Does anyone have a portable charger they love?

[mlktwins]

DH and I don't generally have a need to re-charge our smartphones while out and about.  I charge mine while home and DH will do the same and also charge his on his computer at work.  I was looking into portable chargers to take on our Disney vacation in a couple of months.  I'm not sure how much DH will use his phone, but I will be handling the FP+ changes, wait times, etc. and taking pics and videos of my kids.  This wasn't really an urgent issue for us, however, yesterday morning I took my 90 year old FIL to the ER and had to contact my DH and his siblings.  I spent a lot of time on my phone with no charger handy.  I had 10% charge left when I got home.  Then my DH came straight from work and had to sit with his phone charger attached to the wall trying to handle everything plus deal with some work since he left so unexpectedly.  FIL also had a stroke in May and we ran into the same issue with phones needing to be charged to coordinate everything.

 

Given these new circumstances and adjusting to our new norm, we are in need of a reliable portable charger for 2 Samsung S5's sooner than later.  I don't know much about them and don't want to worry DH about it.  He just wants me to get some.

 

In my research, I've seen Jackery and Anker brands listed quite a bit.  I know I can pick up some inexpensive ones at most stores, but I'm looking for one that is small (to fit in DH's pocket) and give at least 1, if not 2, full charges.  Any recommendations?  I've seen terms like 5,000 mahs in my research, but I'm not sure what I really need.  My boys don't have phones yet so it is just DH and I that I'm worried about.

 

Thanks much :-) 

[Lanny]

I don't know what brand it is, and she is busy editing video at this moment, but my wife has one she bought in the gift shop in Kennedy Space Center on April 30th and it seems to work perfectly. In addition to what you have described, what  our family needs is a couple of those things that plug into the charger in a car, and you plug a USB cable into them, so you can use your phone (especially GPS for Waze or Google Maps) and not be depleting the battery in the phone rapidly.  

 

This eBay listing has the USB Chargers, at a very low cost. Probably flimsy, but they will do the job.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4x-Dual-2-1A-2-Port-USB-Car-Charger-Adapter-For-iPhone-5-6-Samsung-HTC-Universal-/262349481925?hash=item3d153f67c5:g:o1AAAOSwcdBWRQwh

[Cinder]

Ds2 has this one. It has enough juice to charge up at least 2 phones. Sorry, I don't know the details but I recently used it to charge up my phone and it had already been used once and still had 2 bars (out of 4) of charge left on it.

[Carol in Cal.]

Be careful of the two phone chargers.  We had one in our car, and when we plugged two USB phone chargers into it, instead of pulling charge through the cigarette lighter like it was supposed to, it started to pull charge from one phone and put it into the other.  I was amazed.

 

I just got a Samsung S7 phone, and it has a new 'rapid charger' system and battery that charges the battery in about half an hour.  It's quite impressive, and you can charge regular phones on it also, albeit slower since they can't accept a charge as fast.  That's something to watch for going forward.

 

I think if I needed a portable charger I'd consider one of those back up chargers instead, that you charge up at an outlet and then strap onto your phone as you're out and about--they extend the battery life by about double.  I haven't heard anything good about the solar ones--those don't seem to work very well.

[Cinder]

That's interesting about the 2-phone chargers. I think the one I mentioned above has 2 ports but it's only ever been used for once device at a time, so I have no idea if it has that problem. I'll pass that info along, though, as it'll be good to be aware of the potential issue.

[purplejackmama]

I love this one. We have a few of them because we use them so often. But warning, it's heavy to carry around DW.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00M3073L4/ref=sxts1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472673175&sr=1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65

[Guest]

I don't know much about this particular product, but my ds who is a *researcher extraordinaire* before he buys tech is a big Anker fan.  He bought me a new set of charging cords for my iPhone just because HE likes them so much.  (sweet, but *seriously*?)  He has a lot of faith in that company.  

[AK_Mom4]

I've got a Mophie one device charger. Cost me $20 and I have used it for about three years now. It will full charge my iPhone in just over 30 minutes and has enough juice for at least two full 1% to 100% charges of my phone. It's been a lifesaver when I am traveling on business and can't get to a plug in.

 

My coworker swears by his Anker device.

[marbel]

Never mind:  Just reread the OP; this is way bigger than needed, sorry!

Edited August 31, 2016 by marbel

[kitten18]

My daughter (on advice from her dad the geek) bought this one to take to camp: RAVPower External Battery. (Amazon link)

 

She was very happy with it, and so were her friends. :-)

Something like that would be great when you're together.

 

I have a couple smaller chargers, one that I bought on Amazon and one I got at walmart. They're fine for charging one phone. I don't need something that can charge two tablets at once or that will charge my iPhone six times.

[kitten18]

A lipstick charger like this will fully, or almost fully recharge your phones (you would need one for each phone) and they're small enough to keep in your purse or pocket and you can still use your phone while it's charging.

 

Anker PowerCore+ mini 3350mAh Lipstick-Sized Portable Charger (3rd Generation, Premium Aluminum Power Bank) One of the Most Compact External Batteries, Uses High-Quality Panasonic Cells https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005X1Y7I2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_jy0Xxb2E172KM

Edited August 31, 2016 by kitten18

[SparklyUnicorn]

We bought three different portable chargers from Anker and they all work very well.  The best one was in the $30 range.  That one can charge up to 4 devices at a time.  I found I could charge my Kindle three times on it.

 

 

Edited August 31, 2016 by SparklyUnicorn

[prairiewindmomma]

I have a Jackery and a Kmashi. Dh has an Anker.

[happypamama]

Don't have one of those, but dh has an Otterbox for his phone that holds a charge, so he charges them at the same time, with the phone in the case, one charging cord, and then when the phone runs down, the box charges the phone. It does make the phone heavier (my phone is larger and lighter with its own non-charging Otterbox), but it's one less thing to carry, and it's one less outlet you need to charge everything.