(Last Updated On: September 9, 2016)

Getting in your car and embarking on a road trip is fun and a great way to relax. Enjoying the scenery and the locations that you’ve never been before fills you with a sense of adventure. There’s a ton of things to do and places to explore when you’re out on the road.

With many things to do and see, you’re also going to need chargers to keep all the devices that you take with you charged.

The two main chargers that you need when going on a road trip is a Car charger and a portable charger. These two kinds of chargers are great for road trips because they can be used the most to keep your devices charged and ready to go.

Car Chargers: These chargers can be put into your car’s electrical outlet and are used when the car is on. They come in many shapes and sizes by providing different amount of USB charging ports and technology. A must have for long rides in the car.

Portable Charger: The second most useful type of charger because you can charge your devices once your out of your car and exploring. They’re great if you want everyone’s devices charged and you’ve got people splitting into groups. It ensures that everyone has a charged device.

Let’s start with car chargers that would be best to take on a road trip.

Best Car Chargers for a Road Trip

#1: RAVPower Mini 24W 4.8A Dual USB Car Charger

The RAVPower two port USB charger is one of the most reliable and powerful car chargers within its class. With a small size that’s the shape of a bullet, the low profile is what makes this car charger a notable choice. With the two main pieces of the car charger being small:

• The head part that goes into the electrical socket is short and about the length of the socket itself so the charger doesn’t stick out too much.

• The round USB charging port end is short, with just the two USB output ports being the main functions.

Power wise, the charger is powerful. The two ports feature RAVPower’s iSmart charging technology. The two USB ports charge at 2.4A charging speed, this speed is the fastest when it comes to standard charging. For its size, the power you’re able to get is quite something.

The charger even tells you when charging is taking place because there are blue LED lights within the ports that turn on when a device is charging.

#2: Anker 4 Port Car Charger

Since you’re on a road trip, you most likely have a lot of people going on the journey with you. This is Anker’s 4 port car charger. Yes, 4 ports that are able to charge 4 devices at the same time. The car charger features Anker’s PoweriQ smart charging technology. Each of the ports are able to charge a 2.4A speed, which means that charging even 4 devices at the same time will charge them at max speed.

The body of the car charger is done very well. The charger’s head piece is short and compliments the charging end because the charging port piece of the charger is where the design is done most well.

The charge piece is a long rectangular piece that has all 4 of the USB charging ports aligned one after another. It’s a clean and straightforward design that makes the charger easy to use and quite aesthetic and low profile within your car.

If you’re looking for a powerful car charger that can charge many devices at the same time, look no further. The 4 port Anker car charger is able to go all out with charging power and design.

If you’re looking for a car charger that has the same amount of ports but want Quick Charge, then we recommend Aukey’s CC-T4 Quad Port Car Charger with Quick Charge 2.0. It’s a 4 port car charger just like Anker’s but it has one port that is dedicated to Quick Charge 2.0.

#3: CC-T6 36W Dual Port Car Charger with Quick Charge 2.0

If you have Quick Charge compatible devices and if the people that you’re traveling with also do, then Quick Charge car chargers are best option because you’re going to be getting the fastest charging on the go!

The above charger is a Quick Charge car charger that features two ports that use Quick Charge 2.0. It’s a small charger that is similarly designed to the RAVPower car charger that we mentioned earlier. The head of the car charger is short. The functional part of the charger is round and objective with the only parts that are functional are the two Quick Charge 2.0 charging ports.

It’s a all around great charger that delivers the insanely fast charging speeds of 3.0A as you would expect from Quick Charge technology, and in this case, you can charge two devices at Quick Charge speeds at the same time. If you don’t have Quick Charge compatible devices, that’s okay, because the charger will just default to 2.4A speeds of charging for non-compatible devices.

Aukey also has a two port car charger that features Quick Charge 3.0. The car charger is nearly the exact same as their Quick Charge 2.0 variant expect that it use Quick Charge 3.0 and as a result it’s compatible with Quick Charge 3.0 and 2.0 devices. Of course non-compatible devices will default to 2.4A charging speed. This charger basically brings the whole package of car charging into one. The fastest charging possible with a small size.

These car chargers hold the most quality because their features provide the basis of car charging and they go beyond with their great technology and well thought out designs.

 

Best Power Banks for a Road Trip

Power banks are at their most useful when we are not near a wall charging outlet or somewhere where there is no way to charge our electronic devices. For a road trip, unless you’re staying in a hotel for a little while, portable power banks can help avoid your smartphone from dying when you’re in a location that you’re not familiar with. It would be quite uncomfortable to have to phone die when it was your guide for navigation.

#1: PowerCore 5000 Power Bank

Let’s start with the most portable in mind. The PowerCore 5000 is a power bank that’s able to give you lots of capacity with a size that would make you think otherwise. The 5,000mAh power bank is able to charge your smartphone about 1.5 times. Couple the power capacity with size of a Coca Cola can and you’ve got a power bank that just may be that best personal portable charger ever.

It has only one port, so it’s meant to be only use by one person. The USB output port is able charge devices at 2.0A charging speed; This speed is quite good considering its size.

The charging face of the power bank features the USB output and the Micro USB recharge input. On the body of the power bank are four LED power indicators and the power button. It’s a small functional power bank that fits the best in charging technology into the smallest size possible for a power bank.

 

#2: PB-N36 20000mAh Power Bank with Lightning Input

Going into the higher capacity bracket and more use of a power bank, comes this 20,000mAh portable charger from Aukey. The high capacity of the power bank is able to charge most smartphones about 5 times or more. For tablets you can expect about 3.5 charges.

Although the capacity of the charger is great, the other features of the charger is what make it better than most portable chargers.

• Two USB charging outputs feature AiPower smart charging which makes the two charging ports charge at 2.4A charging speed.

The power bank has two recharging inputs:

• One input is the standard Micro USB that is prevelant for nearly all power banks.

• The other output is for a Lightning cable which means that users with iPhones can now rejoice as they no longer need a Micro USB to fully take advantage of this power bank.

Both Android and iPhone users are free to recharge the power bank and use it to its full potential.

The power bank has a flashlight between the two charging outputs. A power button is at the top of the power bank and also acts as a power indicator when it changes colors. The shape and size of the power is small and rectangular so it’s easy enough to carry in one hand.

#3: PowerCore+ 26800 & PowerPort+ 1

If you need a portable charger that is going to charge your devices until the end of the road trip, to your destination and back home, then Anker’s PowerCore+ 26800 power bank is the ultimate power bank when it comes to a road trip.

A massive capacity of 26,800 you’ll be able to charge a smartphone about 6 times or even more. The power bank has three USB charging outputs. Two ports feature PoweriQ which is able to charge devices at 2.4A charging speed. The third charging output port features Quick Charge 2.0. The input recharge is a Micro USB port. At the top of the power bank is the power button and LED lights to indicate power capacity.

Along withe PowerCore+ 26800 comes a PowerPort +1 which is a one port wall charger that features Quick Charge 3.0. It’s a great wall charger for the power bank because it rapidly charges the power, so recharging time is cut down to about 8 hours.

The design and size of the power bank is slim with curves. It’s thin enough that you can hold it in your hand and small enough that you can carry it around. If there are people in the back of the road trip car, then they’d really benefit from this charger because of the three ports and high capacity.