Power Up

Charging splits into three questions and they need different products. Where do you put the phone down at home? How do you keep it alive away from a socket? And what happens in the car? This shelf answers all three, and it is worth knowing which one you are shopping for before you scroll, because a hundred and fourteen products is a lot to wade through blind.

Start with power banks. The small end is genuinely small: the Mini Keychain Emergency Power Bank, the Mini Race Car Emergency Keychain Power Bank and the Mini Solar Keychain Power Bank all live on a keyring, and the Portable AA Battery Travel Power Bank and the Snap-In Replaceable Battery Emergency Power Bank run on cells you can replace anywhere. These are not there to charge a phone fully. They are there to give you twenty percent and a taxi. The middle is where most people buy, and it is now dominated by magnetic packs that stick to the back of the phone: the Mini Slim Magnetic Magsafe Wireless Charger Powerbank, the Transparent Magnetic Mini Wireless Power Bank, the Double Energy Wireless Magnetic Power Bank, the Foldable MagSafe Wireless Phone Holder Power Bank and the Smart Magnetic Mini Power Bank, most of which double as a stand. The big end covers the High Capacity Quick Charge Laptop Powerbank and the Mega Charge Container-Style Power Bank, both over a hundred dollars, for people carrying a laptop.

Now the catch that matters most on this shelf. The capacity printed on a power bank is not what reaches your phone, and budget banks overstate it hardest. The cells inside run at a lower voltage than your phone charges at, and converting between the two loses energy as heat, so in practice you get roughly two thirds of the printed figure. A 10000 pack is about one and a half phone charges, not three. Anyone quoting a number that sounds too good is either measuring the cells rather than the output or simply making it up, and the reviews are where that shows: look for buyers counting actual charges rather than repeating the spec.

Magnetic banks have a second catch. They only grip properly on a phone with magnets built in, or on a case with a magnet ring in it. Put one on a plain phone or a thick case and it slides off, usually into your lap. Check what your phone and case actually are before you buy the magnetic version, because the same money buys a bigger cable-based pack. And a straight word on wireless charging in general: it is slower than a cable, it runs warmer, and it stops if the phone sits off-centre or there is a card or a thick case in between. It is worth it for the convenience of dropping the phone on a pad, not for speed. Buy the cable for the fast charge and the pad for the desk.

The desk and bedside group is huge. The 3in1 Magnetic Foldable Wireless Charger Stand Dock, the 4in1 Foldable Fast Wireless Charging Dock, the 3in1 Space Station Magnetic Wireless Charger Stand and the 5in1 Multi-Device Forklift Wireless Charging Station all take the phone, the watch and the earbuds off three separate cables. The Desktop Powerhouse Multi-Device Wireless Charger Stand, the PowerCloud USB Desktop Charging Station Power Strip and the 15in1 USB-C Wireless Charging Docking Station go further and clear the whole desk. For the car there is the Smart Auto-Clamping Car Wireless Charger and the Automatic Clamping Fast Wireless Car Charger with motorised arms, the simpler Transparent Car Wireless Magnetic Phone Charger, socket adapters like the 4in1 Retractable Fast Charging Car Lighter Charger and the Led Display Fast Car Dual USB Charger, and the Universal Car Seat USB Charger Gap Organizer, which fills the slot beside the seat and adds ports at the same time.

Solar deserves an honest paragraph of its own, because it is the most misunderstood thing here. The Emergency Hike Solar USB Portable Charger Panel, the Solar Fast Charging Ultra-Large Capacity Portable Powerbank, the Solar Power Foldable Travel Power Bank and the Window Solar Charger are all real and all useful, but a panel that size is a trickle. A full day in direct sun tops a bank up; it does not fill it. Charge the pack from the wall before you leave and treat the sun as backup rather than as your plan. The same realism applies to the USB Emergency Manual Phone Charger, which is a hand crank: minutes of talk time for a lot of winding, and worth having precisely for the day nothing else works.

One last thing about the shape of this collection. A large slice of it is furniture that charges. The Japanese Style Dimmable Bluetooth Speaker Wireless Charger Desk Lamp, the Wireless Charger Humidifier Bluetooth Speaker Night Lamp, the Sunrise Scene Himalayan Salt Led Lamp with Wireless Charger, the Modern Alarm Clock Wireless Charger Desk Lamp, the Shark Wireless Charger Lamp and the Bamboo Wood Slim Wireless Chargers are all objects first. Judge them as lamps and clocks, because the charging pad inside is much the same standard part in all of them. Same story with the Cool Wind Smart Power Bank Fan, the Cute Cat Mini Electric Hand Warmer Power Bank and the Power Bank Multifunctional Phone Charger Creative Notebook, which are a fan, a hand warmer and a notebook that happen to hold a battery. Prices across the shelf run from about nine dollars for a simple wall charger to two hundred and fifty for the lamp-and-speaker units. If you fly, remember that power banks belong in your cabin bag and never in checked luggage, and airlines cap the capacity they will accept, so check before you travel with a big one. Every product carries its rating and review count, shipping is free and most orders leave within a day.