Trappe Digital LLC may earn commission from product clicks and purchases. Rest assured, opinions are mine or of the article’s author.
Portable battery chargers are necessary when we are on the go with our iPhones or iPads and use them for entertainment or business-related tasks.
Over the years, I’ve used portable battery chargers to:
- Stream my daughters’ softball games
- Record podcasts at conferences
- Livestream from events
And even when the iPhone or iPad batteries are improving, those activities still take a lot of juice out of those devices. The easiest way around that, from my experience, has been to use portable battery charges. Let me show you some examples of reliable ones.
Read next: Equipment needed for a remote livestream
Solar-powered portable battery charger
This solar-powered charger works specifically well when I spend time outside while using my devices. Of course, solar power might not be able to keep it entirely at 100 percent while charging two in-use devices, but every little bit helps. But, when I’m sitting in a tent at a softball tournament, I can simply leave this out in the sun, and it recharges.
This one also has a rugged case to protect it from drops while you are out and about and works while on the move. If you are mostly stationary, you can consider a solar-powered battery pack with even more power like this one.
All these battery packs can also be recharged by plugging them into an outlet once you are near one again.
Read next: How to fix iPad/iPhone showing charging but battery percentage not increasing
Power banks
Then we have the more traditional battery packs that are rechargeable only by plugging them into an outlet. This power bank has worked well for me and is relatively easy to carry around. The four lights show you how much juice it has left.
Smaller chargers
If you are looking for something smaller, try the Anker Nano Power Bank.
When to plug devices into battery packs?
There are different philosophies on when we should plug our devices into these banks while out and about.
- Right away as the status quo.
- Once the device is close to empty, unplug it once it’s recharged.
- Charge it once it’s empty, and then keep it plugged in.
I usually follow the third option. Once the battery is close to empty, I will plug the device into the charger and leave it plugged in for the duration of the current activity.
Read next: What equipment do I need for a successful Facebook Live broadcast?
Accessories needed for battery packs
While most of these work just fine for iPhones and iPads, make sure to look at which inputs are available and what cables your devices need. This is especially important as Apple has a history of changing cables. For some of these packs, I have to use a USB-to-USB-C adapter to plug in my iPad Pro.
I also try to carry more than one portable battery pack with me whenever possible. So if one runs out, I can easily switch to the next one.
Portable battery packs can help us stay powered away from our typical studio or office. These are the best practices and tips that I’ve followed to ensure my devices never – or at least hardly ever – run out of battery power.