NITECORE NB20000 Review

The NITECORE NB20000 packs a punch with ample power to supply your electronics all day long; however, we can’t help but wonder whether the size will be prohibitive for travel. Let’s dive in and find out!

The Rundown

Before we dive in too far, the NITECORE NB20000 is a 20,000 mAh battery bank. For reference, a standard iPhone 15 has a 3,349 mAh battery. In theory, this battery bank will charge your phone nearly six times. In practicality, you’ll fall short of that, but we’ll get into why later. Regardless, this battery bank has a solid capacity and will work to charge your phone multiple times or juice up larger devices, like a MacBook Air or Nintendo Switch.

The exterior is carbon fiber-reinforced polymer. That’s not 100% carbon fiber, but the two materials work in tandem. The carbon fiber offers rigidity and strength, whereas the polymer holds everything together. A 100% carbon fiber material might look better on paper, but we don’t mind the infusion here. It’s quite lightweight for a 20K battery bank, which makes it a supreme option if you prioritize packability.

The exterior has an IPX5 rating, which is solid for a battery bank. You can’t submerge it, but it’ll be more than capable of handling spills and dampness. For more information on waterproof gear and IP ratings, check out our guide!

The battery bank has two USB-C and two USB-A ports. The latter are simpler to go over, so we’ll start with them.

The USB-A ports offer a combined 18W of power. So, if you only use one, you can fast charge your phone with all 18W. If you want to use them both simultaneously, you’ll be slowed down and lose the fast charge. These are output only, so you can’t use them to juice up the battery bank. You can still use them while the USB-C port is fast charging, which is a solid feature. You can fast charge your phone with the USB-C and simultaneously charge your Nintendo Switch and another device.

The two USB-C ports aren’t identical to their USB-A siblings. One is input only, so you can’t charge anything with it. The other functions as an input or an output, and this is the gem of the device. It maxes out at 45W, charging larger devices like a laptop. The input is capped at 30W, which will charge the power bank quickly when you need to get back out into the city quickly. The option to output 45W makes this battery bank more useful than others we’ve tested, as you can charge more devices. If you travel with a lot of tech, this is a no-brainer.

There’s a button on the same face as the charging ports. If you tap it once, the indicator lights below it will illuminate, illustrating how much charge the device has. There are five lights, so you have a fairly solid idea of how much charge it has based on how many light up. Tapping the button twice turns on low-power mode for charging items with sensitive batteries, like AirPods or an Apple Watch. To get out of low power mode, tape the button once. It’s easy for this to get tapped on accident, so charging in low power mode isn’t ideal on the go, as it can get hit on accident, removing the battery bank from low power mode.

Packability

Even though the NB20000 feels large in your hand, it’s relatively small compared to other 20,000 mAh battery banks on the market. It’s not half the size by any means, but it’s significant enough to make it that much more pocketable and doesn’t feel cumbersome to carry around in your sling.

It’ll fit inside most tech pouches and find a home in the admin panel of most daypacks and travel backpacks. We’ve found that it fits inside most men’s pockets, though feminine-cut pants may have space issues.

At 11.45 oz (324.6 g), it isn’t the lightest battery bank on the market; however, it’s the lightest 20,000 mAh model we’ve encountered. The carbon fiber-infused shell helps with that, and it’s just as durable as it is light. We dropped it on multiple occasions, and it’s still holding up.

Quick Comparison

It’s hard not to compare the NITECORE NB20000 to another 20,000 mAh battery bank; however, we feel it’s better off compared to its younger sibling, the NITECORE NB10000. Most 20,000 mAh battery banks will do similar things with some variability. However, if you’re deciding between power banks, you might be stuck between a 10K and 20K model, so hopefully, we can help you decide.

With measurements of 5.37 in x 2.36 in x 0.84 in, the NB20000 has a volume of 10.6 cubed inches. The NB10000’s 4.8 in x 2.32 in x 0.42 in stacks up to 4.7 cubed inches, which is 44.3% of the NB20000’s total volume. At half the size, the NB10000 is more efficient, space-wise.

The NB20000 is 11.45 oz, and the NB10000 is 5.3 oz, 46.3% of the weight, similar to the volume test we just mentioned.

When testing battery banks for our Power Bank Guide, we drained both NB models using an electronic USB load and a multimeter to test the output. Our testing found that the NB20000’s actual mAh was 13,595, or 61.99% of the advertised 20,000 mAh. The NB10000 came in at 6,199 mAh, or 67.98%, which is slightly better. Both these figures are on par with most of the other power banks we tested. Some energy gets lost between connections, and some power dissipates through heat, so don’t feel too hard-pressed by this data.

Overall, the NB10000 is going to be enough for most travelers. That said, the NB20000 doesn’t realistically take up that much room in your pack, so it’s not a bad upgrade if you want the peace of mind of more power, which can be handy in a pinch. You can’t go wrong with either model, even as an ultralight packer!