The Best Portable Chargers for International Travel

A dead phone in a foreign city is a dead map, dead translator, dead boarding pass, and dead camera all at once. Portable chargers have become as essential as a passport, but the market is flooded with units that either can't hold a charge, are too heavy to justify carrying, or — worse — aren't allowed on planes. Here's what actually works for international travel.

Anker PowerCore 10000 ($26) is the default recommendation for a reason: 10,000 mAh charges an iPhone 15 about twice, it weighs 6.3 ounces (lighter than most smartphones), and it fits in a jacket pocket. For a weekend trip or a day of heavy sightseeing, this is all you need. The PowerCore Slim 10000 is even thinner if pocket fit matters more than capacity.

For longer trips or multiple devices: Anker 737 Power Bank 24,000 mAh ($95) packs enough juice to charge a laptop (65W USB-C PD output), two phones simultaneously, and has a digital display showing remaining capacity. At 1.1 pounds, it's heavy for a pocket but light for a daypack. It charges an iPhone 15 about five times — enough for a three-day stretch without wall access.

The airline limit you need to know: lithium-ion batteries over 100 Wh (roughly 27,000 mAh at 3.7V) are banned from checked luggage by every airline and require special approval for carry-on. Most portable chargers under 26,800 mAh are within the 100 Wh limit. Always carry your power bank in your carry-on bag, never in checked luggage — this is enforced and checked bags with batteries can be pulled. Full specs at https://www.anker.com/collections/portable-chargers.

Solar chargers sound great in theory but disappoint in practice. Even the best panels (Goal Zero Nomad 10, $60) take 3-4 hours of direct sunlight to charge a phone once, and cloudy days cut output to near zero. Unless you're doing multi-day wilderness camping with no other power source, a traditional battery pack with a higher capacity is more reliable and lighter.

The charging ecosystem: pack a GaN charger with multiple ports (Anker 735 Nano II, $36) as your wall adapter — it handles phone, laptop, and power bank from a single brick the size of a standard phone charger. Add a universal adapter (Epicka, $15) for international outlets, and a short USB-C cable (avoid cables longer than 3 feet — they add bulk for no benefit). This three-item kit charges everything you own in any country.