Advice for Choosing Power Bank with USB-C

max105

Golden Member
Nov 10, 2000
1,139
0
76
I'm shopping for a new power bank to charge my phone & camera for up to 2-3 days while hiking in Patagonia.

I'm aiming for at least 10,000+ mAh capacity, and both USB-A & USB-C port for future proofing. I'm budgeting $10-12 per 10,000 mAh, but open to suggestions.

I found options with regular USB-C and USB-C Power Delivery (18W). I don't have a USB-C charging laptop yet, but is it worth paying more for the USB-C PD option for a chance of being compatible with a future laptop or other devices? Is PD 18W enough to be useful anyways?

Secondly, is it better to have two (2x) 10,000 mAh power banks versus one (1x) 20,000 mAh power bank? I don't know if lower or higher capacity power banks degrade faster. I do see a slight benefit of being able to charge more devices at once with several smaller power banks, but slightly more hassle to carry multiple power banks.
 

mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,671
160
106
Far as I know almost all of the powerbanks are some number of 18650 lithium cells with a charger circuit and a output circuit, so I tend buy them empty and put in the best fresh cells I can find (Lion wholesale). I have no experience though in big ones.