Best battery packs for smartphones: Portable power

There is nothing worse than running out of power on your phone. Well, there is, but when it happens it feels like the worst thing in the world.

Unfortunately, as advanced as smartphones have become in recent years, battery life is still something they haven’t quite nailed. Some will last most of the day, others might get you through most of the evening too, but that’s assuming you aren’t spending all your time on WhatsApp, catching Pokemon or stalking Facebook.

Doing any of those will see that battery bar deplete. Rapidly. That’s where battery packs and portable chargers come in. They have been around for years so when it comes to your options, there are hundreds.

You’ll find small ones that will fit in you pocket but only give you a small bit of extra juice, as well as larger ones that will charge your phone three times over. We’ve rounded up a selection of the best battery pack and power bank options out there to make sure your phone keeps up with you.

Amazon

Mophie

This Mophie battery portable charger is available with a Lightning cable, or Micro-USB and there are also different capacities available. There is no USB Type-C option as yet.

BATTERY CAPACITY: 5000mAh

PRICE: Around £75.00 from Amazon (Lightning)

Amazon

RavPower

This RavPower power bank has the largest capacity of those listed in this feature and it comes with a USB Type-C input and output, as well as a USB port. It is also compatible with Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 3.0 technology and it comes with two Micro-USB cables and a USB Type-C adapter.

BATTERY CAPACITY: 20,100mAh

PRICE: Around £14 from Amazon

OnePlus

OnePlus

The OnePlus portable charger comes in black and white options and it is nice and slim so should slide into your pocket. It has two connections and it is great value for its capacity.

BATTERY CAPACITY: 10,000mAh

PRICE: £16.00 from OnePlus

Amazon

Belkin

This Belkin portable battery pack is small enough to fit in your pocket and is compatible with any USB-enabled advice. It also comes in five colours including black, blue, pink, red and green in case you want colourful power.

BATTERY CAPACITY: 2000mAh

PRICE: Around £10 from Amazon

Amazon

Samsung

This Samsung battery pack is larger than the Belkin so you’ll need a bigger pocket, or a bag. It will charge your smartphone several times over though and it offers fast charge.

BATTERY CAPACITY: 10,200mAh

PRICE: Around £45 from Amazon

Amazon

Anker

This Anker battery pack is claimed to be as light as a can of soup and like the Samsung, it also offer fast charging technology. Anker says it will charge an Apple iPhone 7 nearly seven times or a Samsung Galaxy S6 five times before it needs recharging itself.

BATTERY CAPACITY: 20,000mAh

PRICE: Around £30 from Amazon

Amazon

Aukey

This Aukey power bank has a standard USB 3.0 port, along with a USB Type-C port and a Micro-USB port. The company claims it will charge an iPhone 7 Plus or a Google Pixel four and a half times. It has Quick Charge 2.0 on board too.

BATTERY CAPACITY: 20,000mAh

PRICE: Around £30 from Amazon

Amazon

PNY

This PNY portable battery pack is quite a lot smaller in capacity than the Samsung and Anker options, but it has a Lightning and Micro-USB capable built-in so you don’t need to remember your cable, unless you have a USB Type-C device.

BATTERY CAPACITY: 3000mAh

PRICE: Around £24 from Amazon