How’s about a portable charger that’s got so much capacity that it can also start your car? That’s what we’ve got right here. Available on Amazon, Lighinthebox, dx.com or Grandado at around £53, this has an 11000mAh battery which will charge your phone multiple times without breaking a sweat.
Charge this for 5 hours via a USB-C cable and the small LED’s on the front will let you know when it’s full. Each one represents 25%, so you know how full the portable battery is when you’re carrying it around.
The battery is a little heavy – some 500 grams – but it is the price you pay for having such a large capacity.
Once you’ve topped it up from a standard mains charger (not supplied), you can then whack whatever cable you need into the USB port and charge your phone (or another USB-powered device) on the move. It outputs 2.4A.
In addition, a torch can be found on the top. Press and hold the rubberised button to turn it on, then tap to make it flash if you’re in trouble. It’s certainly bright and will help you if you need to search inside your car engine bay.
Why would you want to do that? Well, this charger also doubles as a 12 V jump starter. A handy carry bag has the necessary cabling, so it’s just a matter of ensuring there’s enough charge in the 70mai charger, then you plug in the clis and connect the jump starter to your car.
The positive (red) and negative end (black) needs to be attached to your car battery. These clips are very strong and very well made. Once done, a green light illuminates on the attachment. This means you can go ahead and try to start the car. However, if there’s a red light and an audible buzzer sound, it’s a sign that the clips are connected the wrong way round. You can also have a flickering green light This usually means that the voltage is too low – you can then press the small “boost” button and wait for the green light to stop flickering.
Once the car is started, you simply remove the clips and put everything back in the provided bag.
Overall
If you’ve got an older car, this could be well worth stashing in your glovebox for those times when your car battery just doesn’t want to play the game. However, I’ve used this far more as a portable charger than I have as a jump starter. As a charger, it’s excellent and will recharge your phone, your Bluetooth headphones or speakers several times over. A very powerful charger indeed.