Ideally, you’re able to use your smartphone or tablet all day without having to be charged. It’s how they’re ultimately designed. When you’re traveling, though, whether it’s for a work trip or visiting family for the holidays, it can be helpful to have a backup battery so you can keep everything powered.
The advent of things like Qi2 and MagSafe, and the widespread adoption of USB-C, mean that it’s easier to charge your device now than it’s ever been. Most modern smartphones support multiple different types of wireless charging and speeds of wired charging. That gives you a lot of options to choose from if you’re looking for a battery pack or power bank. Most people can get by with a small magnetic battery pack that can top up their phone in a pinch, but read through the entire list below for all our favorite picks that can meet your needs.
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Best overall battery pack
Recommended
Anker Magnetic Battery
Anker’s Magnetic Battery Pack is a MagSafe-compatible external battery and stand with a 5,000 mAh capacity you can use to top up your phone or a USB-C connected device throughout the day.
- Less than an inch thick
- 5,000 mAh battery
- USB-C port lets you charge anything with a cable
- Stand only folds to one angle
For the vast majority of people, Anker’s Magnetic Battery Pack (referred to as Anker 622) is the best option for keeping your device charged. It’s MagSafe compatible, so it works best with the iPhone 12 and up, but you can just as easily charge things over a wired connection to the battery pack’s USB-C port.
You’ll be limited to the 5,000 mAh battery inside, but even if that’s smaller than many of the other batteries on this list, that’s also why this pack is so slim. The Anker Magnetic Battery Pack is 0.5-inches thin, not much thicker than a smartphone itself. The Anker Magnetic Battery Pack comes in purple, blue, green, white, and black, and regardless of which color you pick you’ll get a built-in kickstand for propping your phone up too. It’s a stylish option for anyone looking for a battery that won’t stick out like a sore thumb.
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Anker’s magnetic battery pack stands out from other iPhone chargers I’ve tried
Anker’s 622 Magnetic Battery literally provides the perfect stand for watching videos, all while keeping my iPhone charged.
Best premium battery pack
Recommended
UGREEN 25,000mAh 145W Power Bank
This 25,000mAh power bank from UGREEN features two USB-C ports and one USB-A port with a combined output of 145W.
- Three ports to play with
- Huge 25,000 mAh battery
- LED battery indicator
- Physically large
- Still has a USB-A port
- Scratches easily
The UGREEN 25,000 mAh 145W Power Bank is more expensive than Anker’s battery pack, but also has a much larger battery capacity. With a 25,000 mAh battery, you’ll be able to charge an iPhone 15 up to five times, or basically fully charge a MacBook Pro, and the only real trade-off is that UGREEN’s power bank is large — about the size of a thick pencil case or clutch.
In terms of port options, the UGREEN’s power bank has two USB-C ports and one USB-A port, with a battery indicator on the side for checking how much charge is left. When you do need to recharge, the UGREEN 25,000mAh 145W Power Bank is only supposed to take around two hours to fill up. It’s not sleek or hyper-portable, but it’s without a doubt one of the most capable battery packs we’ve reviewed in the last year.
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Ensure you never run out of power with this beast of a power bank
The UGREEN 25,000mAh 145W Power Bank is the perfect on-the-go battery able to charge up to three devices fast and simultaneously.
Best affordable battery pack
Anker PowerCore Essentials 20,000 mAh Battery Pack
If you’re not overly concerned with fast charging or a large port selection, this option offers loads of capacity and excellent build quality at a bargain price.
Anker has dozens of different charging stands, adapters, and battery packs, and more than a few that could be considered affordable. If you’re looking for the cheapest option that still has a 20,000 mAh battery, your best bet is going to be Anker’s PowerCore Essentials Power Bank.
At this point, it’s one of Anker’s older products, but you’ll still get everything you need to charge all the devices you own. That includes two USB-A ports for charging your devices and USB-C and Micro USB ports for actually recharging the battery pack itself. It would be better to get more USB-C ports and ditch Micro USB entirely, but quality of life features like trickle-charging for low-power accessories and the affordable price should hopefully make the Anker Powercore Essentials Power Bank more palatable.
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Anker’s 325 power bank has enough power to keep my devices going for days
This power bank keeps my devices charged while on the go, but it leaves a lot to be desired.
Best MagSafe battery pack for long trips
Recommended
Anker MagGo Qi2 Power Bank (10,000 mAh)
Anker’s MagGo Power Bank is a 10,000 mAh external battery pack that supports 15W Qi2 wireless charging, and comes with a foldable kickstand and an information display.
