Talk to me about power banks...

[GrizzlyBear]

I am thinking of getting a new laptop. However. One of my grievances.of the current one is that even when it was new was the battery life; if I am out and about it can be a problem I am looking at a few that "claim" an 8 hour battery life which sounds great, but current work laptop lasts about 3 hours so I doubt I will get any more than that from my own laptop in future, especially as the battery ages slightly. So I am now thinking power banks to help me when I am not close to a plug socket and the battery ages. The Laptop will probably be a Lenovo, Asus or Acer Laptop (not a gaming laptop) probably i5/Ryzen 5.

So what do I need to look for? obviously it has to hold more mAh than the Laptop Battery, it needs to have the same connection as my Laptop will have (Probably USB -C) but is there anything else like the rate of charge?

I was trying to compare the stats of the battery, how many watts etc to charge a laptop? of the power banks I have seen they don't seem to test them with anything other than a Macbook (I want a windows laptop).

So any guidance? Which brands of power banks? looking around there were brands like Energiser etc and other obvious battery brands, also Anker which I have heard of in the past.

I will also be using it for charging phones etc, but even the £10 power banks do that.

[Kermit power]

I would imagine you're going to need at least a 65W power bank. Something like this Anker should do the job.

If you go with anything less than that, it might slow the speed at which the battery charge runs down somewhat, but I expect you'd get various annoyingly persistent warnings about plugging in a suitable charger, based on my experience.

[JulianHJ]

I bought a load of Anker powerbanks for work a couple of years ago, including a few USB-C PDs with the intention of running laptops off them. They've had a very high failure rate, and they've seen very little use before failing. I used to buy loads of different Anker products, but this and a few other things have led me towards Ugreen now.

Edit: https://amzn.eu/d/3sVmhIv

Edited by JulianHJ on Friday 27th October 16:29

[GrizzlyBear]

Kermit power said:

I would imagine you're going to need at least a 65W power bank. Something like this Anker should do the job.

If you go with anything less than that, it might slow the speed at which the battery charge runs down somewhat, but I expect you'd get various annoyingly persistent warnings about plugging in a suitable charger, based on my experience.

Thanks, that is the sort of thing I am expecting (from the days when the laptop would reject a charger from a similar laptop from the same brand...), and hoping to avoid.

[GrizzlyBear]

JulianHJ said:

I bought a load of Anker powerbanks for work a couple of years ago, including a few USB-C PDs with the intention of running laptops off them. They've had a very high failure rate, and they've seen very little use before failing. I used to buy loads of different Anker products, but this and a few other things have led me towards Ugreen now.

Edit: https://amzn.eu/d/3sVmhIv

Edited by JulianHJ on Friday 27th October 16:29

Thanks that is very good to know, since I am expecting to spend over £50 I want it to last a year or few, so perhaps Anker is not the way forward. Cheers

[Kermit power]

GrizzlyBear said:

Kermit power said:

I would imagine you're going to need at least a 65W power bank. Something like this Anker should do the job.

If you go with anything less than that, it might slow the speed at which the battery charge runs down somewhat, but I expect you'd get various annoyingly persistent warnings about plugging in a suitable charger, based on my experience.

Thanks, that is the sort of thing I am expecting (from the days when the laptop would reject a charger from a similar laptop from the same brand...), and hoping to avoid.

It's a nightmare with my Lenovo P3! Lovely laptop for Photoshop and the like, but it has a 135W power supply, and anything less than that makes it cry!

[untakenname]

You can get a full days use on battery with the latest M2 Macbooks, I have to use a Dell Latitude i7 for work and it's abysmal in comparison battery wise.

[Hoofy]

Probably overkill but... https://amzn.to/46LJfio
Can also start a car in the Swedish wilderness. It happily started my car in the London suburban wilderness saving me having to either call the AA out or jumpstart it. So easy and stress-free to use, not having to rely on another car with leads trapsing across the drive and getting your hands wet and dirty in the rain. Connect it to the battery, go indoors for 20 minutes and try to find the bottom of Facebook, come back out, drive off.

Edited by Hoofy on Friday 27th October 17:33

[Turtle Shed]

Two completely useless suggestions from me:

Jackery Power Station: https://uk.jackery.com/products/explorer-100-plus-... or if you want mains as well then: https://uk.jackery.com/products/explorer-240-porta...

Or would a Chromebook do instead? I know you specified Windows, but anyway...

[Tagteam]

untakenname said:

You can get a full days use on battery with the latest M2 Macbooks, I have to use a Dell Latitude i7 for work and it's abysmal in comparison battery wise.

Yes, battery life is unbelievable

[mikef]

i have had a Hyper 245W GAN power bank for a couple of years and it’s still going strong, charges my MacBook, iPad Pro and Phone as well as a Dell laptop

https://www.hypershop.com/products/hyperjuice-245w...

