One of the fundamental elements of a backpack when going on a journey is to take a battery pack in case your smartphone doesn't make it through the day. These devices typically hold from 5000 to 20000 mAh and can charge a device a few times. For example, my 11300 mAh battery is rated at 42.7 Watt hours, and often the legal limit on aircraft is 100 Watt hours. Now imagine we scale that into something the size of a portable amplifier, that can charge laptops as well. These bigger battery devices has been around a while, varying in size and shape, but ChargeTech believes it has a nice sweet spot.

Its new 'portable power station' features a 124,800 mAh capacity battery, which comes in at 462 Wh. This large battery pack, which won't make it past the TSA, is designed for charging devices where there is no extra power, or for long journeys in the wilderness where power is a must. If a user needs to power many devices when away from a power grid, it features AC outlets, DC power connectors, USB Type-A, and USB Type-C ports. Furthermore, it can playback music, and has an LED light to illuminate surroundings as well.

The ChargeTech PS120K packs multiple batteries for a total capacity of 124,800 mAh (462 Wh), which is enough to charge a typical 13.3-inch laptop for 10 times, or Apple’s iPhone XR 47 times. Obviously, the product can do much more than that. It has two 110-120 Volt AC power outlets that can deliver up to 300 W each, three DC 9-12V/5A power outlets, a cigarette lighter port, three USB Type-A ports, and a USB Type-C port supporting 60 W power delivery (see exact specs in the table below). It requires its own special power supply to charge it, which is not built in to the device.

As two added bonuses, the unit features a 10 W Bluetooth speaker as well as a massive LED array that can light up surroundings or even display SOS signs.

The ChargeTech PS120K
110V only
Port Output Input
DC Input - 19V/4.5A = 85.5 W
via power pack
AC Power Outputs 2 × 300 W -
DC Power Outputs 1 × 9-12V/5A = 60 W -
USB Type-A with QC 3.0 1 × 18 W -
USB Type-A 2 × 2.4A/5V = 24 W -
USB Type-C 60 W PD -
Cigarette Lighter Port 1 × 9-12V/5A = 60 W -
General Features
Total Capacity 462 Wh
3.7V
124,800 mAh
Bluetooth Speaker 10 W
LED Light 5 W
Weight 12 lbs / 5.4 kg
Price $699

ChargeTech recommends the PS120K to those going to road trips to rural areas and who might need to charge smartphones, laptops, cameras, drones, and other gear. Naturally, the device can be used by various professionals to charge equipment they take on set. One thing to keep in mind that the product cannot be taken onboard of commercial airlines. In the meantime, the manufacturer does not position its portable power station for first responders and other people working in extreme conditions all the time (this does not mean that it cannot be used by them at all, but it just does not have certifications for extreme conditions).

ChargeTech will start sales of its PS120K portable power station in March 2019 at a price of $699. 

Related Reading

Source: ChargeTech

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  • Murloc - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link

    tbh people I've heard who have this sort of recharging needs during camping usually have a diesel generator.
  • Destoya - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link

    There's obviously quite a difference in scale between a 5kg battery bank and a diesel generator. Something like this could easily fit into a backpack and could be quite useful for a small photography/drone team for instance. Enough power for cameras and small electronics when you're away from roads.
  • vFunct - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link

    You can get small lead-acid battery+inverter combos at Walmart for cheap. They're heavy, but they're still small and can be carried by hand.
  • sleepeeg3 - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link

    A lead acid battery with 73lbs and can be transported by your car. This weighs 12lbs.

    I do think this is going to fit an extremely niche market. Where are you going to go away from an outlet that requires you to charge your phone
    47 times? If you're out backpacking in the wilderness and you've already used 12lbs of weight for this thing, you don't have enough food for 47 days.

    I guess it makes sense if you want to get some drone footage on your backpacking trip or need a laptop / satellite phone for some government survey.

    Either way, send like you would be better off with wise and financially by buying multiple chargers and distributing then between several people than this $700 monstrosity.
  • qap - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link

    I dont know where you came up with 73 lbs. 100Wh (12V, 9Ah) lead-acid battery has cca 5 lbs. You would need 4-5 of those + inverter. That makes around 25-30lbs. Definitely not 73.

    This battery pack is definitely not for backpacking - it is way too heavy. Even considering its capacity it is too heavy (only 85Wh/kg, Li-ion batteries have around 250Wh/kg so the whole pack should have above 150Wh/kg).
  • Pneumothorax - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link

    The problem with lead acid batteries is that in higher drain instances like charging laptops, the true total capacity is not going to be 9Ah. While li-ion batteries do well if discharged to 20% all the time, lead acid will quickly wear out if discharged to 20% frequently!
  • vFunct - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link

    Or a lead-acid car-battery and inverter. You can get these for $100 at Wal Mart.
  • vFunct - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link

    And the Wal-Mart packs can jump-start a car as well.
  • mckirkus - Sunday, February 24, 2019 - link

    Car batteries are not designed to be completely discharged and recharged. They're meant to start your car then get topped off by the alternator. But yeah, you can get a deep cycle SLA battery instead, and probably cheaper.
  • SeannyB - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link

    Anker has something similar to this, and one prominent use case that I can recall was for CPAP users.

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