UPDATE 4/2025: My current recommendation is the INIU P50-E1. It weighs 5.6 oz, outputs up to 45W, inputs 20W so it charges in ~2 hours, has a percentage display and three USB ports, and costs $30. It has slightly lower capacity than the Veektomx, but is otherwise superior.

UPDATE 7/2024: I have tested this new Anker power bank which charges with a built-in plug at 30W with passthrough charging. It only has a built in USB C cable and one USB C port, but it is otherwise superior to the Anker reviewed in this post. I still prefer the Veektomx.

I'm getting back on the PCT in a few weeks, so I decided to spend a couple days looking at what's out there right now. This spreadsheet has become outdated, with many of the options no longer available, and Nitecore not an option for me. If you love Nitecore, great, I'm happy for you. I've seen too many reliability issues on trail, it only has 2 ports, no display, and it's ridiculously expensive for what you get.

A note about price and reliability: none of these power banks are meant to take the abuse we put them through on a thru hike, so I can't fault any of them for failing in the field. However, when they do, you don't have time for a warranty replacement, you need a new power bank immediately and affordably. Preferably, it needs to be at your next town stop in a couple days via Amazon Prime and cost no more than $30ish.

The next most popular recommendation as of late is the Anker Nano. It charges at 30W, and will take about 1.5 hours to fully charge. It also has a built-in cable and two ports so you can charge up to 3 devices at once. Cost is currently $35 and weight is 7.7 oz. However, you need to buy a 30W wall plug and any extra cables you need. It's also the clunkiest size; small and thick.

This is...okay, but the major issue for me is that it doesn't do pass through charging. So I can't just hook everything up and forget about it; I need to charge it first and then charge my devices or use a multi-port plug or multiple plugs. This is a huge hassle, added weight, and cost. This is the option for you if you prioritize faster charge times and value a reliable brand name, but I don't know if it's worth the drawbacks.

Next, I looked at the Veektomx, the overall best power bank out there right now in terms of price, size, weight, and technology according to this recent video.

The Veektomx is currently $22 and weighs 6 oz. That's only slightly heavier than the Nitecore, except it also has a percentage display and an extra port. It'll fully charge in ~3 hours and it does have passthrough charging. I was able to charge from USB C at 19W and (oddly) the micro USB port between 10-15W depending on if I had anything else connected. You do have to carry a wall plug and extra cables, bringing the weight around the same as the other two options and no built-in cables means you can charge at most 2 devices. This is the viable option if you want the best combination of weight, size, price, and charge time at the cost of fiddlyness with having to switch out more devices to charge everything.

And that's it! I looked at literally hundreds of other options, including a lot of higher capacity power banks with better features, but none were worth pursuing due to price, weight, availability, feature set, etc.

More pics for comparison.

The short version, it's really a 3000mAh real world battery bank advertised as a 5000mAh battery bank. The long version is as followed:

I bought one of these Anker Nano Power Bank (22.5W, Built-In USB-C Connector) model A1653 from Best Buy when my wife and I got our new Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra because she carries a 10,000mAh Samsung battery bank in her purse that was heavy and I thought, hey, these Anker Nano power bank has 5000mAh advertised capacity, and the Samsung S24 Ultra also has 5000mAh capacity, so it should be able to charge her phone from drained to 100%, right? Wrong! The power bank will start strong, but quickly overheats and won't charge at the faster speed, I am guessing the internal protection limits the power output when it gets to a certain temp. A fully charged Anker Nano power bank will only charge her phone about 55-65% while idled, and will get really hot. And, it won't let you charge it until it cools down.

At first I thought maybe we got a defective unit, so I exchanged it at Best Buy, but the new unit does the same thing. So I reached out to Anker support, and this is what they replied:

" I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing issues with your Anker Nano Power Bank. It's important to note that power banks typically output around 60%-70% of their advertised capacity to the connected devices. This is due to energy lost in circuit heat and voltage conversion during the charging process. Therefore, a 5000mAh power bank may only effectively provide 3000-3500mAh to your device.

Regarding the power bank getting hot, it's normal for power banks to get warm during charging, but if it becomes too hot, that could be a concern. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the issue:

1. Ensure that you're using the power bank in a well-ventilated area and not under direct sunlight or in a hot environment.

2. Try using a different charging cable to see if the issue persists.

3. Avoid using the phone while it's charging from the power bank.

4. Allow the power bank to cool down before attempting to recharge it.

If after trying these steps the power bank still only partially charges your phone and gets excessively hot, it may be a defective unit. Since you've mentioned that similar issues were observed in reviews, it could also be a characteristic of this model. However, if you believe the heat issue is abnormal or if the charging performance is not meeting your expectations, considering an exchange might be a good option. "

Now, I own many Anker products, and for the most part, I love them, especially the Anker Prime 100W USB C Charger (model A2343), but I am thoroughly disappointed at Anker and this Nano Power Bank (22.5W, Built-In USB-C Connector) model A1653. I own several power banks over the years from reputable brands, but never one that doesn't perform up to it's advertised capacity. Most of the reviewers out there for this nano power bank never try using it to completely charge a phone, except this one Japanese reviewer "getget YUTAKA", who reported the same issues I discovered. This nano battery bank has extremely low efficiency and value, you will be lucky to get 3000mAh out of it, so don't advertise it as a 5000mAh battery bank, say it's a 3000mAh because that's all you are going to get.