High power USB-C batteries can keep your laptop charged while on the go

Portable batteries have become more stylish, cheaper, smaller and faster to charge your technology. Further improvements are underway, thanks to gallium nitride (GaN), an alternative to silicon that is more energy efficient and more energy efficient than it is already found in some wall chargers. Although this progress is interesting, it mainly affects devices with small batteries. Wall chargers are not very useful if you are traveling.

As more and more laptops and other very powerful devices adopt USB-C and move away from proprietary power outlets, large, powerful batteries can increase your power adapters and ideally allow you to to charge multiple devices at the same time. And now, a number of options are positioning themselves on the market to achieve this.

We have tested some models currently available, as well as others that will be released soon. The list includes Zendure's SuperTank, Sanho's HyperJuice and Tanker Elite and Tanker Xtreme from J-Go Tech. They all have some things in common: they are neither small nor light. Your bag will earn more than a few ounces if you stick one inside. Each of these batteries has USB-C Power Delivery ports capable of providing at least 65W of power (and in most cases up to 100W). This means that they are probably powerful enough to charge most laptops and replace some wall chargers that you usually keep in your bag. Each option also has multiple ports to allow simultaneous charging of other devices. Finally, you will see continuous charging in each battery, which means that you can route the power through their respective ports while charging the battery.

These batteries meet your expectations: quickly charge your devices and keep them alive longer. Less expensive batteries, suitable for devices requiring less energy, keep phones and most tablets for days. But if you're using a Mac laptop, a new iPad Pro, a Google Pixelbook or a Windows 10 laptop that is charging via USB-C, a bigger, more powerful battery is a smart choice, especially if you play the game. , or other energy-hungry activities that tend to quickly deplete a battery.

What do you get for your money

Adding up costs, it's clear that trying to live life away from power outlets is not a boon. At the very least, your purchase will provide you with a battery and a USB-C to USB-C cable that can support a fast charge. It is worth noting that it is worth noting the right cable because not all USB-C cables are created equally. You will have to pay extra for a charger that can charge these batteries quickly, unless you find one that comes with your battery. At half the cost of the battery itself (and sometimes more), it's worth buying one, if only for its convenience. You can certainly use a less powerful USB-C charger to fill one, but unless you recharge overnight, it is an unsustainably slow process that will make you lose a lot of hours in your day. .

Priced at $ 129, the J-Go Tech Elite Tanker is one of the most affordable options we've tested. It's not that bad, but it's before you consider the cost of the wall charger needed to quickly charge the battery in about an hour. The 87W charger you can buy with the J-Go Elite Tech Tanker takes only 80 minutes to recharge the total capacity of 20,800 mAh. For convenience, you'll need to pay $ 164 to get the battery with an included 87W wall charger. If you want more power, J-Go Tech's 100W battery-less charging kit costs $ 79.99 at Amazon and includes a USB-C to USB-C braided cable, as well as universal plug adapters. Although the Elite does not have the best selection or portability (I would much prefer a second USB-C port rather than a Micro USB port, even if your mileage may vary) It will be one of the most economical batteries once the other options are no longer available with crowdfunding cuts.

J-Go Tech's Tanker Xtreme offers more capacity (27,000 mAh versus 20,800 mAh for Elite) and better port selection (a second USB-C port instead of Elite's Micro USB port). It is available for sale on Amazon with its 87W wall charger for $ 249.99.

At $ 99, the Zendure SuperTank is currently the least expensive option (the battery will rise to $ 149 after fundraising in June 2019), and its SuperHub multi-port charger that can charge it at speeds of 100W is $ 69 (it will also go in June to $ 100). Most of the batteries we tested have the shape of large TV remotes, but the SuperTank is smaller and much bigger. This could make it a difficult fit in the thinnest pockets, but I am personally very pleased with its design, as it allows Zendure to adapt to a good selection of ports, including 100W USB-C ports. and 60W and USB-A 15W and 18W ports.

The Zendure SuperHub primarily reflects the ports available on the SuperTank. It has USB-C ports of 100W and 18W and a pair of USB-A ports of 18W. If you need to charge multiple USB-C devices at once, the SuperHub is an ideal option.

