It’s happening, you’re now going to college. All the hard work has paid off through high school, you’ve come to the next plateau in your life and move forward. Now that it’s time to move into your dorm room, you’re gonna need a lot of things to keep you sane and happy in college. Sure there’s the usual bedding products, frames for memorabilia and fridges for late night snacking during finals week. There’s one thing that many college students forget, though, it’s their charging electronics that need to stay on par with the college experience!
College is a time to grow, learn and explore. It’s a time to study and it’s a chance to make friends and converse with people from around the entire world. During your time at college, there’s no doubt that you’re going to be using your phone a lot and we mean A LOT. College provides such a setting in which using your phone and any other portable devices becomes second nature because you’re most likely always going to have something to do, you’re going to be talking to people via text, calling them on where the next party might take place or when that test on chapters 5, 6 and 7 is.
Especially in an academic setting, your electronics will be used heavily for educational purposes. This could be for writing papers, doing your homework online and definitely researching for papers. Whether it’s your phone, tablet or laptop, it’s important to know that if any of these devices were to somehow stop working then it would not be good for your social and educational experiences at college. This is why we at Charger Harbor chose the best charging electronics for your devices, so the college experience is what you always dreamed of.
What’s the best category of charges to bring?
College is a very dynamic environment, and because it’s always changing and there are so many variables, it’s best to have chargers that can cover nearly any situation you’re in.
- Charging Cables
- Power Banks
- USB Wall Chargers
These category of chargers are the most important for a college experience because they are a universal chargers. Using them will allow you to face low charged devices with confidence.
Needing a charging cable is a necessity from the beginning
Charging cables as mentioned in our integral write-up of Charging Cables, they are the first part of charging that you will need in order to carry out charging. Whether you have a 1 or even a 10 port USB Wall Charger, it will take a charging cable to make the wall charger useful. The same goes for basically any other kind of charging tech, it all begins with a cable and a good one at that.
If you’re going to get a charging cable, then it would be best to get a quality one. You can read up on what makes a great charging cable here.
You need to make sure that you’re going to get a charging cable that is going to last and service its purpose. Sure, your college may sell charging cables at the bookstore or supply store, but they’re not meant to last and it’s basically the same things as purchasing a charging cable from a retail store, it’s not a good idea at all.
As a college student, you’re going to need a charging cable that isn’t going to stop working at the most vital of times, which is basically at all times.
If you’ve got an iPhone, iPad or iPod, then you’re going to need to go with the Lightning charging cable.
It’s the primary and best way to charge your portable Apple electronics, but what Lightning cable should you get? There are so much Lightning cables but you’re going to need quality for the best charging experience.
The Anker PowerLine cable lineup provides an enforcement for charging cables that make the cable very durable. PowerLine features Kevlar within the inner wiring to provide great protection if the cable is punctured or ripped. It also means that the cable will still be very useful even if it is ripped open because the Kevlar is able to keep the wires that are capable of sync and charging the cable safely. The headpieces of the cable are separated by Hard and Soft PVC.
The top head part of the cable is made of Hard PVC, this makes the charging tip nearly impossible to move or be damaged. The bottom part of the head of the cable is made with Soft PVC, this is a really good design because making it flexible means that it will have much less stress to rip apart.
Anker provides a two cable set as well with their Lightning cable lineup.
Lastly, for Lightning cable charging, there’s one final cable that also proves itself to be the worthy choice as well. Amazon’s very own Lightning Cable that is part of Amazon Basics program, in which Amazon produces its own products that are used for general purposes. To be completely clear, Amazon does indeed provide great quality with their own products because they know what people generally expect.
Providing with it all the necessary aspects that make a great charging cable, the Amazon Basics Lightning cable provides great quality with a flexible bottom head base and enforcement material within the cable.
The Best Lightning Cables:
The next category of charging cables is the Micro USB, this basically covers the entirety of Android devices way of charging.
As we mentioned before, Anker’s PowerLine products are nearly the best out there, with their quality based product by using great material and technique to make the most out of a cable.
