There are also cool additional features to consider. Our favorite power bank has a built in charging plug so it can go right into a wall outlet. Some power banks have data about your charging devices. Some are just super small and cute. Which power bank is the best quality? Power banks only need a single input charging port, but it’s handy to have multiple types of output ports. On this list, the Lion Trek Power Bank has an impressive variety of outputs including USB-A, USB-C, and an AC outlet. Though it’s great to have plenty of output options, power bank users will mostly use USB-C ports. Wireless Charging and Magnetic Power Banks The Anker Nano is only 5,000mAh, but that doesn't mean it can fully charge a 5,000mAh phone battery like you'll find in the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Power banks are about 60-70% efficient, depending on the phone's technology, so this power bank is good for charging an iPhone 15 to nearly full, but that big Ultra will only get about 65% charge. These displays work similarly to an LCD screen but use LED technology to provide numerical or alphanumeric information about the charge level, usually in terms of a percentage.

Battery Health: In some advanced models, different blinking patterns or colors might be used to indicate the health of the battery, warning the user if the battery performance is degrading and needs to be replaced. You don't need all those extras: The Anker Prime power bank is pricey, and if you don't care about monitoring charge Wattage or days of battery life, find another option. For example, early iPhones came with a 5W power adaptor in the box. Those 5W adaptors took over two hours to charge standard smartphones. On this list, the speedy OtterBox Fast Charge delivers 18W power — it can fully charge an iPhone 13 in just over 90 minutes.

In terms of charging, this massive power bank can charge an iPhone 15 more than five times. It can charge a big Galaxy S23 Ultra's 5,000mAh battery three-and-a-half times. Best of all, it charges at the fastest speed available on most of your favorite phones (excluding Oppo/OnePlus's unusual SUPERVOOC battery). You have a watch that isn't from Apple: The Otterbox 2-in-1 Power Bank only attaches magnetically to the Apple Watch. Other smartwatches, like the Pixel Watch, won't work with this one, not at all. Compared to the first generation of the NB10000, the second generation offers increased USB-C output for faster charging. It also has a “low current mode,” which is useful for sensitive devices with small batteries such as smart watches and Bluetooth earbuds. Charging Indication: Some power banks may use blinking LEDs to indicate charging status. For instance, a light might blink while the power bank is charging and then become steady once the device is fully charged.

The average power bank has a set of LED lights (usually 4) that indicate the level of charge in the battery, but other important information about the power bank’s state as well. As an outro, I wanted to point out that LEDs are not the only option when it comes to power banks. In fact, they’re the most prevalent solution out there because it’s the cheapest and simplest one to create. So the majority of the manufacturers go with this one out of commodity. But there are other options out there as well, which I would recommend over the classic LED lights. LCD Display Power Banks Our favorite power bank has a 10,000mAh battery, and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery, so the math should be simple, right? It charges twice. Except that's not how it works. Power banks are not 100% efficient, and even though you start with plenty of power, a lot of it is lost in the charging process.

CUSTOMER CASE

The most common kind of input port is USB-C — the same port found on all modern iPhones. USB-C ports are easy to use, efficient, and durable. That app is essential because there's a Find My feature built into the battery. It doesn't work like an AirTag over UWB, it's only Bluetooth, but it's useful if you misplace your battery in your office (or you have multiple batteries, like I do).

Again, each power bank is different, so for the exact interpretation of a red LED blinking on your power bank, please consult the user manual. You can also get in touch with me via the comment section below and I’ll do my best to figure it out. LED Lights Blinking But the Power Bank Won’t Charge The best power banks we have tried have all come from Anker, but that doesn't mean Anker is the only brand you should consider. All of the power banks on this list passed our testing, traveling with us on the road and powering our devices at home. Anker is the best, but these batteries from Baseus and Otterbox performed well. We've looked at some of the most popular power bank brands with multiple products currently for sale. It may happen that after waiting several hours, or even a day, your power bank doesn’t charge fully. It may only charge partially, or not at all.You may wonder if this signifies a complete failure of your power bank, or if it’s just a minor issue. In fact, our testing confirms what battery makers usually claim. A battery maker will claim between 60% and 70% efficiency, so that 10,000mAh battery will only give your phone around 6,000mAh of extra battery charge, at the least. In practice we find around 65% efficiency, though occasionally we can do even better.

You can also charge the Anker Prime using both USB-C ports at the same time, for a combined recharging rate up to 170W. That means you can completely refill this whopping 27K mAh battery in under 40 minutes. I thankfully had an Anker 737 GaN Prime charger that was up to the task, and it's fun to see the percentage climb. Compared to the more durable options we tested, the Fast Charge has an all-plastic casing that feels a bit delicate and cheap to the touch. It survived our drop test and continued to function, but it just doesn’t have the feel of excellent build quality. Still, it’s a perfectly usable power bank. The PowerCore III fully charged an iPhone 13 just over six times. Anker claims it can charge three devices simultaneously. During testing, it easily charged two smartphones at the same time.