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Travel Chargers, Portable Charger Battery

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In this review:
  1. Cheap Universal Chargers, Best Portable Charger
  2. Travel Chargers, Portable Charger Battery
  3. Portable Chargers, Micro USB Chargers
  4. Best Portable Charger, Universal Charger Reviews
  5. Discount Universal Chargers Features Comparison Table
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Related Guide: Batteries

Travel Chargers Features

The key features to look for in a cheap travel charger are battery capacity and compatibility. Other factors to consider are the ease of charging the charger itself, portability, and design.

Portable Charger Battery.

Many cheap travel chargers have battery capacities of no more than 1,000 mAh (milliampere-hours), while most smartphones, experts note, have battery capacities between 1,300 and 1,500 mAh.
To help you get the most power for your money, we confined our search to cheap travel chargers with stated capacities of more than 1,000 mAh. All the models that made our list of best cheap travel chargers should be capable of fully charging a typical smartphone on the go. The runaway winner here is the I-Up 5400 (starting at $40, Amazon), with a massive 5,400 mAh battery capacity that's enough to charge almost any smartphone at least three times. No other bargain travel charger we found comes close.

According to manufacturers' specs, the MiLi Power Crystal (starting at $26, Amazon), the IOGEAR GearPower GMP1001B (starting at $15, Amazon), and the IOGEAR GearPower GMP1001W6 (starting at $35, Amazon) all pack storage capacities of 2,000 mAh, as does the Duracell Powerhouse USB Charger (starting at $36, Amazon). Then there's the iGo Charge Anywhere PS00273-0001 (starting at $35, Amazon), which comes in just below the rest of the group at 1,800 mAh; I-Up also offers an 1,800 mAh model (starting at $25, Amazon). Battery manufacturer Lenmar makes a 2,400 mAh charger called the PowerPort Slim (starting at $24, Amazon), but we couldn't find enough reviews to determine how well it performs.

Review continues below

USB Charger, Outlet Charger.

A cheap travel charger will be much more likely to come through in a pinch if it can be recharged quickly and easily. This is where the I-Up 5400 and especially the iGo Charge Anywhere PS00273-0001 score big. The rest of the cheap travel chargers are USB chargers and only charge via a USB port on your computer. But the iGo Charge Anywhere PS00273-0001 and I-Up 5400 are plug-in-the-outlet chargers, so they can recharge faster and you don't have to have a computer or USB/AC adapter at hand. They can even charge a mobile device at the same time they're getting juiced. The upshot is that you can use these two cheap wall chargers not just as portable backup power but also as conventional wall chargers for all your devices. Universal chargers can run from about $40 to more than $200, so these two-in-one mobile device chargers could be well worth their relatively high, but still cheap, prices. One disadvantage to the I-Up 5400: you don't have the flexibility of recharging via USB and can only recharge its immense battery by plugging it into a wall outlet. Note that all the chargers sport indicator lights on the front to show how much battery remains.

by Kara Reinhardt (Google+ Profile)

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Best Cheap Universal Chargers

MiLi Power Crystal

Read why »
Where to buy

I-Up 5400

 Read why »
Where to buy

Good Cheap Universal Chargers

iGo Charge Anywhere PS00273-0001

 Read why »
Where to buy

IOGEAR GearPower GMP1001B

 Read why »
Where to buy
 
 
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Don't Bother Cheap Universal Chargers

IOGEAR GearPower GMP1001W6

The specs on this charger are up to par, but too many users complain that the tips don't fit their devices or the connectors feel flimsy. Given the price it seems wise to charge elsewhere. Read more »

 
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