Power Bank: Can You Can Charge a Laptop With One? Yes, You Can!

For many students and adults who study or work at the local coffee shops or libraries, the low battery signal is something to be feared, especially if there is no unoccupied charging point in sight. But what there is a way around that?

Say goodbye to the days of fighting for those elusive charging points, or having your laptop run out of juice just before that important meeting where you forgot your charger.

The short answer to the question “can you charge a laptop with a power bank?” is a resounding yes! But of course, not any generic power bank will be able to power up a laptop. So, make sure you check for compatibility with your laptop.

Not sure how to pick the ideal power bank that can help your charge your laptop on the go? Our team of power bank experts at Aukey.sg has helped to put together a list of things you need to take note of when choosing a beefed-up power bank for this very purpose!

Read on to learn more! 

Does it have the required power output to charge a laptop?

The first and most important consideration of selecting a power bank that is able to charge up a dying laptop is to ensure it has sufficient power delivery or output. Charging up a small device like your mobile phone is different from a much more power-hungry device like your laptop.

As different models of laptops consume different amounts of energy, make sure you check your specific model of laptop to be sure of how much wattage is required to run the device. Simply google to check your laptop specs.

However, for the purpose of finding a power bank that is able to work with most normal laptops, let us look at average numbers. According to statistics from our friendly energy retailer iSwitch, the average laptop uses a range of 30 – 70 watts/hour – the higher end probably for laptops with a lot of processing power for gaming.

What does this mean? To charge an average laptop, you probably require a power bank with a power output of more than 50W. Of course, if you can opt for something with a higher power output the better too, as it will be able to charge your laptop more quickly too.

Important: If you use a power bank with insufficient power output, it could end up draining your battery instead of charging it, creating more problems!

Does it have compatible ports for your laptop?

The new industry standard for charging ports for laptop models is the USB-C delivery port, hence most power banks tend to come equipped with a matching USB-C output port enabling them to charge them.

However, if you are using an older laptop, you might need to check if the charging port is compatible with your choice of power bank. Some laptop brands tend to have their own proprietary charging ports or limited slots for charging – especially for the thinner models.

Alternatively, you can bypass this issue by using a special adapter!

Does the power bank have enough capacity to charge your laptop?

In layman terms, the battery capacity of a power bank is how much “stored energy” it has. When charging large devices like laptops, you definitely need a power bank with a large enough capacity (shown in mAh or Wh).

In fact, if you plan to have your power bank good for more than 1 full charge, you have to cater for multiple times the energy requirement.

Here’s a simple illustration:

The 13-inch Macbook Air has a battery of 5,100 mAh – indicating how much energy it stores when fully charged.

If you are planning to charge this laptop model twice in a day, you will need to consider a power bank with a rated capacity of at least twice the requirement of the laptop which is more than 10,200 mAh.

That is to say, the higher the battery capacity of your laptop, you will require a higher power bank rated capacity to charge it fully several times over.

Tip: Need to convert mAh to Wh? Try out this conversion calculator here to help you make an apple-to-apple comparison. 

Additional tips when choosing the perfect power bank for your needs

While the aforementioned factors are most critical to picking the ideal power bank for your laptop charging needs, here are some other considerations that you should keep in mind too:

• Require quick charging? Look out for power banks with features that are able to deliver faster-charging speeds
• Using your laptop for intensive software applications like video editing or gaming? Then make sure you choose a power bank with larger capacity and higher power outputs to cope with the fast energy usage. Alternatively, consider turning on energy-saving mode to help reduce energy consumption.
• If you are planning to travel via air with your power bank, make sure to check your airline regulations. For Singapore Air, it must not exceed 100Wh.

Introducing the AUKEY PB-Y24: The Ultimate Laptop Charging Power Bank!

Now that you are all caught up with the important criteria to look out for a powerful laptop charging power bank, here’s a recommendation from our team to get you started on your search for your new power bank: The AUKEY PB-Y24!

Wondering how the AUKEY PB-Y24 fares for each of the 3 criteria? Here is a quick breakdown:

• Power Output: Not only does it have a higher-than-average power output of 65W, but it also comes with a feature of high-speed charging of up to 4 times the speed of normal power banks.
• Port Compatibility: Comes equipped with USB – C, and USB -A output ports which makes it compatible with most mobile phones as with USB-C compatible laptops.
• Battery Capacity: At 26,800 mAh or 99.16 Wh, the AUKEY PB-24 offers enough battery juice to power a MacBook Air 4 times over.

Sounds like the ideal laptop charging power bank to you? Simply head over to our online store to get yours today! Now you can charge away!