Best laptop power bank in 2023: portable battery packs to keep you topped up

We don't know where we'd be without the best laptop power banks. You won't ever have to worry about your laptop's battery running out even when you can't find a socket. Instead, just plug it into the power bank and charge it while on the move. Whether you own one of the best HP laptops, the best Dell laptops or one of the best laptops for photo editing, a power bank will ensure you can continue your creative pursuits wherever you are. 

Laptops need a lot more electricity than phones to charge, though, so even the best iPhone power banks probably won't be powerful enough for this purpose. Instead, you'll need a power bank with at least 18,000mAh capacity, as well as the right ports to connect to your specific laptop.

To help you find the right model, we've compiled a list of the very best laptop power banks on sale today. Note, too, that they don't just work with laptops but can also be used to charge cameras, tablets, phones, and other devices.

best laptop power banks: our top picks

The best laptop power banks in 2023

Best Power Stations

Looking for a big beast of a machine, to keep multiple laptops, cameras and other devices topped up, without ever running short of juice? Then you may prefer to invest in something serious, and we recommend the EcoFlow River Max portable power station.

With a mammoth 576Wh capacity, it can be charged from a normal power socket in just over an hour and a half. Alternatively, if you're going off-grid, you can buy solar panels separately, which will charge it in just over five hours in direct sunlight. Or you can use the cigarette lighter charger found in most cars, which again takes about five hours.

At 7.7kg, it's pretty heavy, although if you need less power you can reduce the weight by removing one of the two 288Wh batteries. Outputs include one USB-A fast-charge (18W), one USB-A (5V/2.4A), one USB-C (100W), one 13.6V cigarette lighter, two AC (600W), and two DC. 

Don't get us wrong: this is overkill if you just want to charge a laptop, but if you're taking a ton of electrical equipment – on a photoshoot, say – it's a great choice.

Read our full EcoFlow River Max portable power station review for more details

We know this is a pretty hefty portable charger - some might say it's not even that portable but if you're working off-grid for a long time with a large crew then the EcoFlow River Max might not cut it. However, the Goal Zero Yeti 1500X is an absolute beast and will charge several large devices a few times over. 

This giant portable power station offers a massive 400,000 mAh or 1,516W hours. That's clearly enough to charge a camera battery, let alone a laptop, many times over. You get a ton of outputs, including two AC, two USB-A, one 60W PD USB-C, two 12V car outputs, two 12V power ports, and two Anderson Power Pol (APP). It can be attached to up to 50V's worth of solar panels, and there's even onboard Wi-Fi and a bespoke app to control everything with.

The downside is it is very expensive and you'd need a major project to justify the cost of buying this but if you have the budget and the needs we think it's a great investment. 

Read our full Goal Zero Yeti 1500X portable power station review for more details

Best Power Banks

If your primary concern is charging your PD devices as fast as possible then this power bank from UGREEN is for you. Capable of 145W power split across its USB ports, with one 100W capable USB-C, it's ready for all your devices that can be fast charged, as well as laptops that need lots of juice, and it's also future-proofed for those devices that haven't come along yet. With enough capacity to charge your phone several times over, or run your camera and accessories off while on long shoots away from a constant power supply.

However it isn't the only 25,000mAh capacity power bank on the market, so if you don't need its fast charging powers then you can get cheaper and lighter options elsewhere (or from UGREEN themselves), and the complex and varying power outputs might just be enough to put a lot of people off.

Read our full UGREEN 145W Power Bank review for more details.

Hitting the perfect sweet spot in terms of battery, versatility, and price, the Krisdonia 50,000mAh Power Pack is the best value laptop power bank overall. It comes with a massive 50,000mAh battery, which provides enough juice to power a 65W laptop about 2.5 times and a smartphone about 11-18 times. In other words, enough power to keep you going for days on end. 

