Can I use mobile power bank for laptop?

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Want more battery life on the go? You can get a portable charger for nearly any laptopwhether it has USB-or not. Portable battery chargers arent just for smartphones. Throw one in your bag and youll always have some backup power.

USB-C Chargers (for Laptops That Charge Over USB-C)

imuto

Many modern laptops come with USB-C Power Delivery for charging. For example, Apples newer MacBook computers charge via a USB-C cable. This is becoming common on new PC laptops, tooespecially thin-and-light models.

If your laptop can charge via USB-C PD, you can plug in a portable charger that supports USB-C and charge from it. But you cant use just any battery: Youll want a battery that offers enough charging speed (watts) to charge your laptop and enough capacity (mAh) to fill it up. Smaller portable batteries intended for charging smartphones often dont offer enough of either for a laptop.

A battery designed to charge a laptop may be a bit heavier, but it can still fit nicely in a laptop bag or backpack. Weve gotgood USB-C battery picks for laptops and larger devices. Our best overall pick is imutos 45 W power bank at $60.

Unfortunately, while USB-C Power Delivery is supposed to be a standard that lets you charge any laptop with any standard USB-C charger, it doesnt always work this way in the real world. Back in 2015, PCWorld found that not every laptop could charge with every charger. The only way to know for sure whether it will work is to try a charger with your laptop. You might want to find reviews that say whether a charger youre interested in works with your laptopor just purchase one from a store with a good return policy.

RELATED: The Best USB-C Batteries for Your Laptop, Nintendo Switch, or Smartphone

AC Chargers (for Laptops Without USB-C Charging)

Mophie

If youve got a laptop without USB-C chargingand lets be honest, thats most laptops people are using these daysyoull need a portable AC charger.

This is exactly what it sounds like. Picture a big battery complete with an AC outlet. You plug your laptops charging cable into it just like youd plug your laptop into a standard AC power outlet.

We say these work for most laptops because they can only deliver so much wattage. They may not be able to charge extremely power-hungry gaming laptops, for example. Check your laptop to see what it needs.

These chargers are more expensive and heavier-duty than your average USB-C charger. However, theyre also more flexibleyou can plug nearly any device with a standard AC power connection into one. Its a power bank that can function for a wide variety of devices in a wide variety of situations.

Wirecutter recommends the Mophie Powerstation AC, which can deliver 100 W of power output and is still slim enough to slip into a bag. It costs $200. For a more inexpensive option, Wirecutter also liked the RAVPower 27000, which offers 700 W of power for $130 but has an unwieldy charging cord and power brick.

These are far from the only options, and youll find many portable laptop chargers and power banks that can provide AC power both in online stores and brick-and-mortar electronics stores.

RELATED: USB Type-C Explained: What is USB-C and Why You'll Want it

New Batteries (for Laptops With Removable Batteries)

Of course, if your laptop has a user-removable batterythese arent too common anymore, but they still existyou can also just purchase a second battery for it and swap it in when you run out of power.

However, youll have to power off your laptop to swap the battery. Swapping the battery is often pretty inconvenient, too. Its still worth considering if you have a laptop where the battery is easily swappable, as rare as those are becoming.

Just watch out for counterfeit, low-quality batteries.