Biolite Charge 100 Max Power Bank Review: A Must-Have Travel Companion

The Biolite Charge 100 max power bank is a portable battery pack with a difference – it’s more like a mini portable power station than a basic USB-recharging spare battery.

As someone who relies on my phone for a lot (and loves my other gadgets), this power bank is my new best friend for traveling and spending time away from home.

My first trip with it was to Annecy, France earlier this Summer, and it worked flawlessly throughout.

If you do any traveling, camping or spend time away from home for more than 24 hours, then you probably already own a portable power bank.

However, I’m guessing it’s probably one of those little (and possibly very cheap) ones you can pick up from Amazon that will charge your phone once (or maybe twice) before it itself needs recharging.

If you find yourself wanting more from a portable power bank, and one that’s from a reputable brand that you can rely on to keep its charge and last more than one phone-charge before it’s empty, then keep reading as I share my experience in this Biolite’s Charge 100 Max power bank review.

Overview of the Biolite Charge 100 Max Power Bank’s key features

• Charging ports:
  • 2x 100W USB-C PD
  • 1x 15W USB-C
  • 1x 15W USB-A
  • 15W Cordless MagSafe Wireless Charging
• Capacity: 25,000 mAh – 91.3Wh
• Weight: 1.3lb (580g)
• Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.4 x 1.4 in
• Recharge time: Charges in under 90 min by 65W USB C-PD (sold separately, or your standard laptop USB-C charging brick works great)
• Airline-compliant: FAA Carry on Compliant
• Cost: $150 at BioliteEnergy.com

I want to reiterate a few key points about the Charge 100 Max, such as how quick a 90 minute recharge time is! This is really important to me as it means that when it is out of juice, I can get it reusable and back up and running very quickly, rather than waiting hours for it to fill back up.

The fact that it has so many available charging ports, including several USB-C ports and a MagSafe wireless charging top, for simultaneous powering and charging of your devices, is another great plus for me. This means you can charge several devices at once, including your phone, airpods (or other wireless charging earbuds), a laptop and other small devices – it can support up to 120W of simultaneous charging.

It’s also really important to me that this battery bank is FAA carry on compliant. You never want to be going through airport security and find out that your pricey new portable power bank is not permitted in your hand luggage, especially when air travel and spending time around airports is one of the places I use my Biolite Charge 100 Max the most!

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This power bank also looks and feels premium. I haven’t tested what happens if I was to drop it (not recommended!), but it looks like it could handle it, and that’s important to me.

It’s a really functional shape – I’m loving the rounded corners, the nice smooth rubberized material, as well as its general dimensions in that it’s reasonably slimline and rectangular, rather than a square brick.

I can fit it in the front pocket of my backpack for easy access when traveling or at camp, and my phone sits comfortable on top of it when I use the wireless charging features.

Like with other Biolite devices, the battery indicator is clear, showing how fully charged the power bank is, using a scale of multiple lights, rather than the three dots you may have on other devices. No, there’s no LCD readout of a percentage remaining (which would be nice) but that would also require a little extra power to have, and those screens aren’t as durable as what you see here.

Battery life – How long does the BioLite Charge 100 Max last between charges?

Ok, but what does 25,000 mAh actually mean and translate to?

I can tell you that the typical basic power banks that may charge your phone once or twice have around 3,000 – 5,000 mAh. So if that’s familiar to you, then this is 5+ times that. Here are some examples of what you can do with it on one charge:

• 13-15” Laptop: 1-2 Charges
• Tablet: 5-7 Charges
• AirPods Pro: 35 Charges

Yep, so you could work remotely for the day and fully recharge your laptop, plus your phone, just using this little power bank. Sometimes I just take it into my backyard when I’m working on my laptop outdoors and don’t need to bring one of my larger portable power stations out with me.

That said, if you want something more substantial for longer-term use or powering more devices, also check out Biolite’s awesome portable power station, the BaseCharge 1500+, which is also very useful for home backup and blackout situations.

It’s also worth noting that this power bank holds its charge well, so I can keep it charged, in my bag, ready to use, and be confident that it will have juice the next time I pull it out to use it. Overall, the Charge 100 Max Power Bank is another high quality product from Biolite, and one I’m going to be using for many more trips going forward.

Cost and where to buy the Charge 100 Max Power Bank

The Biolite Charge 100 Max Power Bank is available to buy for $149.95 at Bioliteenergy.com, and comes with an automatic 2 year warranty that is extendable to a free third year when you register it online.