The price of the Sanho HyperJuice is $ 159 during its fundraising process, but will cost $ 299 thereafter – not to mention its 100W charger. This accessory currently costs $ 39 more at Indiegogo, but will cost $ 79 when it comes out later this month. It's quite simple, and aside from a 100W USB input to charge your battery (or just to power your device), it offers a USB-A port to let your iPhone, or other device, at full capacity.

To compare some other USB-C chargers currently on the market, Apple's $ 79,879 USB-C power supply will do the job, but will not be as fast as a 100W charger. The slightly cheaper USB-C 45W charger from Google, priced at 60 USD, will make you wait even longer before the devices recharge.

Test the batteries

To test these batteries, I used the Microsoft Surface Book 2 because it can charge on USB-C, and it is notorious to ask for a lot of power adapter. The USB-C charging port of this notebook consumed a maximum of 87W during testing, which I was able to see with a USB-C multimeter. I have done many activities to see the impact of these batteries on the life of these batteries, including powering the machine off, again by browsing some websites and finally playing. Sekiro: the shadows are dying twice, a game that this machine has trouble performing at its native screen resolution.

All the batteries we tested were able to maintain and accumulate a charge. There was however an initial problem. The first SuperTank model from Zendure did not live up to the advertised capabilities, with an output power of 54 W, whatever the task at hand. The company stated that the unit we were testing was a prototype and that it had been sent to a finalized unit that had no problem.

Most of the time, the batteries oscillate between 60 and 80W, depending on the momentary energy needs. And while I hacked the end of the game Sekirothis proved to be enough for the Surface Book 2 to slowly build a load. When the batteries fall around the 50% mark, I noticed a slight drop in the flow in each of them to about 54W. Although this is not enough to load the Surface Book 2 during the game, it will slow down the drop. If you do not play or do intensive work such as video rendering, this should not be a problem.

There were some other oddities to note: they all exposed a few moments when the batteries of the laptop (one box in the keyboard and another in the detachable tablet) did not recharge during the game but press Alt + Tab, then change the power mode of the PC to get the "better battery life" instead of the "best performance" has calmed the fans and allowed the battery to fill up completely, but without affecting the game performance. This is most likely a Surface Book problem.

In addition, all the batteries I tested have, at some point, revealed an error in Windows 10, stating that the battery was slow or that the USB device was incompatible. Removing the plug and putting it back in place usually solved the problem, but among the batteries we tried, HyperJuice was the most problematic. This may be another Surface Book quirk, or it may be related to Windows 10. Other devices did not have as many issues and I did not encounter any such warnings when I used them to load a MacBook Pro.

In terms of surprises, J-Go Tech's affordable Elite Tanker has exceeded its expected 65W production limit. He was able to load the Surface Book 2 as fast as the others up to 87W, which is impressive, if not a bit confusing.

Each battery lasted approximately one hour while Surface Book 2 was being charged. In dead state, 27,000 mAh (SuperTank, HyperJuice and Tanker Xtreme) batteries were able to provide approximately 46% of the power of the battery. the laptop before needing to be recharged. This may not seem like a feat, but it should be noted that this laptop distributes the load fairly evenly on its two batteries, giving the keyboard battery the same power found in the tablet.

We also tested these batteries with a 2016 MacBook Pro and the Google Pixelbook. Both machines consume less power than the Surface Book 2 (61W for the MacBook Pro, 45W for the Pixelbook) and each battery easily meets its power requirements. The Zendure SuperTank fully charged the Pixelbook in about 90 minutes and he had 41% of his battery left. If you use one of these batteries to stay in place while performing light tasks without a charger, the HyperJuice is able to do this by losing only 10% of its capacity after one hour of use. Other 27,000 mAh batteries should give you similar results for both computers.

What big battery is worth the money?

All of these batteries are powerful and, unless you can not compromise even a few watts, the purchase decision depends on your design preference, the selection of ports and of course your budget.

For more energy, the J-Go Tech Tanker Xtreme offers plenty of juice, a good variety of ports and, as it includes an 87W wall charger, its set offers the best value for money. The Zendure SuperTank is a compact and awesome package that offers the best selection of ports. If you are able to buy it cheaper during fundraising, the value is also good.

If you're hoping to do more work without a wall outlet, they can all help you do it. Each of them is able to direct a lot of energy to a single device and distribute it to multiple devices simultaneously, such as a phone, wireless headphones and a Nintendo switch. We are planning even more options by 2019, but the first batch of big, powerful batteries is impressive.

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