Power banks that hold their charge — and their price
Capacity is the number everyone shops on and the one that flatters most; watts, and what actually reaches the device, decide these eight.
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Side by side
The picks
Miady 10,000mAh slim, 2-pack
Two 10,000mAh banks in one box, which is the right answer for most people — one lives in a bag, one stays on the desk. Nearly 100,000 ratings behind it, the largest pool on this page, and no struck-through list price to argue with.
Watch outThe listing quotes no wattage, so assume basic charging speed rather than USB-C fast charging.
INIU 10,000mAh, 45W
The same capacity as one of the Miady pair, but with 45W stated in the title — enough to fast-charge a phone properly and to keep a small laptop from losing ground. Pick it if speed matters more than having two.
Watch outThe list price sits barely above the ask, so this is close to its ordinary price.
podoru MagSafe 5,000mAh, magnetic
The cheapest thing here, and the only one that sticks to the back of a phone instead of sitting in a bag. At 5,000mAh it is roughly half a phone charge once conversion is accounted for.
Watch outMagnetic banks charge slowly and warm up; the listing quotes no wattage to check that against.
Charmast power bank, 4 built-in cables
Four cables built into the body, so there is nothing to forget and nothing to untangle. Genuinely useful for a family bag or a desk drawer where loose cables disappear.
Watch outThe listing states neither capacity nor wattage, and its 11,028 ratings are a tenth of the Miady's.
IAPOS 60,000mAh, 22.5W
Sixty thousand milliamp-hours and five device ports, for about thirty dollars. That combination buys a lot of phone charges and a brick that weighs like one, at a speed the 22.5W figure sets honestly.
Watch outAt roughly 222Wh this is more than double the airline carry-on ceiling and cannot be flown.
OHOVIV 50,000mAh, PD 22.5W
The same idea as the IAPOS for more money: a very large pack at moderate speed. It is here because the capacity class is worth knowing about, not because it undercuts anything.
Watch out1,755 ratings is the thinnest record here, too new to show a failure pattern, and around 185Wh it cannot fly either.
Anker 25,000mAh, 165W laptop bank
25,000mAh and 165W of total output, which is laptop territory rather than phone territory. Worth the weight and the price only if you genuinely charge a laptop away from an outlet.
Watch out25,000mAh sits near the 100Wh airline carry-on ceiling — check the printed Wh before flying.
Jackery Explorer 300, 292Wh station
Not a power bank. At 292Wh this is a power station for camping, blackouts and running something with a wall plug. It carries the highest star average on this page and is a different purchase entirely.
Watch outAt 292Wh this is far over the airline limit and cannot travel in a carry-on.
What actually matters here
- 01mAh is printed at the cell's 3.7 volts, not the 5 volts your phone receives. Expect roughly 60 to 70 percent of the printed figure to actually reach the device.
- 02Airlines regulate watt-hours, not mAh. The carry-on ceiling is 100Wh without airline approval — about 27,000mAh at cell voltage — and lithium banks must travel in the cabin, never in checked baggage. Anything advertised at 50,000mAh or more is over that line.
- 03Wattage decides how fast, capacity decides how many times. A large bank with a slow port is a worse phone charger than a small fast one.
- 04Built-in cables save you carrying one, but they are the part that flexes and they cannot be swapped when they fail. Treat a built-in-cable bank as a convenience item rather than a long-term one.
- 05Lithium cells lose charge sitting in a drawer. A bank left untouched for a year will not be where you left it, and storing near half charge is easier on the cells than storing it full.
Questions people actually ask
- How many phone charges does a 10,000mAh power bank give?
- Usually one and a half to two full charges of a modern phone. The printed capacity is measured at cell voltage, and converting it to USB loses about a third, so a 10,000mAh pack delivers closer to 6,500mAh in practice.
- Can I bring a power bank on a plane?
- Yes, in your carry-on only — lithium batteries are not allowed in checked luggage. Anything up to 100 watt-hours needs no approval, which covers essentially every pocket-sized bank. The 50,000mAh-and-up packs and power stations exceed that limit and cannot be flown.
- Does a higher-wattage power bank charge my phone faster?
- Only up to what the phone will accept. A phone that tops out at 20W draws 20W from a 20W bank and from a 100W bank alike. Higher wattage pays off when you are charging a laptop or several devices at once.