Alternatively, you can charge both your laptop and other devices, such as smartphones and tablets, simultaneously, using any combination of the power bank's four ports. These are a DC-out for laptops, two USB-A ports for smartphones, and a USB-C port for laptops such as the 12in MacBook, as well as other devices like the Nintendo Switch. Note, though, that the USB-C port doesn't support 20V, so if you have a 20V laptop you'll need to buy a converter.

Passthrough charging is supported, too, which means you can charge the power bank up while it's charging other devices. And it comes with 28 different laptop connectors and a MagSafe 2 adapter, making it compatible with a huge range of laptops, including MacBooks. On the downside, because it's so powerful, it's not TSA-approved so you can't take it on a plane. Also be aware that at 1.2kg, it's quite heavy.

Want to charge a lot of devices at once? Then as long as you're using a Windows laptop or Chromebook (Apple laptops aren't supported), this power bank from Maxoak is the ideal choice. 

It not only comes with a huge 50,000mAh battery, which provides up to 185W of power, but it also has an impressive six ports. These are, in turn: a 20V/5A slot for laptops, a 12V/2.5A slot for digital cameras, two 5V/2.1A ports, and two 5V/1A ports, which cover most smartphones and tablets. You also have 14 connectors for various laptops, and passthrough charging is supported. 

On the downside, it's the heaviest on our list at 1.26kg, and it's so powerful that you're not allowed to take it on a plane. 

Got a modern Dell notebook or ultrabook? Then here's a laptop power bank from Dell that's specially optimized for your device. The Dell Power Companion is designed to deliver in-bag charging, so your laptop is charged when you need them. It's also specifically designed to fit into the Dell Premier Backpack and Dell Premier Briefcases.

As well as charging your laptop, there are two USB-A ports for simultaneously charging other devices, such as smartphones. And while the 18,000 mAh battery isn't the largest on our list, the power bank as a whole is flight-approved and very compact (78 x 162 x 21mm), making it both a space saver and a good choice for travel.

You don't really need to have an informative screen on your power bank, but the Anker Prime power bank has the easiest power percentage and countdown timer for charging/discharging the battery I have used yet. And knowing exactly how fast my laptop is charging is both just plain interesting to know, but I can also plan ahead to give make sure I have enough juice left throughout the day.

The Anker Prime power isn’t just about a screen though, it also has a solid 20,000mAh of battery which I managed to get a few days' worth of keeping my phone and laptop going with short bursts of recharging, or one big recharge of my MacBook Pro 13. The big 200W maximum output, with a 100W single port output, also allowed me to use my laptop at full power. The power bank is a little boxy for slipping into pockets, but it looks great.

Read our full Anker Prime 20,000mAh Power Bank (200W) review for more details. 

Here's another great laptop power bank that comes in at a nicely affordable price. With a 20,000 mAh rechargeable battery and three outputs – one USB-C PD port and USB-A charge-out ports – you can use this cheap and cheerful power bank to fully charge a 13-inch laptop, or charge multiple devices at once. 

It's compact, slimline, and flight-safe, too, making it a great choice for travel. As Biolite is known for its outdoors and camping products, though, it's worth pointing out that this power bank is not rugged or waterproof. On the plus side, it is the lightest on our list of the best laptop power banks.

Short on cash? Then let us point you to the Belkin Boost Charge Power Bank, which has the lowest price on our list, but still does a decent job of charging your laptop and other devices. 

Admittedly, the 20,100mAh battery is much less powerful than those of the products above. Yet it can still provide, for example, up to nine extra hours of battery life to your MacBook, up to 28 hours to your iPad, or up to 77 hours to your phone. 

You can fast-charge USB-C smartphones with the included cable up to 50 percent in 36 minutes, or an iPhone 8+ in just 30 minutes if you have a USB-C to Lightning cable (not included). Plus, because this laptop power bank comes with both a USB-C and a USB-A port, you can charge two devices at the same time. You can take it on a plane and, as the second-lightest on our list at just 520g, it's a great choice for travel overall.

FAQs

Also see our guides to the best GaN charger, and the best power strips for North America