The best power banks so you never run out of battery on the move

This pocket powerhouse may well be the only power bank you need for refuelling almost all your gadgets, with a small, lightweight design that packs in far more than you’d expect. The 10,000mAh capacity is will give you two smartphone recharges and will also be enough to get a decent amount of juice back into your tablet, laptop or headphones.

The short, built-in USB-C cable is super convenient, as is the surprisingly fast 30W power output. We used this to keep our iPad running during our travels, and it couldn’t have been more handy. It's also solid and well built– we were initially concerned about the built-in cable getting damaged, but it’s reinforced and feels robust.

We also love that it’s got a little built-in colour display to show off the current battery percentage. It's a reliable way to keep an eye on the battery level when we’re recharging the power bank itself too – it’s much more informative than the light-up dot system. Overall, we’d struggle to come up with real downsides to this, although it’s a shame it doesn’t come with a storage pouch.

If you want a large capacity without the high price of Anker’s Prime power bank range or its 737, we’d recommend looking at this model, which goes for about half the cost (if not even less). It gives you enough juice to deliver seven charges to an iPhone 8, and the ability to power three gadgets at once.

You miss out on super fast charging for laptops that you’ll get from pricer power banks, but the 15W available via the USB-C port here is enough to refuel an iPhone at a reasonable speed, which is all most of us need.

In addition to that port, it includes two USB-A ports, so you could use this to charge up your phone, earbuds and Apple Watch all at the same time.

A budget-friendly option that does the basics without overcomplicating things, the Anker 321 is the best power bank if you want a convenient, compact model (it's about the size of a small chocolate bar).

It’s super pocketable, making it easy to take with you on an evening out or just pop in your coat pocket for the day. The capacity here isn’t large, but it’s enough for a top-up to keep your phone going or to recharge your headphones if you notice they’re running low before a train journey.

The maximum output is 12W and that’s shared between its USB-A and USB-C ports, which means it could end up being rather slow if used to power up two devices at once. If size matters most though, this is a top compact option.

At just about the biggest capacity you can take on a flight and boasting enough ports to recharge three devices at once, we think this big Anker power bank has to be the pick for a family trip where everyone’s phones need some juice and you're going to be away from the plug for a long time.

It’s ideal for camping or a road trip, for example. It has a 30W output, which makes it a decent option for charging up three phones in one go.

Another unique feature here is that it can recharge at double speed if you use both of the Micro-USB inputs at once, although it will still take over six hours to get your battery back to full this way, so it’s best done overnight.

The good news is that even if recharging takes a little time, this has a massive capacity – enough to fuel up the iPhone SE almost 10 times.

If you’ve looked into one of the best portable power stations for backup power at home or while camping, you’re sure to have heard of EcoFlow. The brand has recently branched out to portable chargers, and this compact “Rapid” model is impressive. It's slim and compact, yet still has a 5,000mAh capacity, Qi2-capable magnetic charging, a USB-C port and a built-in USB-C cable.

Overall, it’s highly portable and efficient, and it comes in three stylish colourways: silver, blue or black. We found the magnetic connection secure and reliable, and the speed it delivers is twice as fast as older magnetic options that were limited to slow 7.5W charging. Convenient as it is, though, wireless charging is still not as fast as using a wire, and the built-in cable here means you don’t have to worry about remembering yours.

It’s a reinforced cable that tucks away into the bottom of the power bank. When in use, it offers very quick speeds, restoring 50% of our iPhone 16 Pro’s battery capacity in just over 28 minutes – that’s a reliable quick recharge if you’re on the go, and, at 180g, it won’t weigh you down while travelling, too.

Just need a little battery top-up on the go? We recommend this little helper, especially because it has a built-in connector for your phone, which is perfect if you tend to forget your cables or just don’t have the space for a tangled mess.

For iPhone users, this is a great little power bank to pop into your work backpack for the day. It may not have enough capacity for a full phone recharge but it will restore some juice if you’re out for the evening and can’t get back to a mains charger in a hurry. It’s easy to use, and the simple flip-up connector charges more quickly than other convenient power banks that attach with magnets.

Don’t have an iPhone with a Lightning port and need an option with USB-C instead? You’re in luck – we also tested out the USB-C version of this power bank and it’s just as much of a lifesaver, with the added benefit that it can charge our earphones, Kindle, Bluetooth speaker and other gadgets.

Our new favourite feature-packed power bank, the larger EcoFlow Rapid model seemingly has it all – it offers wireless magnetic charging, dual USB-C connectivity, and a mini display. Does your power bank actually need to connect to a smartphone app for additional insights, customisation and a tool to locate it when it’s missing? Not really. But we appreciate that EcoFlow has gone the extra mile with this one.

