Smartphones these days are becoming more and more powerful and with our reliance on them, we’re using them more often throughout the day. That means unless your phone comes with a huge battery, you’ll most likely run out of charge before the day ends. When we’re at the office or at home, we have the luxury of plugging in, but what if we’re out on the road or out adventuring on a remote trail? That’s where portable powerbanks come into play. These allow us to charge on the go no matter where we are. Take for instance BioLite’s new Charge 40 PD, built to accommodate the latest devices.
The BioLite Charge PD series is available in three different sizes. There’s a Charge 20 PD, Charge 40 PD, and a Charge 80 PD. We chose to look at the Charge 40 PD mainly because the 20 doesn’t quite provide enough power for our needs, even though I like the smaller size, and the 80 is too large, though it provides an abundance of extra power. The Charge 40 PD seemed to be just the right compromise in terms of size and extra power.
The BioLite Charge 40 PD features a 10,000mAh rechargeable battery that allows for about 2.5 smartphone charges. This of course charges depending on how large your smartphone battery actually is. This charger also features a USB-C Power Delivery port that can quick charge at up to 18W. This port is also used for charging the Charge 40 PD. There are also two additional USB-A ports available that provide quick charge via Quick Charge 3.0 Protocol. That means you can charge more than one device at a time with the Charge 40 PD. It however only includes only one charging cable so you’ll have to provide another cable if you want to charge a second or third device.
In terms of build quality, the BioLite Charge 40 PD is very solid. It’s mostly made of hard plastic. The top yellow portion is an uncoated smooth feeling plastic while the bottom grey portion seems to be coated in some kind of hard, almost rubbery material. There is a bit of texture on it too for some grip. There is a button located on the yellow portion that you can press to show the amount of power left in the battery as well.
Charging also works quite well with the BioLite Charge 40 PD. I can use either the USB-C PD port or the USB-A ports and it will fast charge just fine on both with my LG V60. Both these ports seem to charge at the same speeds on my phone.
I do like that there are three different battery sizes for the Charge series you can choose from so if you need more, you buy the Charge 80 PD or if you need less and want something smaller, you get the Charge 20 PD. I wanted the best of both worlds so I took the middle ground and went for the Charge 40 PD. For those looking for a reliable, well-made powerbank that fast charges many of the newer smartphones out there, you can’t go wrong with BioLite’s Charge series of powerbanks.
You can pick up your very own BioLite Charge 40 PD powerbank on Amazon.
