3 Best Portable Chargers of 2024, Tested in Our Labs
Finally, the power banks you'll actually use.
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Best Portable Charger for Phones
Baseus Magnetic Power Bank 30W 10000mAh With Built-in USB-C Cable
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Everyone knows the feeling of your phone dying in the middle of a concert as you're filming your favorite song or your laptop calling it quits right before your Zoom meeting as you sit in a cafe with no available outlets. If you're like me, you've run to a nearby pharmacy or convenience store, desperate to revive your device, and spent a little more money than you're comfortable with on a portable charger — only to find it doesn't work.
To quell the woes of those whose devices are always running low, the engineers, analysts and editors of the Good Housekeeping Institute, who have been testing consumer electronics ranging from laptops and smartphones to outdoor projectors and waterproof earbuds in our Labs for years, tested 10 of the most popular portable chargers available on the market to find the best ones.
After more than 30 hours of researching, charging, draining and carrying around these power banks, here's a look at our top picks. If you want to learn more about how we test, what you should look for when shopping for a portable charger or why you can trust the Good Housekeeping Institute, keep scrolling after our picks.
Baseus Magnetic Power Bank 30W 10000mAh With Built-in USB-C Cable
Pros
- Large, tested capacity with enough power to keep devices charged
- Doesn't require additional cables thanks to wireless charging and a built-in USB-C cable
Cons
- Some testers found it heavy
Baseus's portable charger hits all the key points you'd want in a portable charger for your phone. The small chassis easily fits into a pocket or purse, even with a phone magnetically attached for charging. If your phone can't do wireless charging, a built-in USB-C cable eliminates the need to carry around an extra charger, and the addition of a USB-C port gives you the flexibility to charge pretty much any device you'd need.
Where this portable charger blew our analysts away was in the efficiency test. This charger featured an efficiency of 67% (the second-highest of all of the ones we tested!), meaning you'll be able to exploit more of the battery's charge before you need to recharge it.
In our consumer test, testers appreciated the cute, flashy colors of this power bank, and one said, "It's bright and easy to spot in your bag or wherever you set it down with your phone." Some testers noted that this charger is too heavy heavy to carry around in your pocket whereas others didn't mind the weight. This wasn't the lightest charger we tested, though Lab analysts found that it provided the best efficiency compared to weight and price. Keep scrolling after our top picks for a closer look at some other, lighter models if you're concerned about the heaviness of your charger.
| Rated capacity | 10,000 mAh |
| Measured capacity | 6717 mAh |
| Weight | 9.6 oz |
| Inputs | 1 (USB-C) |
| Outputs | 3 (built-in USB-C cable, USB-C ports, wireless charging) |
Anker Prime 20,000 mAh Power Bank (200W)
Pros
- Large measured capacity
- Two USB-C ports with higher power outputs, plus a USB-A port
- In-depth battery performance statistics
Cons
- Pricey
Worried about keeping your larger devices topped up? Anker's Prime 20,0000 mAh Power Bank boasts the battery capacity for tech with higher energy requirements while stylishly layering in a futuristic display and statistics galore that particularly tickled a nerd like me during testing.
Beyond displaying the battery's current percentage (which is a step up from most portable chargers which feature three to four LEDs that correspond to 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%), it also details the remaining time to finish charging the battery and how much longer the battery can run given its current configuration. You can even access a screen that tells you about the battery's health over time and how much of the original rated capacity it has left.
As we found with the other large portable chargers (rated for over 10,000 mAh) we tested, this battery's efficiency left something to be desired at only 43%, but its overall measured capacity was still among the largest we found, making it the best suited for charging your larger devices. What's more, Anker claims this device can supply 100W of power to two plugged-in devices, making it particularly useful for those needing to charge multiple pieces of equipment.
In my personal day-to-day testing of the charger, I found it struck a nice balance between size, weight and power. Though it's not something you could conveniently carry around in your pocket (I still tried for half a day), it's small enough to comfortably fit in a purse or backpack and doesn't feel like you're carrying around a brick. As the most expensive charger of the ones we tried, we wouldn't recommend it if you're just looking to keep your phone charged, especially given its bulkier and heavier chassis than our top pick.
| Rated capacity | 20,000 mAh |
| Measured capacity | 8,593 mAh |
| Weight | 19.2 oz |
| Inputs | 2 (USB-C ports) |
| Outputs | 3 (USB-A port, USB-C ports) |
Pros
- Display gives key battery stats that other chargers in this price range don't
- Built-in USB-C cable reduces the number of cables you need to carry around
- Amazing efficiency to cost ratio
Cons
- May feel awkward in your pocket
- No magnetic charging
At a quarter of the price of our top pick for tablet and laptop portable chargers, Anker's Nano Power Bank provides very few compromises from its more costly sister unit (except the power, of course). The display doesn't feature as many statistics as the Prime power bank, but the key ones like the battery's percentage and remaining charge time are present. What's more, the unit conveniently features a built-in USB-C cable, a feature we prefer when selecting the best portable power banks.
