Tag: USB-C

My favorite portable battery for travel

ssegraves

I have carried portable batteries when traveling for a while, but back in 2020, just before Covid, I was trying to lighten my carry-on and it made me realize how heavy the Anker portable battery I had was. Sure, it could recharge my phone three times, but it also weighed a few pounds.

Fast forward to 2023 and I was starting to travel again and in the market for a lightweight battery. I came across the Nitecore NB10000 Gen 2. It is a super lightweight 10000mAh battery, smaller than my iPhone but still able to give me two full charges. The shell of the battery is carbon fiber so I don’t have to worry about it getting punctured or bent and damaging the battery.

Nitecore 10000

Nitecore now has a Gen 3 version of the battery that has two USB-C output ports instead of one USB-C and one USB-A.

*Disclaimer, the links above lead to Amazon and I receive compensation if you buy the product with that link. If you would like to purchase directly from Nitecore with no affiliate benefit to me, you can do that here.

The Cable Conundrum

ssegraves

My wife recently switched from an iPhone to a Google Pixel 2, which in and of itself is worthy of a post, but the most noticeable immediate difference when making the switch is the cable headache we now face. We used to have a single USB-A to Lightning cable in the living room for when we needed an immediate charge, two of the same type of cables in the bedroom for charging overnight, a single short cable in the car for road trips, and a couple of cables in different bags for travel. Basically, we have a cable for each of the places we frequently charge our phones. This prevents us from constantly packing or looking for a charging cable. When I travel, I have one of the small Tumi amenity kits from Delta with an Anker two port 24W USB-A travel wall charger, two USB-S to Lightning cables, my in ear headphones, and my Apple watch USB-A to magnetic charger. I can pretty much get by for a week with that setup.

On Twitter I posted about Anker cables and my love of them. They are sturdy and affordable, so I have decided to get a number of USB-A to USB-C cables for my wife’s Pixel 2. What I am running into now is a growing conundrum where the cables are just getting out of hand. I know soon, USB-C to USB-C will be the standard, but until then, I need USB-A to USB-C/Lightning. All of the power bricks we use are USB-A out, except for my wife’s Pixel 2 brick.

I know these changes in technology take time but it feels like USB-C has been out in the wild for a while but everyone is having a hard time moving to it as a standard. On top of this, you have micro USB still being heavily used (Kindle, cameras, other accessories). It is more stuff to carry if you want to keep your different electronics charged as you travel.

So how do you travel with all of the cables? How do you manage them all at home?

* This post contains affiliate links to Amazon that benefit me financially if clicked on.