The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase. External batteries have been one of my most-used tech accessories for a long time.They'rea convenient way to make sure my phone doesn't run out of power halfway through a night out.My general rule with this accessory in particular has been to buythe smallest one I could find. Small batteries are convenient (I can fit mineinto my jeans pocket), but their low capacity isn't ideal for longer trips or charging multiple devices.Anker sent me one of their largestbatteries to try, and while it won't become a part of my daily carry, I will take it the next time I go on a trip.This battery is large, but only relative to other external batteries I'm used to using. It's about the size of a tube of toothpaste, and its weight feels substantial in the hand. It has a series of LED lights that service as its battery indicator, two standard USB ports for charging your phone or tablet, and a USB-C port to charge both the battery and any USB-C devices you have. During my testing I was able to charge three devices simultaneously, which I can't say aboutany other battery I've used.I put Anker's battery through two tests, and it passed both without a problem. I started by charging my most power-hungry gadget: the 12.9 inch iPad Pro. I ran my iPad's battery down, plugged it into the battery, and checked in on it every hour. After a little under four hours my iPad Pro was fully charged,and the Anker battery had a little under a third of its battery left. That's seriously impressive considering how big of a device the larger iPad Pro is.The Nintendo Switch is the only large USB-C equipped tech product I have, but it's also the one I was most curious to trywith this battery. With itsscreen off I was able to charge the Switch's battery by thirty percent in one hour without making a dent in the Anker's battery. The Anker battery continued to charge the Switch even with itsscreen brightness set to one hundred percent and"The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" loaded.Your experiences may vary ' I wasn't actively playing Zelda, or using my iPad during charging ' but I wanted to see how this battery would hold up under more common scenarios. Based on my test results, this battery won't have any trouble charging a phone or two many times over. I don't have a USB-CMacBook, but was also able to confirm through abrief test that this battery cancharge a new 13-inch MacBook Pro.If you travel often, or want a battery that has a little bit of future-proofing built in, Anker's PowerCore+ battery is worth checking out. It's going to be a little larger and heavier than the external battery you're used to, but it'll also be significantly more capable.Anker PowerCore+ 20100 USB-C, $65.99, available at AmazonDON'T MISS:20 must-have tech accessories under $20SEE ALSO:This company formed by former Google employees makes some of the best tech accessories you can buyJoin the conversation about this story
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