Review: Chargetech 54K Dual AC Battery Pack

Portable power packs are a dime a dozen nowadays. A quick Amazon search will reveal thousands upon thousands of results for portable power packs. With so much competition and so many offerings, the only thing that differentiates power packs nowadays is their price and capacity.

Then there’s the Chargetech 54K Dual AC pack, which offers something unique that few battery packs provide. You can plug a regular AC plug into this and charge just about anything. From laptops to fans, and even microwaves (although not recommended), the Chargetech 54K can handle it all.

They’re not the first or the only ones on the market that offers an AC outlet, but they do offer it in a better package than most.

The Design

At a glance, it’s rather simplistic, and that’s a good thing. I like the design, look, and feel of the Chargetech 54K. It’s black with a matte texture that’s fingerprint-resistant. It has very few buttons, only the essentials. For consumer products, I prefer the ones designed to be intuitive that don’t require a manual to use.

There’s a small LCD window that shows your current charge percentage. As you charge, the percentage will go down so you can see exactly how much juice is left in the pack. I kind of wish it displayed more information, however at least it’s consistent with the minimalism theme.

The logo is small and minimalistic, not obnoxious like other brands. I also appreciate this as a professional that moves around a lot. We all hate it when companies throw their logos everywhere and make us their walking billboard. The overall design and presentation of the Chargetech are simple, elegant, and professional looking. I certainly wouldn’t feel awkward having this out during a meeting.

The ports

The engineers are Chargetech generous with their ports. On the side, there’s a USB-C that lets you connect with most modern devices. Being in 2020, this is now a necessity. On the front-facing side, there are two USB ports for you to plug any device that uses USB to charge. This includes your phones, drones, and all portable devices.

Next to that, there’s not one, but TWO AC outlets for you to simultaneously charge two laptops. One is usually more than enough, but having two is interesting. I can’t honestly think of a situation where I would need to plug in two AC devices in public. Luckily it doesn’t take away from the design or look ridiculous. So I’m appreciative the option is there should I ever need to plug multiple AC devices in at once.

Capacity

As stated in the name, this power pack holds 54,000 mAh. The United States version comes in 110V, but you can get an international version that’s set at 220V if you travel frequently. How much exactly is 54,000 mAh? The answer can vary.

It’s not enough to power a high-end gaming laptop or a PC tower for long. But that’s not what you’re getting this for anyway. The Chargetech 54K is aimed at the regular business professionals and students who are always on the move and need a reliable backup power pack to get them through the day or weekend.

Durability & Portability

This one is a hit and a miss for me. The unit weighs 2.3lbs, which isn’t that bad considering there’s 54,000 mAh worth of power inside. It’s well made, the overall construction is solid, and the plastic seems sturdy.

However, I have two concerns. First, the unit seems to have all of its weight on one side. You can feel this instantly the first time you lift it. My guess is that’s where all the battery cells are located. This awkward uneven weight distribution can make it feel awkward to hold.

My second concern is because all the weights are unevenly distributed, you can “feel” the hollowness inside. There’s a hollow space between the battery cells in the back and the ports in the front. As a result, the unit feels bulkier than it needs to be. It also makes me wary of dropping this unit and breaking it because of the hollow space creating an area of weakness.

I think if everything were more “tightly” packed, the unit would feel sturdier and even better in the hands.

Real-World Performance Test

Now it’s time to test the Chargetech 54K in the real world. For this, we decided to go an entire weekend, depending on the ChargeTech to power our laptops, phones, and TV.

My roommate and I both use Macbook Pro 15″ 2018 edition. We would use the laptop until we reached 5% battery and then plug into the ChargeTech’s AC outlet to refuel. We were able to revive our laptops 4-5 times (total not each) from 5% to 100%. That’s pretty accurate compared to the official numbers they released.

For phones, it was trickier, given the discrepancy with battery sizes. My roommate had a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra with a massive 5000 mAh battery. Meanwhile, I was sporting an iPhone SE with significantly smaller demands. Between our two phones, we easily got between 20 – 25 charges in total.

Their website claims it can power a TV for up to 3 hours. The results were different in our testing. Powering a 60″ Sony Bravia at 100% brightness and streaming Season 2 of Altered Carbon, we barely got through two episodes. The power pack was able to keep the TV on for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. This isn’t exactly a problem because it’s likely that Chargetech never intended the unit to power a 60″ TV. Perhaps with a 32″ TV, it can last closer to the promised 3 hours.

Final Verdict

The ChargeTech 54K offers a massive bump in capacity compared to traditional battery packs. The dual AC outlets give this power pack the versatility that few other packs can compete with. There are other battery packs on the market that offers AC outlet (such as the Omnicharger+), but few offer it at this massive capacity.

It’s a portable powerhouse that’s well built, delivers on performance, and is aesthetically minimalistic. At $279, it’s a worthwhile investment if you’re a heavy tech user who’s always on the road and can never find an outlet at Starbucks.