It’s got a little extra bulk compared to some magnetic power banks, but it can charge devices quickly from its Qi2-enabled wireless surface. Even more efficient is its wired charging. It has both a sturdy built-in USB-C cable and a USB-C port to deliver 30W speeds to multiple devices at once. On the back, you’ve got a display that shows input and output speeds, plus a sturdy kickstand. EcoFlow says it also holds onto 95% of its charge for a month, so it won’t drain much even if you don’t use it for a while.

We’re also impressed by how quickly this recharges, as that’s a key spec that not all power banks excel at. Because this supports up to 65W input, you’ll find it very speedy. And when you’re using it for charging a phone, we’d rely on that built-in USB-C cable if you don’t need the convenience of the magnetic surface. On test, the cable got our iPhone 16 Pro back to 50% in a super fast 26 minutes and 40 seconds, and that was without it getting uncomfortably warm, too.

If you’re after a compact magnetic battery pack for newer iPhone models, this is the one we’d pick. It has half the capacity of a 10,000mAh version, but that’s enough to restore over half the battery for most iPhones and may be all you need for a quick top-up.

An added bonus is that there’s a clever metal kickstand that folds flat from the back. It clicks into position well and is good for positioning your phone for watching videos at your desk in either portrait or landscape mode.

It’s not the fastest, limited to 7.5W like a lot of magnetic chargers, but it did manage to get an iPhone 15 Pro back to 50% capacity from empty in an hour and 15 minutes. Once it reaches that point, though, it doesn’t last much longer, running out entirely after getting the phone to over 60%. It does get fairly hot in the process too, which is worth noting.

Always forgetting to recharge your Apple Watch before you head out the door? We recommend picking a portable charger with a dedicated charging puck built-in for the watch, which will help if you’ve forgotten to bring yours. This neat solution combines fast Apple Watch charging with a useful 10,000mAh capacity, a USB-C port, and a built-in USB-C cable – all in a compact size.

An Apple Watch battery lasts around 18 hours, so it’s not unlikely you’d need to refuel when you’re away from home. With this, you’re able to do that while also charging your iPhone.

It has effective 35W speeds, and it’s worth noting that the Apple Watch charger is also the fast version of this tech, suitable for the latest Apple Watch models – it will also work to wirelessly recharge the AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods 4.

If you’re on the hunt for a power bank to charge high-power devices, particularly a laptop, then we’d recommend this Anker model with a substantial 25,000mAh capacity. It can output up to 165W, making it an incredibly powerful option for charging lots of devices at once. It includes three USB-C outputs, each capable of delivering up to 100W, and a USB-A port that provides up to 33W, allowing for simultaneous refuelling of laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Like some advanced power banks, it also has a display to tell you the battery percentage, input, output, and temperature.

While it is chunky and not the most portable, it’s still not such a high capacity that you can’t take it on a plane. The best thing about it is that two of those USB-C outputs are sturdy built-in cables. One doubles as a carrying strap, and the other is retractable. If you’re worried about forgetting your cables or would prefer not to spend extra on cords, this is super handy. It’s also a really fast power bank. It only took us 40 minutes to get a MacBook Air from zero to 50%, and it’s similarly fast to recharge an iPhone from its built-in cables, restoring half of the battery in under half an hour.

While it’s large and expensive compared to some of the others on this list, this chunky model is the best power bank to invest in if you want a versatile, powerful battery to charge up your laptop, iPad, phone and everything in between.

Claiming to be the only charger you need, it delivers exceptional speeds via its two USB-C ports, and includes an extra USB-A port for added flexibility. That means it can power three devices at once. It has a big capacity – enough to charge your phone over three times. On test, we used it to refuel our iPhone 15 Pro to 50% in 24 minutes and 59 seconds exactly (using 12% of the power bank capacity). It fully charged an iPad Air in two hours and ten minutes and we also charged up a MacBook Air from empty to half full in a quick 38 minutes.

We love the informative digital display that tells you the battery percentage, time to recharge and output per port (among other useful stats). That’s something you won’t find on most rivals. It also has pass-through charging, so you can recharge the power bank while charging other devices at the same time, and it fits within the requirements for taking on flights too.

You can also add a highly convenient charging base to keep the power bank fully topped up for when you need it – we tested this too, and it’s a great addition to the kit, whether you put it on your desk or bedside. Overall, if you’re okay with the weight and cost of this excellent power bank, it’s a top pick.

