I'm a bit neurotic about my phone's battery life on trips. Between looking up directions, checking train schedules, and snapping photos, my Pixel 7a's battery struggles to last a full day.
And nothing spikes my anxiety more than a "low battery" warning when I'm navigating an unfamiliar place.
While my budget phone doesn't top our list for the best smartphone battery life, it can still last a solid 10 hours or so on a full charge. For peace of mind, though, I always make sure to pack a portable charger, but not just any one will do.
I've found wireless portable chargers are too finicky to charge your phone for longer periods when you're on the go. Wired chargers tend to be bulkier, and then of course you're juggling cords, hopefully the right ones to charge all your tech so you're not SOL when it drops down to 10%.
The right portable charger also needs to be cute, because all my devices share a color scheme and I don't need an ugly power brick throwing off the aggressively pink vibes.
Before my recent trip to northern Italy, I found one that checks all my boxes: the Charmast 10,000mAh portable charger. It's an absolute game-changer, so much so that I almost didn't return home with it given how often my friends swiped it.
Best of all, the Charmcast works with just about every phone. After the umpteenth friend with an iPhone asked to borrow my charger, I knew that this versatility would be indispensable.
While not the most compact battery pack on the market, the Charmcast is still slim enough to slip into my pocket or fit in a fanny pack while it's connected to my phone. And it's surprising how much power and versatility this charger manages to pack into a device roughly the same size and weight as a phone.
It comes in your standard white and black colorways as well as some fun ones, like mint green, purple, and the one I have in millennial pink.
One of my favorite things about the Charmcast is how the cables are part of the design, folding neatly into the back of the device. There are four in total: an Apple Lightning, USB-C, micro USB cable, and a USB-A cable for charging the device itself.
With two additional USB-A ports and a USB-C port at the bottom, the Charmcast is capable of charging up to six devices at the same time.
I turned my tiny bag into a mobile charging station, topping off my phone and my friends' phones as we wandered around Venice.
I paired the Charmcast with another essential travel gadget — this super-slim, multi-USB charging adapter I picked up a few years ago to help my battery-challenged friends (i.e. iPhone users) while out and about.
Essentially, I turned my tiny bag into a mobile charging station. It came in handy to top up both my phone and my friends' phones as we wandered around Venice and its labyrinth of a canal system.
I never had to worry about running out of charge either, because with a 10,000mAh capacity, this thing is an absolute powerhouse. That's enough juice to charge up most smartphones from 0 to 100% two and a half times.
A digital LED display on the front shows how much battery the charger has left, which is convenient. Once my friends had topped up their phones, they were routinely amazed at how much juice it still had left — yet another reason why it almost didn't come home with me.
My trip was an absolute blast, if exhausting. As many cities as we visited, it feels like I barely scratched the surface of all Italy has to offer. Given how dependent we were on using our phones to get to where we need to go while traveling, it was a relief not having to worry about my phone's battery ending before our trip did.
After blowing me away on its trial run, the Charmcast portable charger is a new staple in my collection of must-have travel gadgets. And before you even ask: Yes, they're all pink.
More from Tom's Guide
- Double-decker 'AirPower' charger now available from Apple — here's what it costs
- What are the best power banks in 2025? I'm always using portable chargers and these are my favorites
- I ditched all my phone chargers for this amazing MagSafe power bank — and it also charges my laptop
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