Best Power Banks for Working From Home

A laptop-capable power bank is a different category of product than the phone charger most people picture. The defining specs are USB-C Power Delivery output (65W minimum to keep a 13-inch laptop topped up, 100W or higher for a 16-inch MacBook Pro under load), capacity in watt-hours not just milliamp-hours, and FAA carry-on legality. The 100Wh ceiling matters more than buyers realize: anything over 100Wh requires airline approval and is often refused at the gate, and most 27,000mAh+ packs sit just under that line by design. Watch out for the marketing math: a 100W rating almost always describes a single port. Plug two laptops in and total output drops to a 65W plus 30W split, or sometimes lower. If you charge multiple devices, look for the multi-port wattage breakdown in the spec sheet, not the headline. For coffee shop work, prioritize fast input recharge over capacity - a power bank that takes 4 hours to refill is dead weight on a Sunday evening. Modern packs recharge in 60-90 minutes when paired with the right wall charger. Slim form factor matters in a laptop bag: the Baseus Blade, Anker Prime, and Anker MagGo lines are the slim-side picks; Anker 737, INIU 100W, and UGREEN Nexode 145W are brick-shaped and heavier. Built-in cables (Anker Laptop Power Bank, Anker 20K 87W) eliminate the cable you always forget. Smart-display models are worth the small price bump - knowing exactly how many minutes of charge are left beats guessing from a four-LED bar. Avoid no-name 30000mAh+ packs from unfamiliar brands on Amazon; they almost always overstate capacity, lack proper UL or CE certification, and skip the protection circuits that prevent thermal runaway. Anker, UGREEN, INIU, Baseus, Mophie, and Belkin all maintain the certifications and quality control to trust on a flight.