BioLite have introduced the Charge 100 Max 25,000mAh portable charger giving a serious power bank for travellers, writes Mike Gormley.
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This is a chunky power bank charger with a lot of features and loads of power, rated at 25,000mAh, which can even repower a laptop twice or most smart phones five times when fully charged.
Weighing in at 580g and measuring 140x112x35mm it is perhaps a bit large to carry in a daysack, unless you have several power hungry devices to recharge. However for the traveller with less walking to do, and especially if working while on the move, this unit offers a lot of features which can help you keep a variety of devices powered up and ready.
The Charge 100W Max power bank, the largest in the BioLite range at present, has 2x 100W USB-C PD, 1x 15W USB-C, and 1x 15W USB-A ports plus 1x15W Wireless deck making it suitable for use with the majority of devices these days. Importantly for the long-distance traveller, it is declared as being ‘air safe’ for those that need to carry power banks on aircraft. Note: Commercial aviation rules dictate power banks (like lithium batteries) must be kept in your hand luggage on the aircraft and should not be put in the hold and also be aware individual airline policy on using portable chargers in flight varies, so always check beforehand.
In addition to allowing several different types of device to be powered individually or simultaneously, another really good feature of the Charge 100W Max is the ability to repower phones using an induction pad on the top; this is magnetic so holds the device safe on the move. This pad will operate alongside other plugged-in devices so is great if you need to get everything re-powered and running before heading out. The Charge 100W Max is robust and of a good shape and is relatively non-slip so should not ‘go walkabout’ on a moving table.
In my opinion this unit is very travel capable and it is well able to keep laptop or tablet, plus phones, cameras, torches, etc. recharged. As many as five devices can be topped up at the same time and then the unit can be recharged itself when you are in the vicinity of a mains power source.
[images © Mike Gormley]
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