Best portable laptop battery chargers and power banks of 2021: stay charged wherever you work

The best portable laptop battery chargers and power banks are essential purchases for many of us these days who need to work flexibly. While the battery lives of many of the best laptops are now longer than ever, a portable laptop battery charger is still a wise investment, as it means you can top up your laptop at any time if the battery does run low, and you don’t have to worry about finding a power outlet.

Even better, these portable laptop battery chargers and power banks can charge numerous devices at once, so if you have a smartphone, tablet or smartwatch that also needs charging, you can top those up as well.

These devices are certainly helpful, then, but you need to do a bit of research before you buy. You should check to see what laptops the chargers support, as some laptops still come with proprietary chargers. This means you’ll need to have the right connector to plug it in.

You’ll want to consider how much power they supply, as particularly power-hungry laptops, such as gaming laptops, may not work with them. You’ll also want to check how large their internal batteries are, as this will dictate how many times the charger can charge a laptop. Pay attention to their overall size as well – you don’t want to have to lug around a large and heavy charger as well as your laptop.

However, that research will pay off, as when you find a laptop charger or powerbank that works for you, it’s definitely worth it for the convenience. The best portable laptop chargers are some of the most useful gadgets for digital nomads and remote workers. 

Finding a top laptop charger or power bank does take a bit of research, though. Many portable laptop chargers are finicky and don’t always work, and some are even too big and too heavy to be worth carrying, so you’re better off just going to a cafe and paying for a cup of coffee or charge at an airport or a train station when you’re traveling.

That’s where we come in; we found the most reliable and best value portable laptop chargers on the market. This way, you don’t have to sift through the bad; you just have to pick the best for you.

• You might also want to peruse our list of best business laptops
• Need to recharge your phone? Try our best power banks

The Eggtronic Laptop Power Bank keeps things simple, compact and reliable, which is really all you want from a laptop power bank you want to travel with. At 6.75 x 4 x 0.63 inches and 0.498kg, it’s thin and relatively lightweight. Combine that with its 74Wh power, and you’ve got a device that not only keeps things portable for jet-setting creatives and remote working professionals but is TSA-approved as well. It even has an easy-to-read LCD display to let you know just how much juice it has left.

More importantly, unlike other so-called laptop chargers out there that fail to work at times, this one’s incredibly reliable, capable of charging your laptop every single time. And, that’s while charging your other portables as well with its 3-port selection. It may only have the standard 20,000mAh capacity, but that’s a full laptop charge and a half, definitely more than enough to last you while you’re in between outlets. Best yet, it’s under $100, cheaper than most of the offerings on this list.

If you’re looking for a portable laptop charger that gives you the best value for your money, you’ve got a winner here.

Laptop power banks are a tricky thing. Most of them are only compatible with specific portables, depending on the available output port as well as the transfer rate of energy. Luckily, you’ve got the MaxOak Laptop Power Bank. With a maximum power of 130W and two DC outputs – not to mention, a variety of DC adapters included – this power bank is compatible with many laptops. That makes it useful for households with multiple types of laptops and devices. Unfortunately, this isn’t TSA approved, due to its 185Wh, which is over the 100Wh TSA standard. However, it’s great for road trips, campings and train rides.

With just 70wh, the OmniCharge 20+ 20000mah is TSA-approved, making it an excellent companion for work trips abroad and if you have long layovers. It’s compatible with 60W USB-C laptops like the MacBook Pro 13-inch and Dell XPS 2-in-1, but with its 100W AC outlet, it’s great for other laptops and other tech gadgets like DSLRs as well. Finally, it features passthrough charging, so you can charge it while simultaneously powering to devices via the AC or USB-A ports. It is a bit more expensive than the MaxOak Laptop Power Bank. However, it’s versatility does make it worth the higher price tag.

The HALO Bolt 58830 isn’t just a portable laptop charger, although it is an effective one thanks to its AC outlet. Great for laptops that draw up to 60W of power, this portable charger is also designed to jumpstart a car. It even has its own jump start port and comes with its own set of jumper cables. And, unlike other portable laptop chargers, which only come in one or two colors, this one comes in seven different colors/design patterns, making it ideal for folks who don’t care for the minimalist approach. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a USB-C port, which the AC outlet should take care of most of your laptop charging needs.

For MacBook Pro and MacBook Air users that only require up to 30W of power and utilize USB-C charging, the ZMI USB PD Backup Battery & Hub is a terrific option to consider. It doesn’t have an AC outlet, but its USB-C port lets you charge your older MacBook units. ZMI also promises HP Spectre x360 13-inch and Samsung Chromebook Pro compatibility. Thanks to its two USB-A ports, you can charge your other devices as well. More importantly for travelers and digital nomads, it boasts a svelte and lightweight design – at 405 g, it’s a lot lighter than the iPad Air.

The POWERADD Pilot Pro might be as versatile as laptop chargers come. It comes equipped with a LCD display showing important information like battery level and voltage. It also has two USB outputs and a DC output to accommodate a whole host of devices, from smartphones and tablets to power-hungry laptops. The charger also comes with 10 different connectors making it compatible with most laptops. It also has fast-charging and has built-in safety features like over-charge, over-temp and short-circuit protection.

For anyone who’s bought into the Apple ecosystem or has multiple Apple devices, the MaxOak Type-C Power Bank is the perfect portable solution. Via its DC port and included Magsafe 1 and 2 cables, this laptop charger can power up any Apple laptop from 2006 to 2018. And, its PD 2.0 Type C port not only covers any of the newer USB-C only macbooks, but can also charge any laptop equipped with a USB-C port. The type-C port can also be used to charge the power bank, if you happen to misplace the Maxoak’s charger. If that’s not enough, it fits right in aesthetically with its silver aluminum shell and rounded edges.

This incredibly high capacity laptop power bank might have too much power to take on a flight. However, it’s ideal for long road trips. It’s also incredibly versatile, with 28 different laptop connectors and a Magsafe 2 adapter to accommodate just about any laptop under the sun. The laptop charger also has a passthrough function that can be easily turned on and off, as well as a LED display that shows the voltage and current battery level. Unfortunately, even though it is the highest capacity charger on this list at 50,000mAh capacity, it can fully charge in 6-8 hours – charging overnight, therefore, is obligatory.

The Voltaic Systems V88 Portable Laptop Power Bank has all the necessary features that any great laptop power bank should have including four outputs, passthrough functionality, and an easy to read LCD display for monitoring the battery level and voltage. It’s fairly versatile, as it includes 10 laptop adapters that should cover most user’s needs. At 88Wh, it’s also airplane-friendly. What makes the Voltaic power bank unique, though, is that it’s solar-optimized. This means that it works with solar chargers and solar panels when traditional power sources are not available. While those do have to be purchased separately, this feature does make the Voltaic Systems V88 particularly useful for those going off-grid.

Dell sells the Power Companion with various battery capacities. It is more compact than the RAVPower models, and the unit looks like a Dell power brick that charges your laptop. When you’re at your desk, you can daisy-chain to recharge the Power Companion and your Dell laptop by connecting your Dell charging brick to the Power Companion, and then connecting it to your notebook.

Dell’s Power Companion is a far sleeker battery pack if your office relies on Dell Inspiron, Latitude, XPS or Venue laptops and tablets, with the added benefit that it has extra USB ports should you need them.