Best Phone Power Bank for Charging Emergencies

Running out of battery power on your phone isn’t fun. But it becomes a much more dire situation in an emergency. The best way to have dependable power for your phone regardless of your situation is to pick up a proven phone power bank with quality and capacity to handle anything. There are many brands and models of portable chargers to pick from, and they don’t all perform the same.

This is where we come in. We’ve researched the best power banks for phone charging emergencies, tested them, and now the results are in: the overall best, a budget option, and an upgrade pick. If you need a power bank that you can rely on in tough times, one of our suggestions will power through.

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Contents (Jump to a Section)

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The INIU portable charger hits that sweet spot of capacity, quality, and price. You won’t break your budget picking this one up for any of your kit and it’ll reliably charge a wide range of devices with its multiple USB ports.

Here is everything you get with this power bank:

• 20,000 mAh cell capacity
• 22.5W charge (USB)
• 2x USB-A, USB-C, flashlight
• < 6-hour recharge time (18W)
• 5.3″ L x 2.8″ W x 1″ H
• 12.8 ounces

With great quality paired with good value, it’s easy to see why the electronics&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWM&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyWlJTREFCV1EzN0hSJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDIxNTAyMTdYMjhNMURWWlJNVSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTU0MzQwQlZITVRNS1YxNVBDJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsX3RoZW1hdGljJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=review064a-20&linkId=718201fdc61ac742a51a2a1132dbb440&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener nofollow”>INIU Portable Charger tops the rest.

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Anker is at the top of the game when it comes to phone charging equipment and has built a reputation over the past decade for making higher quality but budget-friendly gear. I was personally excited to try this MagSafe option from them, and it did not disappoint. The magnetic attachment strongly holds on to your phone so you don’t need to worry about it popping off by mistake.

The kickstand is a much nicer feature than I originally expected. It comes in use more often than you think and makes it worth keeping paired to your phone even when you don’t necessarily need the charging. In our practical test, it recharged an iPhone 15 Pro 0.8 times (from zero to 80%).

Here is how this small portable charger measures up:

• 5,000 mAh cell capacity
• 12W charge (USB), 7.5W MagSafe
• < 2-hour recharge time (12W)
• 4.1″ L x 2.6″ W x 0.5″ H
• 5 ounces

If you are looking for an everyday carry iPhone power bank, the wireless/dp/B0B466YTT3?crid=18IC1NMBIF27Z&keywords=anker%2B622&qid=1699224804&sprefix=anker%2B622%2Caps%2C137&sr=8-3&th=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=review064a-20&linkId=c7a229f0733001a8f4fdd5068d452e0e&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener nofollow”>Anker 622 MagGo Portable Charger is the best option.

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UGREEN sits on top as far as quality goes with phone-sized power banks. This 145W model has amazingly fast charging times and can charge itself quickly as well. It offers plenty of capacity, charging an iPhone 15 Pro benchmark 5.5 times. It can also rapidly charge a laptop to full charge in about 30 minutes, making it versatile for a wide ranch of tech, including drones!

Here are the specs:

• 25,000 mAh cell capacity
• 100W charge (USB-C1), 45W (USB-C2), 18W USB-A
• < 2-hour recharge time (65W)
• 6.3″ L x 3.2″ W x 1″ H
• 17.7 ounces

With unmatched battery quality and performance, the UGREEN 145W power bank is the best choice for those serious about powering their phones and gear quickly.

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Everything We Recommend

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The power banks We Compared

Our research narrowed the field down to a few brands and types of portable charging devices that we compared: Anker, Belkin, UGREEN, INIU, Einova, Satechi, Apple, PowerAdd, and many Chinese-made odd-named brands.

You can see our full list of review criteria below in the What to Look For section, with an explanation for each.

We considered a wide range of power banks with various sizes, and there are a lot of options out there. We stuck with pocket-sized portable banks and smaller ones since we’ll evaluate larger battery devices as power stations. You’ll often see power stations and power banks used interchangeably, but we were focused on finding the best solution for small-device charging- like phones.

We’re always looking for new and better gear, so if you have a power bank that you love and use often, let us know in the comments. We review most of our tested gear annually so we can try to get it in the next roundup round and see if it will beat out our top picks.

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What to Look For

The best phone power banks have a few features to look for:

1. Value
2. Capacity
3. Quality
4. Size & Weight
5. Versatility

When you get the right blend of these, you can find the perfect charging bank to keep your phone powered up. Below, we break down what each of these features means for the battery packs that truly set themselves apart.

Value: Cost vs. Benefit

The amount of money you spend on something like a power bank shouldn’t blow out your entire budget. There is a wide range of prices in our picks, so there is no need to spend beyond your means.

