We tested 10 power banks in our lab - and this one had the fastest charge

power banks in our lab - and this one had the fastest charge">

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The hidden hero behind all our favorite tech devices is the power bank . Power banks charge our devices while on the go, whether you're camping , traveling, or just away from a power source for a few hours. While some have handy features like different port options, or a slimmer or more durable build, or safety precautions, the thing that really matters most is how fast a power bank charges.

We compared 10 power banks from popular brands like Anker, Baseus, and UGREEN, based on our gadget reviewer Adrian Kingsley-Hughes ' recommendations from his real-world testing, as well as the products we've tested in our Louisville-based lab . Our goal was to measure power banks' energy data rather than manufacturer specifications or onboard charge indicators to determine the approximate charge-completion times.

Based on our data-driven comparison process of how quickly each unit reached charge milestones of 50%, 80%, and 100%, the power bank that charged the fastest was the Cuktech 15 Air .

To test these power banks, we used a HOBOware plug load logger to measure the energy (Wh) drawn from the wall to charge each power bank from 0% to 100% battery. All units were charged using a 70W USB-C power adapter. The logger recorded energy consumption at one-minute intervals, and we then summed these per-minute readings to obtain the total cumulative energy used over the charge cycle.