Not keen on wireless charging but also prone to forgetting your cords? This is the power pack you need, with cables built into the device itself.

The battery packs in a respectable capacity while still being portable, and it has both an integrated Lightning cable and USB-C cable, which together should charge up all your devices.

We used this power bank to restore half of the battery life to our iPhone 15 Pro, finding that it reached 50% full in an impressive 32 minutes over the built-in USB-C cable, only using one dot of the four-dot system that indicates its capacity.

It offers pass-through too, so you can refuel the portable charger while also sending power over to your phone, earbuds or smartwatch. It's a little bigger than some rivals with the same battery size, but it's worth it for those space-saving built-in cables.

Qi2 is the latest innovation in the world of wireless charging, and it means you can deliver much faster wireless speeds to compatible devices that work with magnetic attachment. Before it arrived, faster 15W magnetic wireless charging was limited to models made or officially certified by Apple. Now though, it’s possible to get that super fast speed from a versatile power bank like this model from Anker.

This is best viewed as an upgrade to the older Anker 633 model, with a similar design and built-in handy kickstand, but that now has Qi2 and a battery percentage display. It’s capable of super quick speeds from its USB-C port too, refuelling itself at 20W and charging up other devices at 27W. With this much extra speed over the predecessor and a compact size for its 10,000mAh capacity, we view this as an ideal versatile power bank for travel, although it’s a model that comes at a high price.

At under £40 and with an impressive 10,000mAh capacity, a useful battery percentage display, dual USB-C ports and 30W of power that you can use for the simultaneous charging of three devices, this is one of the best value options you can buy right now.

We’re big fans of the informative display that not only shows you an accurate battery percentage (much easier to read than a dot system) but also the remaining time the battery will last and how long it will need to recharge. Having this info within a single button press is super handy.

Overall, we love how compact and slim this is – it’s ideal for stashing in a pocket or handbag, and it doesn’t feel heavy for the capacity too (it’s only about as much as a bag of ground coffee from the supermarket). Re-charging the power bank itself it is quite slow – you could get a faster charging model (although not without adding to the size) and many cheaper options – but those are fairly minor downsides, considering how good value this is.

You might not have realised that your phone can charge via magnets, but Apple’s “MagSafe” capabilities (introduced on the iPhone 12) have been around for some time now. They take some of the guesswork out of wireless methods by removing the need to position your phone and get the right alignment with the charger.

Instead, magnets within the phone snap into place on the charger, ensuring a reliable connection and consistent charge. As you'll see from our list, there are quite a lot of magnetic wireless power banks on the market now, and the Anker 633 is a great value all-rounder that delivers the same capacity as the more expensive Anker MagGo Power Bank Qi2 while being faster and more capable than affordable 5,000mAh options.

It's about as compact and light as you'll get for this much juice, plus it has a kickstand, a strong magnetic hold and quick speeds if you use it with a USB-C cable. On test, we got our iPhone 13 mini back to half full in an impressive 25 minutes. It's also worth noting that this can be a bargain when on offer, and we've seen it go for as low as £40.

If you know that you want a magnetic power bank but need it to be both slim and have a high capacity, this is almost the only option that ticks those boxes. It's a svelte and pocketable design, which can be incredibly useful for those travelling light. We’ve been able to slip it into a jacket when leaving the house without a bag, for instance.

The price is steep at £69.99, and only a little extra would get you something like Anker or EcoFlow’s most premium magnetic options with 10,000mAh capacities, which have more informative displays and kickstands. But those options aren’t as compact as this, so we’d still recommend this one if size is the top priority.

Given that it has just one USB-C port for input and output, we think you’ll primarily use it for magnetic wireless charging. We were impressed by the speed. Of course, it’s not as fast as using wired charging, but we were able to restore 50% of the battery to our iPhone 16 in around an hour (and without the power bank heating up too much).

This one looks like a wall plug adapter, we know. But if you're looking for a versatile, travel-friendly gadget, we’re big fans of this design from Belkin that combines a wall charger and a 5,000mAh power bank into one device. It also comes with all the different travel adapters you’ll need, with its set of interchangeable plugs catering for the UK, US, Europe and Australia.

Used as a wall charger, it delivers 25W speeds, or 20W speeds when not connected to the mains. This means it’s much more suitable for refuelling your phone and smaller accessories than it is for your laptop.

The Belkin Hybrid is an ideal way to minimise the number of gadgets you have to pack when you travel, although it’s worth being aware that other chargers are faster and have a greater number of ports. It’s also arguably a little heavy for just a 5,000mAh capacity.