You never want to spend too much money on one resource, especially when it comes to tech. It’s better to diversify your spending to make sure you are covered for a wide range of scenarios.

Capacity

The manufacturers of rechargeable batteries like to list battery cell capacity using the rated mAh (milliamp-hours), but that isn’t necessarily a realistic display of performance. Watt-hours are superior because it considers voltage, but even then impedance isn’t considered.

That’s why the number of recharges of a standard device is given- so even if you don’t have that device you can understand the realistic capacity it will provide. Our tests all charged the benchmark iPhone 15 Pro between 0.6 and 5.5 times.

Quality

Numbers don’t tell the entire store when it comes to power banks. There are plenty of brands out there touting high battery cell capacities, but they come in cheap housings and lose a huge amount of efficiency in energy transfer.

Sticking with trusted brands is usually the best way to avoid poor performance (and even catastrophic device failure).

Size & Weight

As phone chargers, portable power banks should be lightweight and portable. Beyond an approximate phone shape, we would consider the battery device as a ‘power station’, which is usually meant to recharge or supply power to larger and wider ranges of devices.

We didn’t consider many over one pound in weight and stuck to comparing banks less than 1″ thick. If you are using it for everyday carry, you’ll want it as light as possible with the best capacity you can get.

Versatility

Besides charging a variety of devices with varying amperage and speeds, some power banks offer even more versatility. Some charge multiple devices at once with multiple charging ports (some of different USB types).

Others have incorporated solar panels and flashlights to help in even more situations, but we did find that the solar panels were extremely inefficient. With the tiny solar area, power loss in charging, and power loss in energy transfer- this feature was virtually useless in the ones we tried. We have tested solar charges before that worked, but the technology just doesn’t perform at this small size.

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Why power banks are Important for Emergencies

Having a phone charging cable on hand is still a good idea, but it used to be our only resort. Even then, when your phone died you had to hunt down an outlet to recharge. In emergency situations like large-scale power outages or when your car battery dies, even the cable wouldn’t be able to help you out.

Now, thanks to battery technology, we have portable power banks that can go everywhere with us. Even TSA will let any power bank through that is less than 27,000 mAh in cell capacity. This isn’t just a game changer for the airport outlet competition, it is a game changer for survival kits too.

Besides your phone, these power banks can power a wide range of survival equipment making them ideal to include in your kits. We’ve used them to power:

If it can be charged with a USB cable, there is a power bank that can help out. They are the most convenient way to transport power with even more versatility than a conventional battery.

All of that said, don’t cause an emergency with your power bank. Get quality gear and take care of it to avoid spontaneous combustion and fires:

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Who Needs a power bank?

Almost everyone can use a power bank. That’s one reason they make such popular gifts- anyone with a phone, or any USB-powered device can benefit from having one standing by at the ready. They are especially popular for travelers who don’t necessarily know where they’ll get their next phone charge.

While power banks aren’t essential for survival kits, they make sense to consider for quite a few:

Having extra never hurt- you can always use more power.

Sources and References

All of our experience and the testing we do to determine the best power bank are useless without listing our research sources and references. We leaned on these for the book knowledge that we paired with our hands-on testing and practical survival experience:

Elmadhi, M., et al. (2012). Application Solar Energy for Charging Battery Mobile Phone. Jurnal Rekayasa Mesin. Volume 3. Issue 3. (Source)

Hui, S., et al. (2005). A new generation of universal contactless Battery Charging platform for portable Consumer Electronic equipment. IEEE Transactions on Power electronics. Volume 20. Issue 3. Pages 620 – 627. (Source)

Manchester, S., et al. (2013). Off-grid mobile phone charging: An experimental study. Energy for Sustainable Development. Volume 17. Issue 6. Page 564 – 571. (Source)

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The Final Word

Getting stranded with a dead phone is rough any day, but even more so in an emergency. Having extended power ready to go with a rechargeable power bank that will keep up in any situation is the way to go, so you should have at least one at the ready.

Here are a few other gear reviews and guides our subscribers have found helpful:

We presented quite a lot of information, but as always: if you have any questions let us know and we would be happy to help. Our testing found the electronics&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWM&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyWlJTREFCV1EzN0hSJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDIxNTAyMTdYMjhNMURWWlJNVSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTU0MzQwQlZITVRNS1YxNVBDJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsX3RoZW1hdGljJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=review064a-20&linkId=718201fdc61ac742a51a2a1132dbb440&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener nofollow”>INIU Portable Charger to be the best option given its value, capacity, quality, size/weight, and versatility.

Keep exploring, stay prepared, and be safe.

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