Power up; Cygnett Mobile phone & laptop Powerbanks tested

Gone are the days when a portable battery was just a cheapo thing for a quick bit of extra juice.  These days, we can and do rely on them for power – not just a top up, but to free us from the wall!

I’ve been testing two very different powerbanks from Cygnett.  As an Aussie company it’s nice to see such awesome and high quality stuff coming out of their design team and these two are both great ideas and well executed.

The first is the 6,000mAh Powerbank – this is your portable phone charger.  For perspective, 6,000mAh should give you 2-3 (maybe 4) full charges of your phone – depending on what phone it is.

I put it to the test on a weekend away at the Supercars in Townsville.  I took my phone, a cable, and this Cygnett Powerbank and threw caution to the wind and hoped to get through two and a half days no problems.

Saturday was going to be my biggest challenge, up early, at the track, tweeting and instagramming as I do – and then a late night John Farnham concert – there was no time to duck back to get a charge at the hotel.

No worries!  This little guy fits comfortably in your jeans pocket, the rounded edges make it slide in easy and not feel like something bulky – and with a cable in the other pocket I simply chose a few times during the day to juice it up.

Rather than charging at night, I charged while I was awake, so that I wasn’t draining out battery during the useless hours of the night.

The result, a full weekend of connectivity – and no power point needed.

Oh, and it’s real party trick is the digital display so you know just how much juice is left!

You’ll find this one for around $59.

Stepping it up a bit is something less likely to fit in your pocket, more likely to find a place in your laptop bag.

The Cygnett ChargeUp Pro 20K is a beast – with 20,000mAh of charge inside, Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 compatibility it’s built to charge your laptop.

Yep, MacBook Pro, HP, Surface, Dell – whatever it is, there’s a big chance this guy will give it juice.

That should be enough to bring a MacBook Pro back to 100%, and certainly it’s enough to help you in those moments of need at the airport lounge or cafe when you’re banging out work and running low on juice.

There’s also USB ports on it for your phone or tablet too – so it’s an all-rounder for everything tech in your life.

A touch more pricey at $169 or so – it’s a worthy investment for anyone who works on the go, or out and about.