A dead phone at an airport is annoying. A dead phone when you're navigating an unfamiliar city at night is a genuine problem. I've been in both situations, which is why I take power bank selection seriously.

Over the past eighteen months, I've tested nine different power banks in real travel scenarios. Not lab conditions. I'm talking about three-week trips through Europe, camping in Colorado, and those brutal 12-hour layovers where every outlet is taken.

What Actually Matters

Before specific models, here's what I look for after years of buying the wrong thing:

  • Actual capacity delivery - A 20,000mAh power bank might only deliver 13,000-14,000mAh to your device. Energy is lost in voltage conversion and heat. I test what you actually get.
  • Charging speed under real conditions - Specs assume perfect conditions. I test in summer heat and winter cold, because that's when you actually need power.
  • Durability - These things get dropped, squeezed into bags, and generally abused. Build quality matters more than spec sheets.
  • Airline compliance - Anything over 100Wh gets complicated with airline regulations. I stick to models under this limit.

The Ones I Actually Use

For Everyday Travel: Anker 537 Power Bank

This 24,000mAh bank has been my constant companion for eighteen months. It's been through security at maybe thirty airports, dropped on concrete twice, and squeezed into overstuffed backpacks more times than I can count. Still works perfectly.

In my testing, it delivers about 16,800mAh of actual usable power. That's enough to charge my iPhone about four times or give my MacBook Air roughly 70% charge. The 65W output means it actually charges laptops at a reasonable speed, unlike most competitors.

Various power banks laid out for size comparison
Source: Picsum Photos - Size comparison of different capacity power banks

For Weight-Conscious Travel: Nitecore NB10000

When every gram counts, this is what I pack. At only 150g, it's the lightest 10,000mAh bank I've found that still delivers decent performance. I brought this on a week-long hiking trip where I needed to keep my phone and GPS watch charged. It handled both with room to spare.

The trade-off is slower charging. Around 18W maximum. Fine for phones, not useful for tablets or laptops. But for backpacking, the weight savings justify the compromise.

For Laptop Users: Baseus Blade 100W

If you need to charge a laptop on the go, most power banks struggle. The Baseus Blade is an exception. Its slim form factor hides 100W output capability, and at 20,000mAh, it can meaningfully extend my MacBook Pro's runtime.

The downside: it's expensive, and at 99.36Wh, you're right at the airline limit. I always carry TSA documentation showing its capacity just in case questions arise.

What I Stopped Recommending

  • Cheap Amazon brands - Capacity claims are often inflated by 30-40%. Not worth the risk when you're relying on them.
  • Power banks with built-in cables - The cables always fail first. Better to use your own quality cables.
  • Anything without USB-C PD - In 2025, slow charging isn't acceptable for travel.

The Reality of Capacity Claims

Here's something manufacturers don't advertise: the mAh rating is for the internal cells at 3.7V. When converted to 5V USB output, you lose about 30% to conversion efficiency and heat. A 20,000mAh bank realistically delivers 13,000-14,000mAh to your device.

I test every power bank by fully draining it into a USB power meter. The difference between claimed and actual capacity tells you a lot about a manufacturer's honesty.

My Current Travel Kit

For a typical week-long trip, I carry the Anker 537 and a compact 10,000mAh backup. For longer trips or when I know I'll need laptop power, I add the Baseus Blade. Overkill? Maybe. But I've never been stranded with dead devices since adopting this approach.