Edited to add - at the time it was USD 149 through IndieGogo, so has gone up a bit

Edited by mikef on Friday 27th October 23:41

[the-norseman]

OP, what do you do with your laptop?

I've seen suggestions of M1/M2 Macbook and Chromebooks already, unless you use very specific software locking you to Microsoft Windows then there really is no reason to say with them (From a Debian Linux user).

[wyson]

Just to add to the chorus saying Mac M1 or M2 chip of some kind is the best option if you value battery life.

My Macbook Pro M1 lasts a full 8 hours no issues doing general work, MS Office, browsing the web etc.

I always leave the charger at home when out and about, just haven’t needed it. I treat it much more like a phone. Charge overnight, use during the day, rinse and repeat.

[bobthemonkey]

wyson said:

Just to add to the chorus saying Mac M1 or M2 chip of some kind is the best option if you value battery life.

My Macbook Pro M1 lasts a full 8 hours no issues doing general work, MS Office, browsing the web etc.

I always leave the charger at home when out and about, just haven’t needed it. I treat it much more like a phone. Charge overnight, use during the day, rinse and repeat.

Absolutely agree with this utterly fantastic battery life on the M1 chips and can be had for really quite reasonable money on the Apple refurb store. Before I got an M1, I used to use an Anker ~10,000mAh with a 65w output to keep the old laptop topped up.

[richhead]

I have a lenovo ideapad, nice and small, runs windows and battery lasts a good 8 hours, as a laptop its never going to set the world on fire, but for emails , surfing etc its ample. plus only cost around £150 new

[sgrimshaw]

You could always look at getting a second battery for the laptop if you're never near a mains outlet during the day.

FWIW .. my experience with Anker Products has been very positive .. never had a problem with any of them (kiss of death there then!!)

I'd look for the highest rated output you can afford (and carry) ... something like these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09VPHVT2Z?psc=1&r...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BYNZXFM2?psc=1&r...

If you travel by air it's worth bearing in mind there is a maximum capacity allowed for power banks, the actual maximum seems to vary by airline around the world, but all seem to allow a 20,000mah/100w unit.

[loudlashadjuster]

sgrimshaw said:

You could always look at getting a second battery for the laptop if you're never near a mains outlet during the day.

FWIW .. my experience with Anker Products has been very positive .. never had a problem with any of them (kiss of death there then!!)

I'd look for the highest rated output you can afford (and carry) ... something like these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09VPHVT2Z?psc=1&r...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BYNZXFM2?psc=1&r...

If you travel by air it's worth bearing in mind there is a maximum capacity allowed for power banks, the actual maximum seems to vary by airline around the world, but all seem to allow a 20,000mah/100w unit.

Very few (no?) laptops have easily swappable batteries nowadays, certainly no decent ultrabook-style ones.

I ditched the supplied laptop power supply and just carry the smallest power supply I can find (Anker Nano II) and PD USB-C cable. Even if you can only snatch some mains power for 20-30 mins it will charge more than a bigger battery pack will manage.



Considering you need to have a charger anyway, this means you can travel light, and no problems with planes etc. Charges your phone/ipad too so you only need one adapter.

[Teddy Lop]

sgrimshaw said:

You could always look at getting a second battery for the laptop if you're never near a mains outlet during the day.

FWIW .. my experience with Anker Products has been very positive .. never had a problem with any of them (kiss of death there then!!)

I'd look for the highest rated output you can afford (and carry) ... something like these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09VPHVT2Z?psc=1&r...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BYNZXFM2?psc=1&r...

If you travel by air it's worth bearing in mind there is a maximum capacity allowed for power banks, the actual maximum seems to vary by airline around the world, but all seem to allow a 20,000mah/100w unit.

I've found replacement batteries for laptops/phones to be universally shyte.

OP: Leftfield suggestion... Do you have any decent cordless power tools? If so their batteries should have decent discharge rates, so a voltage reducer (or inverter) might make them a dual tasker?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CF92PCGW/ref=sspa_dk...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mellif-Inverter-Milwaukee...

[silentbrown]

Kermit power said:

I would imagine you're going to need at least a 65W power bank. Something like this Anker should do the job.

That's 2.4AH, so will give you about another 40% if your laptop has a 5AH battery. (Note that efficiency of battery to battery charge won't be 100%)

Another vote for Macbook M1/M2 - battery life is excellent.

[Teddy Lop]

silentbrown said:

That's 2.4AH, so will give you about another 40% if your laptop has a 5AH battery. (Note that efficiency of battery to battery charge won't be 100%)

Another vote for Macbook M1/M2 - battery life is excellent.

Worth bearing in mind the rated capacity can be a little optimistic... I have several ankers of the budget end and the measured full charge from flat is closer to half whats stamped on them. (Whether that's common across these devices if used in sub optimal conditions rather than a brand issue I have no idea, look at battery car manufacturer claims vs. owner experience.)