In Lab efficiency tests, we found this charger to perform down the middle of the road at 57%, but given its low price it was the winner of our cost-versus-efficiency analysis. In my personal testing of this charger, I found that despite its smaller design than the Baseus we selected as our top pick for phones, it felt more awkward in my pocket as I walked around during the day. Further, since my phone doesn't charge with a USB-C cable, I missed the magnetic charging the Baseus features at only a slightly higher price.
| Rated capacity | 10,000 mAh |
| Measured capacity | 5,679 mAh |
| Weight | 7.6 oz |
| Inputs | 1 (USB-C port) |
| Outputs | 3 (USB-C port, USB-A port, built-in USB-C cable) |
Other portable chargers we tested
- OtterBox Wireless Power Bank (3k mAh): This charger is the most viable alternative to our top pick for phones, given its ultra-compact size and wireless charging capabilities. It was also the most efficient charger we tested, having a whopping 73% of its claimed capacity. We decided to recommend the Baseus over this model because regardless of the efficiency, the Baseus stores nearly twice the capacity, and we found it charged our phones quicker. That said, if the weight of the Baseus is a problem for you, this is a great alternative.
- Baseus Blade 2: Our Lab analysts and consumer testers alike loved the sleek, slim design of this portable charger. It also came in third in our efficiency test. We ultimately chose the Anker model above over this one for the best portable charger for laptops and tablets because it sported a lower overall capacity and fewer connection options. That said, it's among the most lightweight and convenient to store of the models we tested, so if you want to find a middle ground between our top Baseus charger and the Anker we recommend, this is a great choice, especially given the price.
- Belkin BoostCharge Pro: We found Belkin's BoostCharge Pro to be too pricey given its efficiency and measured capacity, plus it lacks the variety of connection options of the other models we tested. That said, this model is unique in that it can wireless charge Apple Watches, making it a great pick for wearers of the popular fitness tracker, though we don't recommend it for people who don't use an Apple Watch.
How we test portable chargers
In our latest round of portable charger testing, we looked at 10 of the top-selling or newest models we could find available on the market. The average price of the chargers we looked at was $72.57 and the capacities ranged from 3,000 to 20,000 mAh. Our testing was divided into two portions: in-Lab testing and consumer testing.
In our Lab, we opened each of the chargers and examined any cables they came with. We checked to see if they came with any power (all but one did) and how much they had (on average they were charged to 30% of the battery's full capacity). Next, we counted the inputs and outputs and took note of the different devices that could be charged with the power bank.
Finally, we used a AVHzY CT3 USB multimeter (a device capable of measuring and recording the power, current and voltage output by a USB-connected battery) to measure the batteries' capacity. We did this by setting the CT3 to constantly pull power at 14W from the batteries until they were completely drained. At that point, the total current supplied was recorded in mAh. We divided this number by the claimed capacity of the battery to evaluate the batteries' efficiencies. The average efficiency of all of the portable chargers we looked at was 52%.
Consumer testers used their chargers over the course of two weeks, paying attention to key usability factors like the ease of connecting a device, the convenience of carrying the power bank around and how they felt about the look and style of the power bank. Finally, I took every single charger with me for at least one day and used them, keeping them in my pockets to see how comfortable they were to walk around with and taking notes on any difficulties with use while trying to charge my phone (an iPhone 11) and laptop (a 2020 Macbook Air).
What to look for when shopping for a portable charger
✔️ Capacity: The total capacity of your battery will dictate how many times you can charge your devices with it before you need to recharge it. It's reported in milliampere-hours (mAh), a unit that describes the total current the battery can supply. For keeping your phone or other small devices charged, we favor units with 5,000 mAh to 10,000 mAh capacities, whereas we prefer those rated 20,000 mAh for laptops and larger electronics. We generally don't recommend these high-capacity units for phones because they tend to be considerably heavier and larger than those with less capacity.
✔️ Size: Portable chargers range in size from small units that magnetically attach to the back of a phone to larger units that could be larger than a phone itself. How you want to carry your charger will be the key factor in deciding what size you want. If you want to keep your charger in your pocket, naturally, smaller chargers will be better suited to the task.
✔️ Weight: Similarly to size, weight is another concern when it comes to portable chargers. We favor chargers that are lighter or that can sit comfortably in a pocket without feeling like you're carrying around rocks.
✔️ Included cables and wireless charging: While chargers that don't feature any built-in cables or wireless charging are abundant, we strongly prefer chargers with these features. Eliminating the need to carry around extra cables vastly increases the ease of use, and gives you ones less thing you need to remember (besides charging the charger).
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
Nikolas Greenwald is the data engineer for the Good Housekeeping Institute. With a degree in chemical engineering, he combined his understanding of electrical systems and energy balances to develop the testing protocols for our latest round of portable charger testing. Nik spent over 30 hours researching, charging and carrying around these power banks over the course of two months to find the best ones.
As a data engineer in the Good Housekeeping Institute, Nik (he/him) works with all of our Labs to develop testing protocols and manage data collection and analysis. Before joining Good Housekeeping in 2022, Nik worked in the labs of MIT and Regeneron, working on projects ranging from chemical inventory and reporting to the development of bioassays. He holds a degree in chemical engineering from Northeastern University.
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