How to find the best portable charger before you travel

Portable chargers save lives.

One of the quirks of modern living is that we, as a people, carry an absurd number of battery-powered devices with us wherever we go. Most people carry a phone, plenty of them carry a laptop on top of that, and others might even have a tablet, e-reader, or portable gaming console with them when they leave home.

It's a little bit of a tragedy, then, that these inherently portable devices typically need to be near a wall outlet to stay alive. Those aren't always available. That's where the aforementioned live-savers come into play; portable chargers are available in tons of different configurations and price points, but figuring out the right one for you can be tough.

Don't worry, we're here to help. Diving into the world of portable chargers with a discerning eye can be a bit intimidating, but there are really just a few questions you need to ask yourself before picking one.

Where are you going?

Different portable chargers are going to be useful for different types of travel. For instance, if you're primarily going to use your portable charger with your phone while you're out with friends at bars, you'll probably want something a bit smaller and less intense. On the other hand, overseas travel with several devices will warrant something a bit more juicy.

The main thing to keep in mind regarding location is how often you'll be away from power outlets. Most portable chargers need to be plugged into some kind of power source so they can, in turn, provide life-giving power to your phone, laptop, or whatever else. If you're going to have semi-regular access to an outlet but still need portable juice, a traditional portable charger will probably be fine.

If you're spending a ton of time in the great outdoors, you should know that there are solar-powered portable chargers. These might have more limited use-cases, as well as compromises in charge times and capacity, but they do exist and could prove useful in a pinch.

Something like the JETSUN solar power bank offers a decent amount of battery capacity, as well as a flashlight, for example.

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Some portable chargers harness solar energy. Neat! Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

What are you bringing?

In all sincerity, the most important part of the equation is what you plan on actually charging with your brand new portable charger. Without the right charger, your devices won't actually get much power out of it.

If you plan on only bringing a smartphone and using the portable charger on that, a smaller charger should do the trick. For less than $20, you can get a small charger that would be more than enough for a phone. Bigger devices like tablets and laptops require some more power because they have bigger batteries. We'll get into battery size specifics in a little bit.

If you're bringing two or three devices that you plan on charging at the same time, that also changes things. Some portable chargers have more ports than others. It might not be especially useful to you if it can only charge one thing at a time.

What the heck is mAh?

The most intimidating thing about portable charger shopping for the layman might be measuring mAh, or milliampere-hour. In plain terms, that's a measurement of how much capacity a battery has, in devices like smartphones as well as portable chargers. Pretty much any portable charger you find should have its mAh measurement listed somewhere in plain view.

You don't need to understand the mechanics of battery power to know that more mAh means more battery capacity. It would be prudent to identify what devices you plan on charging with your portable charger and figure out what their mAh levels are to help make the decision easier.

For example, my iPhone 8 measures in at a hair under 2,000 mAh, according to teardowns. That means, if I only plan on charging my iPhone 8 and nothing else, a portable charger with that much mAh or more will suffice.

On the other hand, a 2018 iPad Pro comes in at a little less than 10,000 mAh. If you plan on charging that, get something with at least that many mAh. In general, it probably wouldn't hurt to get something bigger over something smaller, but there are good reasons why you might not want to.

Anker is one of the more recognizable names in the portable battery market, offering chargers with 10,000 or even 20,000 mAh for fairly reasonable prices.

What else should you worry about?

Multiple ports are always good. Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

A higher-capacity charger might be heavier and more bulky, which means it isn't quite as portable as something with a little less power. If that matters to you, it's at least worth considering. Aesthetics have value, people.

As I mentioned earlier, you should think about how many ports you need. More is always better, but if you don't plan on charging three devices at once, you might not feel inclined to pay for that many. Portable chargers, like anything else, will only go up in price the more bells and whistles you add onto them.

The good news is you don't need to break the bank. A cursory glance at Amazon shows that a number of reasonably powerful portable chargers can be yours for $50 or less, including this one from RAVPower, which packs in 22,000 mAh and three charging ports. There's a lot to keep in mind when shopping for a portable charger, but it's really a lot more simple than it looks.

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