However, Anker also provides absolutely amazing variety length packs that are great as well.
These packs, are basically mandatory to get if you rely on Micro USB charging cables for charging your devices.
- Keep one in your dorm room
- Keep one in your car (If you’ve got one on campus)
- Keep one to take to class
- Keep one for the library
- Give the extra one to your roommate
- Keep one in your back pocket at all times, so you can take advantage of any wall charger or power banks around
That’s 6 possibilities to use a pack of 6 charging cable. College is one place that you do not want to be caught off guard, and if we’re talking about your electronics, then that definitely stands true.
The Best Micro USB Cables:
Lastly is the USB Type-C section of charging cables.
These cables are quite new to the charging world and the main smartphones that currently use the USB Type-C Charging cable are the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, OnePlus 2 and the Nextbit. Also, Apple’s Macbooks use the USB Type-C to charge as well.
Overall you’re going to need the same aspects that the other charging cables have.
We recommend the Blitzwolf USB Type-C and Anker’s PowerLine USB Type-C cables.
The Blitzwolf features a braided cable that does a great job at protecting the overall wiring, it also as a good head charging piece. The headpiece of the cable is hard at the top and relatively soft at the bottom half.
Anker’s PowerLine cable does a great job with what its PowerLine cables do best and that is to last.
The Anker PowerLine is always what you’re going to expect from Anker’s PowerLine product, with their amazing quality design and material.
Lastly, let’s say that you have a bunch of Micro USB cables but need a USB Type-C cable but don’t want to get a cable USB Type-C cable, then you can just get an adapter.
This small adapter allows you to use your Micro USB Cable as USB Type-C cables because the Micro USB head simply goes into the adapter because it has a Micro USB port within it and then the adapter can be plugged into a USB Type-C compatible device. This way, you don’t need to purchase a USB Type-C cable if you’ve already got a Micro USB cable.
The Best USB Type-C Cables:
What are the best Power Banks for College?
There are certain categories of power banks that you’re going to want to have with you during your time at college. The two kinds of power banks that you’re going to need are:
- Mini Power Bank – This power bank is very portable because of its very small size and although it’s small and has small power capacity, the power bank will have enough power capacity to charge your phone, tablet or any other portable electronic to full capacity.
- Larger High Capacity Power Bank – This power bank will be higher capacity, be bigger in size, have more charging ports and will most likely have special charging technology like Quick Charge. It’s necessary to have this kind of a power bank because you may need to charge many devices at once, such as your laptop or phone. You’re laptop alone needing charging could mostly use the entire power bank in this case for those long hours in the library.
What Mini Power Banks are the Best to get?
Small power banks are two things. Small in size and capacity. There’s a lot of mini power banks out there but you’re going to need a power bank that is reliable and powerful. Check out what standards a power bank should have here.
Just as a small summary, though, a mini power bank should be about the size of a lipstick, have a minimum capacity of 3000mAh and have smart charging tech from the company that produced it.
Here’s what we recommend for small power banks:
The PowerCore+ Mini is exactly what fit our criteria of what it means to own a quality mini power bank
- A capacity of 3350mAh
- The size of a lipstick
- Features Anker’s smart tech charging, PoweriQ
There are also plenty of other options of mini power banks that have the same features as the PowerCore+ Mini and it’s for a good reason too because the designs like the PowerCore+ Mini are the most optimal ways of designing a power bank in the first place.
These other two power banks are very similar to the PowerCore+ Mini. Most of the functional areas are on one side so the power bank is extremely user-friendly. The Jackery Mini does not have smart charging tech but it’s great otherwise. RavPower Mini features its smart charging tech. All three power banks are small but make a great impact on charging your devices no matter if you’re a student in the class that wants to have your phone charged or out hanging out with friends.
The Best Mini Power Banks:
What’s the Best Large Power Bank to Get
A large power bank is more about targeting the capacity power that the power bank holds as being “Large” and not the power bank’s size. This is because many power banks nowadays have been optimized to capitalize on compactness while still being able to hold a lot of power.
