may find on other wireless chargers that lack this magnetic connection feature.

There is now a newer standard called "Qi2" which is fully adopted by the latest Apple models and beginning to come to Android phones too. It offers the seamless alignment and speeds of the MagSafe system to models that aren't only from Apple, and we'd expect to see it appear on more phones in the future.

Extras

While you’ll probably have most of the cords that you’d need, we’d expect a power bank to at least come with a recharge cable and maybe some extra useful wires. It’s also a nice extra when it comes with a decent carrying pouch to keep the battery and cables together.

What is the largest power bank allowed on a plane?

This can get pretty complicated, to be honest, but to help we’ve made sure that none of the power banks included on our list is too large to bring on a plane.

All external batteries with a capacity lower than 27,027mAh (100 watt-hours) should be acceptable to bring on flights. Power banks and spare batteries always have to go in your carry-on, too, not in your checked luggage.

The restrictions can also depend on the countries involved in your trip and the airline you’re flying with, so always check before you travel. Also, to recharge your power bank on a trip while away from a UK socket, you’ll want to look into buying a travel adapter like this.