These days, it is not unusual for travelers to have power-hungry mobile devices in tow. Whether it is a mobile phone, travel camera, tablet, laptop or some other mobile device, there is definitely a battery that needs to be recharged. Imagine the frustration of not having a portable charger with you during your trip. Here are some power bank travel restrictions to keep in mind so you can always fly with one:
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POWER BANK TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS – CARRYING A POWER BANK DURING FLIGHT
Yes! You can now take a power bank with you aboard a plane – provided you carry it with your luggage into the cabin. Power banks cannot be checked in along with your luggage. It is no secret that batteries have that tendency to react chemically during a flight and when they do, they can be promptly managed when they are in the cabin versus in the cargo hold.
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POWER BANK TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS – CAPACITY
Avoid carrying a power bank that is enough to energize an entire neighborhood. If you do not want to go through the hassle of obtaining airline approval to take your portable charger on flight, make sure that you are bringing one with a capacity of no more than 100Wh. A power source above this capacity but less than 160Wh will require you to obtain approval from the airline that you can take it aboard the plane. Anything more than 160Wh cannot be hand-carried.
How to Calculate Power Bank Capacity
Perhaps your primary concern is the capacity of your power bank being indicated in mAh instead of Wh. If your portable power source does not indicate capacity in terms of Wh, you can compute it using the following formula: (mAh/1000) x voltage = Wh.
Nowadays, the large majority of power bank manufacturers display the capacity of the battery in mAh.
The large majority of airlines accept battery packs that have a maximum of 27000 mAh as a carry-on.
This means that you can carry a power bank that has a maximum capacity of 27000 mAh and 100 Wh as a carry-on on the large majority of commercial airlines. Also, most airlines accept a maximum of 2 of these batteries per traveler.
WHAT MODELS DO WE SUGGEST?
For all the reasons listed above, in our opinion, the best power banks need these exact specifications: 27000 mAh, 100 Wh and a minimum of 100W PD of output. This last requirement (100W PD) will allow you to charge a compatible laptop.
The Zendure SuperTank fits all of these requirements and is quite compact. On top of that, it’s super rugged. Perfect for the road.
Other good options include the Anker 737 Power Bank and the EASYLONGER Laptop Power Bank.
However if you don’t plan on using your power bank to recharge a laptop, a 45W output is sufficient since it is the maximum input that modern smartphones can receive. In fact, even the most recent iPhones can’t take anything above 27W of input!
This means that the Anker PowerCore+ is what you need. Remember that, with power banks, you usually get what you pay for!
