The Best Laptop Power Banks for Travel and Remote Work

Laptop power banks are quite a specialized product. For a long time that was basically because they were all terrible, far too big and heavy for most people to ever justify using. They’ve become smaller and lighter over the years, but even so, they’re very much “day bag” rather than “back pocket” material.

The last few years have seen an uptick in their popularity, however. During the pandemic, many remote workers wanted to work somewhere outside their own house, but sitting inside a cafe for several hours was no longer an option.

Once people realized that they could keep their laptops going all day, far from the nearest power outlet, they’ve wanted to keep doing it even when they no longer had to. I mean, I know I much prefer working at an outdoor table or under a tree in the park on a sunny day!

Buying external batteries like these is harder than it should be, though. Tracking down the right mix of price, size, weight, and compatibility is tricky, and distinguishing between junk and those worth buying isn’t easy either. I’ve used a lot of bad ones over the years.

To save you the hassle, I’ve put together this guide to the best portable laptop chargers across a range of different sizes, capacities, and requirements. Whether you’re a budget, like the idea of charging from the sun, or would love a battery with a bunch of extra features, here’s what you need.

Quick note before we start: the terms portable laptop charger, laptop power bank, and external laptop battery are used interchangeably by manufacturers, and all refer to the same thing!

What to Look For

The most important thing to consider when choosing a portable laptop charger is whether it will actually work with your laptop! If your model charges over USB C, then you only need to check that the charger’s output (measured in watts) is high enough to power it.

If your laptop doesn’t charge via USB C, things get a little trickier. Some portable chargers come with a set of different tips that fit the sockets on many (but not all) laptop models, while others have an AC outlet that you just plug your normal charger into.

Laptop power requirements range from as little as 30W to 80W or more, with most sitting in the 45-65W range. There’s no harm in having a portable charger that can put out more power than your laptop needs, but if it puts out less, your laptop will charge more slowly or not at all.

Also consider the total capacity of the external battery. 20,000mAh is pretty much the minimum needed to get a single full charge into most laptops, but you’ll find some with double that amount or more.

Higher capacity in general means extra charge, but also extra size and weight. If you’re planning to it on a plane, note that you’ll also need permission from the airline to bring any battery with more than 100Wh capacity. Many of the larger models are over this limit, so be sure to check before purchase.

Best for Extra Features: Omni 20+

Usually with portable laptop chargers, you don’t expect much in the way of extra features. It’s essentially a big battery with a few different sockets, and that’s about it… unless you’re talking about the Omni 20+.

This 20,000mAh battery has a 110V/100W AC outlet, 100W DC outlet, and a 60W USB C PD socket. That’s a long-winded way of saying that no matter what kind of laptop you’ve got, there’s a way of charging it from this power bank.

If your laptop doesn’t charge via USB C, either plug your existing factory charger into the AC outlet, or buy a selection of charging tips that work with many models of laptop via the DC socket.

The charging fun doesn’t stop there, however. There’s also a pair of 18W USB-A ports that will fast-charge most phones and tablets, and even a 10W wireless charger on the flat top surface of the battery. At 1.4 pounds and 5 x 1.1 x 4.8 inches the Omni 20+ isn’t particularly small or light, but neither are any of the competing models either.

If you’re using a high-power wall charger, you can fully recharge the battery itself in under three hours from either the DC or USB C port. Pass-through charging is included, meaning you can continue to charge your devices from the battery while you’re charging it up. That’s particularly useful when wall outlets are in short supply.

The bundle includes a protective case and 45W fast wall charger, but if you’ve already got one or other of those, you can save a bit of money by picking up the power bank by itself. Either way it’s a more expensive option than the other models we list here, but for many buyers, the extra flexibility and features more than make up for it.

Want to know more? We reviewed the Omni 20+ in full, and came away impressed.

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Best on a Budget: Anker 747 PowerCore 26K Laptop Power Bank

If you only need to charge a USB C-powered laptop, you can save money, weight, and space in your bag by picking up a power bank devoted to the task. There are many models out there, but the Anker 747 PowerCore 26K is the pick of the bunch for a number of reasons.

To start with, you get a little extra capacity compared to many other models, without an increase in weight. At 25,600mAh, it holds around 20% more power than most of the other batteries on this list.

Even more importantly, the 87W maximum output from either of the two USB C ports is unusually high for a portable laptop battery: many top out at around half that. Virtually all USB C-powered laptops, tablets, and smartphones can be charged at full speed, including most recent MacBook Pros.

There are also a pair of USB-A sockets rated at 18W, which is powerful enough to fast-charge almost all mobile devices. That’s a shared capacity, though, so expect things to take a little longer when you’re using both ports at once.

The pricing is also very reasonable when you factor in the 65W wall charger included in the box. This lets you fully recharge the battery in a little over two hours, which makes the lack of pass-through charging less of a concern.

Throw in the travel pouch and USB C cable, and you’ve got a good value, powerful, and comparatively lightweight portable laptop battery that’s reasonably priced yet can handle just about any mobile charging job you throw at it.

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Best for Endless Power: Jackery Explorer 100 Plus Solar Bundle

Both of the above options are good ways of extending your laptop’s runtime enough to get you through even a long flight or work day. What happens, though, when you’re going to be out of reach of a power outlet for longer than that?

Jackery makes a wide variety of portable power stations, which I’ve talked about and reviewed regularly over the years. Most of them are relatively large, though, and designed to power things like lights, fans, and small appliances. While they can charge a laptop, they’re kind of overkill if that’s all you really need to do with them.

That’s where the company’s latest and smallest model comes in, the cute little Explorer 100 Plus. Dispensing with the usual AC and DC outlets, this is purely a USB charger: there are two 100W USB C ports, and an 18W USB-A port for older devices.

At 99Wh, it’s (just) under the limit for taking onboard a plane without special permission, while the sub-1kg weight (2.1 pounds) means that carrying it around in your daypack isn’t going to break your back.

It’s got enough power to charge all but the very largest laptops, and you can even plug your phone in at the same time and juice them both up at maximum speed.

Where things get really interesting for me, though, is when you add one of the company’s solar panels into the mix as well. There’s a bundle with a 40W panel that’s usually pretty competitively priced, but the company also sells larger ones if you want them.

In ideal conditions, even the 40W panel can charge the Explorer 100 Plus from empty to full in under six hours. Upgrade to the 80 or 100W versions, and you can do it in as little as two hours.

Basically, this means that as long as you’ve got plenty of sunshine, you can run your laptop from dawn to dusk, day after day, without going anywhere near a power outlet. As long as you’ve got cell signal, it really puts the ‘remote’ in remote working!

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Main image via Bram Naus, product images via Amazon