It’s no secret that most people perceive power banks as devices intended only for charging small devices such as smartphones, headphones or watches. Analogues for laptops are largely the same – it is difficult to distinguish them from the outside. Instead, the key differences lie internally. So how do you make the right choice based on usage features?

The main difference is current and voltage

The power needs of smartphones and laptops differ greatly. Therefore, if you connect an ordinary low-power PowerBank to the laptop, at best it will charge so slowly that it consumes energy faster than it receives it. At worst, it won’t react at all.

Firstly, be careful with the power. It should be equal to or greater than the power of the laptop charger. You should look for this information on your computer; They all have a special information label. Power in Watts (W), output voltage in Volts (V) and current in Amperes (A) are displayed here.

Conventional power banks offer an output voltage of five volts (sometimes eight). They also use a small current of about one amp. But the laptop will not charge under such modest parameters. It requires an output voltage of more than 12 volts and a current of at least 3 amps. If it is less, charging will be extremely slow.

Do you have enough capacity?

Laptops have significantly larger batteries than smartphones. This isn’t surprising, since they need to power a massive always-on display, keyboard, trackpad, and many other elements not found on a phone.

Similar to the previous indicator, you must first find out the battery capacity of your laptop. This can be done on the store or manufacturer’s website, in the technical documentation or at checkout.

The most suitable option is 20,000 milliamp hours. But do not forget that there are a lot of fakes in this segment. There are frequent cases when scammers fill battery boxes with sand to increase the mass, and the real capacity is very small. Therefore, it is worth remembering that large capacity devices are expensive. Buy them only from authorized and verified suppliers.

Pay attention to connectors

Unfortunately, not every laptop can be charged via a power bank. The fact is that ordinary USB is too weak to transmit the necessary energy, so manufacturers have equipped their computers with special charging ports (usually round plugs). Modern ones already have a powerful USB Type-C designed for a current of 100 watts. Therefore, if your charging socket is of the old type, you should consider alternatives – for example, a charging station or a generator for a private home. But you can also purchase a special adapter for the standard round power connector. However, if you have a more modern laptop, you can use a power bank.

Ultimately what you need to know The presence of a Type-C port of the bi-directional 3.1 standard on a laptop does not guarantee its operation from a power bank:

• A cable that supports this standard is also required for the power bank. If the laptop’s power bank comes with its own cable out of the box, there’s nothing to worry about. However, not all manufacturers sell the cable with the power bank; sometimes it needs to be purchased separately. If you choose the wrong one, at best you won’t get the result you want, at worst you will damage your computer. Be sure to check the packaging in which the cable is sold to ensure that its features match the needs of the power bank. You should not save money when choosing a cable, because cheap ones do not work well, interrupt charging or do not charge the laptop at all.
• Not every laptop with Type-C can be charged with it. Take a close look at your USB-C port. If you see a sign next to it with a plug for an outlet, that port supports charging. If there is a sign similar to the letter D, it means DisplayPort support. If there is a mark of USB only, your Type-C only supports data transfer. So, in the last two cases, the power bank will not be of any use to you.