Working is hard, and when your laptop is close to dying, it’s even harder. Fortunately, a high-capacity power bank can save the day when you’re low on battery and outlets are out of reach—or if you need to charge your phone or another small device during a power outage. After 12 hours of research and 19 hours of testing, we’ve determined that the ZMI PowerPack 20000 is the best power bank for laptops that charge via USB-C. It fully recharges most laptops at least once at top speed, yet it’s compact enough to carry in a backpack, a laptop bag, or even most purses. Plus, it doubles as a hub, adding ports to your laptop.
Our pick
ZMI PowerPack 20000
The ZMI PowerPack 20000 can charge phones, tablets, and most laptops. It doubles as a hub, adding extra ports to your laptop, and it weighs less than a pound.
Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $60.
The ZMI PowerPack 20000 is the total package. Its hub functionality—an uncommon feature that we insisted on for the laptop-focused power banks in this guide because we think it’s particularly useful—lets you recharge a laptop over the USB-C port while also powering or transferring data to your other devices over its two USB-A ports. If you have a laptop that has only USB-C ports, this means you don’t need separate adapters to use USB-A devices such as wired mice or keyboards.
Charging efficiency always varies depending on the age of your devices and the number of programs you’re running, but the PowerPack 20000 has enough battery capacity to fully charge laptops such as the 13-inch MacBook Air or Dell XPS 13 at least once, the Nintendo Switch at least twice, or a smartphone like the iPhone 13 or Samsung Galaxy S21 about three times. And while some laptops need more power to charge at maximum speeds, the PowerPack 20000’s 40-watt-rated output is powerful enough to work with a wide range of models, charging smaller Chromebooks at their maximum speeds and larger MacBooks at respectable rates. To top it all, the PowerPack 20000 has a sleek, sophisticated look compared with most power banks—it’s not much bigger than a Hershey’s chocolate bar, and it weighs less than a pound.
Maximum measured output: 40 watts
Maximum measured input: 60 watts
Capacity rating: 20,000 mAh
Weight: 0.9 pound
Also great
ZMI PowerPack 20K Pro
This sleek, slim charger has two USB-A ports and a USB-C port that lets you charge most laptops (and the charger itself) with up to 60 watts of power.
Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $86.
If you have a large, power-hungry laptop (for gaming or video and photo editing, for instance) and want to charge it while running lots of programs, the ZMI PowerPack 20K Pro is better suited to your needs than the PowerPack 20000. It’s nearly identical, except it offers a higher maximum output rating (60 watts) than any other portable charger we’ve tested. It’s not our top pick because it won’t offer a noticeable improvement for most people, especially with Chromebooks and other laptops that don’t need the extra power, and at this writing it costs about $30 more. But the PowerPack 20K Pro is a great option if you want to charge a heavy-duty laptop (or even a moderately sized laptop like the 13-inch MacBook Pro at the fastest possible speed), or if our top pick is out of stock.
Like the PowerPack 20000, the PowerPack 20K Pro doubles as a hub, so you can plug keyboards, flash drives, and other peripheral devices into its USB-A ports. Just like its twin, it weighs just 0.9 pound, and it’s slim and sleek enough to be easily slipped into a backpack or briefcase pocket. It also has the same rated capacity and the same USB-A output ports.
Maximum measured output: 60 watts
Maximum measured input: 60 watts
Capacity rating: 20,000 mAh
Weight: 0.9 pound
