The vast majority of portable power banks are designed to refuel your smaller gadgets, such as your smartphone, wireless earbuds or headphones, while you're on the go — but they are not powerful enough to charge your laptop. Good news, though: there's a special breed of portable power banks specially designed to do just that.
In order to charge a laptop, a portable battery needs to have a USB-C port that supports Power Delivery (PD); this is a charging standard that allows it to output higher currents and voltages. The caveat here is, just because a portable battery supports PD it doesn’t necessarily mean it can charge your laptop; PD technology can be integrated into many devices whose power outputs can range from 18 watts to 100.
In order to power a laptop, the portable battery needs to be able output at least 29–31 watts of power. The higher the wattage, the better. We recommend a portable charger to be able to output between 45 and 96 watts — that's a safe range to ensure it will definitely charge your laptop.
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Anker Prime 20,000mAh Power Bank Read More -
Mophie Powerstation Pro Read More
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Sharge Shargeek 100 (Formerly Storm2) Read More
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Sharge Shargeek 130 (Formerly Storm2 Slim) Read More
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Anker 747 Power Bank Read More
How We Tested
We've tested quite a few of the portable battery packs out there capable of charging your laptop. We've done hand-on testing with many and tested them for portability, charging capacity and charging speeds.
To learn more about our testing methodology and how we evaluate products, head here.
Anker Prime 20,000mAh Power Bank
- Capacity: 20,000 mAh
- Power output (max): up to 100 watts (to each USB-C port)
- Ports: USB-C PD (2x) and USB-A
- Weight: 1.2 pounds
This is easily one of our favorite portable power banks. It's compact — about the size of an ultra-portable Bluetooth speaker — yet super powerful. It has a 20,000-mAh capacity and three total ports. There are two USB-C PD ports that can simultaneously charge two laptops at up to 100 watts each, which is just awesome. And there's a third USB-A port that maxes out at 65 watts. That said, the coolest thing about this power bank is there's a color LED screen that shows you real-time charging information across all three ports as well as how much juice it has left stored.
Mophie Powerstation Pro
- Capacity: 20,000 mAh
- Power output (max): up to 45 watts
- Ports: USB-C PC (2x)
- Weight: 0.88 pounds
Mophie's Powerstation Pro is a "more elegant" portable power bank. It has a slim, long and fairly compact design, but the most notable thing about it is that it has a soft-touch fabric finish — it feels nice! It only has two USB-C ports, each of which has a max output of 45 watts, and when you're charging two devices simultaneously that max output drops to 25 watts and 20 watts between the two ports.
It's also worth noting that Apple sells this portable battery and recommends it as a partner for your MacBook, which gives you an idea of the target demographic. Honestly, this is a simple yet high-end portable battery, but it's also pretty expensive for what it is — and isn't as powerful as other options on this list.
Sharge Shargeek 100 (Formerly Storm2)
- Capacity: 25,600 mAh
- Power output (max): up to 100 watts
- Ports: USB-C PD, USB-A, DC
- Weight: 1.3 pounds
Sharge's Shargeek 100 — which had previously been named the Storm2 — is one of the most visually striking portable power banks you're going to find. It has a clear plastic case that lets you see inside it; you can see the battery's control board, complete with diodes, capacitors and microcontrollers. The other star of the show is its 1.14-inch color display that shows you real-time charging information ... and it's just super fun.
Of course, the Shargeek 100 is a little powerhouse that can charge up three devices at once while outputting a total of 100 watts. If you're just using one of its USB-C PD ports, it can fast-charge a laptop at up to 100 watts. Additionally, it packs USB-A and DC ports, the latter of which has a max output of 75 watts and can be used to charge an older laptop.
Sharge Shargeek 130 (Formerly Storm2 Slim)
- Capacity: 20,000 mAh
- Power output (max): up to 100 watts
- Ports: USB-C PD and USB-A
- Weight: 0.99 pounds
The Shargeek 130 is essentially a smaller version of the Shargeek 100. It has a similar transparent design along with the same 1.14-inch color display that shows real-time charging information. Despite its smaller size, the Shargeek 130 is actually a little more powerful. It has a max out of 130-watts that can be split between its two ports: USB-C PD (up to 100-watts) and USB-A (up to 30 watts). It does have half as many ports as the Shargeek 100 and lacks the DC ports for older laptops.
Anker 747 Power Bank
- Capacity: 25,600mAh
- Power output (max): up to 87 watts
- Ports: USB-C (2x), USB-A (2x)
- Weight: 1.3 pounds
The Anker 747 Power Bank is a relatively straight shooter. It lacks any standout features or a fancy design — although its brushed aluminum and soft silicone exterior does give it a premium feel — but it's still very much a beast. It's one of the highest capacity power banks you can buy that still feels super-portable. And it's capable of charging four devices at the same time; it has two USB-C ports, although only the right-most is powerful enough to charge a laptop (at up to 87 watts, which drops to 45 when other ports are also being used).
Mophie Powerstation Pro AC
- Capacity: 27,000 mAh
- Power output (max): up to 100-watts
- Ports: USB-C PD, USB-C, USB-A and AC
- Weight: 2.15 pounds
Mophie's Powerstation Pro AC is the biggest and highest-capacity power bank on this list — but it's still very much portable, and even comes with an integrated lanyard for easy carrying. As its name suggests, it has a built-in AC outlet that you can use to power things like small appliances. The Powerstation Pro AC is capable of outputting 140-watts across four devices at once. If you're just charging your laptop, you can use the AC outlet (up to 100 watts) or USB-C PD (up to 60 watts); the other USB-C and USB-A ports both max out at 20 watts.
What to Look for in a Portable Laptop Charger
Capacity
The portable batteries here are all powerful enough to charge a laptop. Most are able to fully charge your laptop once — 20,000 mAh is about enough to fully charge your laptop (although it's not an exact science) — so it really depends on how much you're willing to spend as well as what other devices you want it to be able to charge.
Max power output
Different laptops charge at different speeds. In order to charge a laptop at its fastest possible speed, you need to pair it with a charger that can output as much power. Most portable power banks designed to charge a laptop can output anywhere from 45 watts to 100 watts of power. The caveat here is here is this power output is drastically reduced if you're also using other ports on the power bank to charge other devices.
Number of ports
Most portable power banks that are capable of charging a laptop also have additional ports so that they can charge a number of your other gadgets as well. The more ports the better. That said, however, if you use the power bank to charge your other gadgets while also charging your laptop, this will typically cause the power bank to not charge your laptop quite as quickly.
Size and weight
Most portable power banks for laptops tend to be bigger and heavier than your average power bank — the higher capacity, the larger and heavier it is going to be. The downside to this larger and heavier size is, well, the power bank is obviously not going to be as portable.
