Anker Power Bank, 20,000mAh Travel Essential, Built-in USB-C Cable(Black)

Why it's worth it

This Anker holds 20,000 mAh and pushes 87 watts across three ports, with 65 watts available to a single device. That's enough to charge a laptop at full speed, and it refills itself in about an hour and a half.

If you carry a laptop, this is the bank to buy. Most solar power banks cap USB-C output around 18 to 22 watts, which Wirecutter notes is nowhere near the 45-watt minimum a laptop needs. This one does 65. Tom's Guide found a 20,000 mAh, 65-watt bank takes a 13-inch MacBook Pro from empty to full in roughly 90 minutes — that's wall-charger territory from something in your bag.

It's the natural partner for a panel. Park it in the sun connected to the BigBlue during the day, then charge your phone and laptop from it after dark. That two-piece setup beats every all-in-one solar bank we looked at, because the battery is sized properly and the panel is sized properly instead of both being compromised into one shell.

From our review of 8 solar power banks and portable chargers, by Michael Grant, Lead Editor, Electronics

What we like

• +If you carry a laptop, this is the bank to buy
• +It's the natural partner for a panel
• +The built-in USB-C cable is rated past 10,000 bends, and the 20,000 mAh capacity clears TSA carry-on rules
• +Anker's reliability record does most of the arguing here

What to know

• –It's the heaviest of the three banks here and it costs meaningfully more than the INIU for capacity you may not use
• –The first full charge takes a long stretch on a low-wattage adapter, and several owners were caught out by that overnight wait