It’s the compactness and the power that will most benefit you with your overall experience all college. These types of power banks feature capacity that can charge your laptop to full capacity, which means being near an outlet whether you’re in the library or in the classroom does not matter anymore. You will literally have no excuses of not studying or be limited by the capabilities of your electronics. Technologies like Quick Charge, ensure that you can rely on your devices to come back to full charge at a very fast pace.
The Aukey PB-T3 16000mAh Power Bank does what a true power bank in its class does best.
- 2 Charging Ports. One with Quick Charge tech that can charge your compatible device 3 times faster. The other port features Ai Power to charge your devices as fast as possible.
- 16000mAh capacity that can charge your phone or tablet about 4 times over. It can charge your laptop to full power, two times.
- Features a LED flashlight for that late night studying sessions
- Small & Sleek design to fit and take anywhere
Then there are power banks that can even go higher in capacity.
- A 26800mAh capacity means that you’re going to be able to use it constantly for a week or maybe even more without recharging it.
- 3 charging ports, you can charge 3 devices at the same time. The laptop needs charging? Charge it. The phone needs charging? Charge it. Bluetooth headphones need charging? Charge it. All at the same time.
- Slightly smaller than an iPad, the Astro E7 can be taken by hand or put into a bag and be taken anywhere
A power bank is a necessity when it comes to modern day and if we’re talking about college, then it stands truer than ever. A power bank is meant to abolish battery anxiety and increase your confidence on what you want to do. You’re going to need a lot of energy to get through it all and by having a power bank, your energy will only soar.
The best large capacity power banks:
What are the best Wall Chargers for college?
Wall chargers can only be used with an outlet and that’s very important to know and remember. So if you’re going to use a wall charger then you’re most likely going to be in one place and not moving. With that said, wall chargers are absolutely perfect for charging multiple devices at once and because of that, a wall charger can be a central hub for charging many people’s devices at the same time.
iClever’s 4 port charger is able to well…. Charge 4 devices at the same time. The main thing about this wall charger, though, is that it can charge every device at a 2.4A current and that’s pretty fast. It does this fast charging through its smart tech charging.
Want to charge 5 devices at the same time? Then there’s the PowerPort 5 from Anker. Featuring 5 ports that are capable of charging 5 devices at the same time with no problems. Highly safe features ensure that your devices are very safe, by implementing surge protection and temperature control.
Wall chargers are all about how much you can get out of charging. So, of course, this means that more options of charging exist.
Now there’s the option of charging 6 devices at the same time. Although the with the numerous amounts of USB ports for charging, Anker’s smart charging, PoweriQ is only limited to 3 ports. These of kinds of chargers are really about charging what you need without a worry and still have extra ports for someone else to use them. It’s a device that you’d keep in your dorm room so that you, your roommate and your friends can charge devices at the same time. Or maybe one of you just left something to charge, and there are still 5 more ports open to charging.
Lastly, the apex of USB Wall charging is a 10 port charging hub. Anker’s PowerPort 10 allows you to charge 10 devices at the same time along with PoweriQ with each port. This is wall charger that is mandatory if you expect a lot of people to want their devices charged in one place. It could be at the library during a study group, in the dorm room where you and your roommate have a bunch of devices to charge. Overall the PowerPort 10 gives you all the options to charge all your devices at once.
The Best USB Wall Chargers:
College is going to be a great experience but ultimately college is what you make of it. By making great choices, only you can control how it all goes.
In a electronics and education sense, choosing the best products is the most important aspect because you’re going to use your electronics a lot. Having it all ready to go will allow you to sail smoothly and take every day with confidence.
Now that you know the best, get the best and sail off to college! Good luck!
Since 2016, Usman has flourished as an independent tech journalist, reveling in the evaluation of diverse tech gadgets, with a particular fondness for charging technology to ascertain product performance. Besides his journalistic endeavors, he helms the Charger Harbor YouTube channel, where he extends his tech insights to a broader audience.