- Display for battery life info
- USB-C Fast Charging
- Large capacity can charge 0-100%
- Higher capacity means more weight
Think of the Anker MagGo Power Bank as a step-up from our overall best pick. It still supports MagSafe or Qi2 for wireless charging, and still has a built-in stand so you can prop your phone up while charging and watching TikTok. The major difference is that it’s a little bit thicker, maybe thicker than you might want. That added size translates to room for a 10,000 mAh battery and a built-in display to show you how much charge is left.
You can purchase the MagGo Power Bank in white, purple, green, blue, and black. If you don’t want to deal with wireless charging, the battery pack also offers wired USB-C fast charging for all of your other devices. Anker sells other MagGo batteries, but this one is by far the most convenient.
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Anker’s MagGo Power Bank is coming with me on every trip
This portable battery packs 10,000mAh and can charge your iPhone and another device simultaneously.
Best battery pack with a built-in cable
Recommended
Cuktech 45W 20,000 mAh Power Bank
This 20,000 mAh power bank from Cuktech offers 45W of fast charging power for smartphones. It features an integrated USB-C cable, and has a single USB-A port alongside USB-C port and a LCD display.
- USB-C fast charging with built-in cable
- USB-A port supports fast charging, too
- Highly affordable
- Battery life indicator is often incorrect
- Could use more ports
- Pretty heavy
There’s nothing particularly portable about the 1.1lb Cuktech 4W 20,000mAh Power Bank, but it gets the job done if you need to charge multiple devices throughout the day. Conveniently, Cuktech’s power bank has a built-in USB-C cable for charging and an LCD screen on the side, so you can check the battery life of the power bank while you’re charging.
The USB-C cable is handy, and can be stored on the side when you’re not using it. If you have an older cable, you can charge over USB-A, too. The real problem with this Cuktech power bank, besides its weight, is that we found the battery life information shown on the LCD screen to be inaccurate in our review. The power bank still does a great job of charging devices, just maybe don’t rely on it for accurate information.
Read our review
This 20,000 mAh USB-C power bank from Cuktech is basic, but it’s all I need
This portable power bank keeps my devices powered up all day, but this one specific cable sold me on it.
Best compact magnetic battery pack
Recommended
UGREEN Magnetic Power Bank
The UGREEN Magnetic Power Bank, with its 10,000 mAh capacity, provides 7.5W of power via wireless charging or 20W via its USB-C port.
- Large battery capacity
- USB-C port for wired charging
- Sleek, non-slip back
- Not MagSafe certified
- Longer than some iPhones
- Only 7.5W wireless charging
If you’re looking for a potentially cheaper alternative to Anker’s magnetic battery packs, consider the UGREEN Magnetic Power Bank. It has a 10,000 mAh capacity, and a simple LED indicator to let you know how much charge you have left. UGREEN’s battery pack isn’t MagSafe-certified, but it can attach to your phone and wirelessly charge it all the same. Just at slower 7.5W speeds.
When you actually need to recharge the battery pack itself, there’s a USB-C port, but the point of UGREEN’s power bank is that it works wirelessly. It won’t necessarily power things quickly, but the sleek, non-slip finish and relatively compact design make it a solid alternative to the other picks on this list.
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This is the MagSafe battery pack you need to get through the day
Ever since Apple discontinued its MagSafe battery, I’ve been on the hunt for another. I think the UGREEN Magnetic Power Bank officially measures up.
The bottom line: What is the best power bank?
It never hurts to have an extra battery, and it’s even easier to charge your device if you can use that external battery multiple ways. The picks above represent a vertical slice of the kinds of battery packs and power banks that are out there right now. The Anker Magnetic Battery Pack is the best overall option for most people because it looks good, and it can do a little bit of everything; wired charging through its USB-C port and wireless charging (including MagSafe) just by attaching the battery pack to the back of your phone.
Recommended
Anker Magnetic Battery
If you’re looking for something more utilitarian with an even greater capacity to charge even your laptop, the UGREEN 25,000 mAh 145W Power Bank might be the best choice. It’s large and fairly heavy, but it gives you a lot of battery for a pretty fair price. Then again, if you’d prefer something cheaper and are willing to deal with an older set of features and ports, the Anker PowerCore Essentials gets you 20,000 mAh of battery to keep things charged.
How we picked the best power bank
Pocket-lint writers have reviewed dozens of external batteries, battery packs, and power banks in the last few years. Not all of them have been great, but we’ve sampled a wide enough variety to know the charging features to look for and the battery capacities you’ll need to keep your electronics charged.
The top picks from this list were drawn from the batteries we felt comfortable recommending after we reviewed them, and were then organized based on the features of each that specifically stood out. Everything on the list is good enough to try, but there are enough types represented that anyone should be able to find a battery that works for them.
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