Portable power banks are, these days, one of the first things that us techie folk have to throw in our go-bags if we are heading out anywhere but, man are they boring. Heavy slabs of metal and lithium, combined with their requisite cables to charge up whatever we need before we get back, there is just nothing cool about them.
There is no getting away that we are just carrying around a big, unexciting battery with us to make sure we cannot be disconnected for a minute longer than we need to be. It’s a sad state of humanity.
Of course, if you are gaming on the go it is a different matter. While I am perfectly fine with my laptop running out of power so I can’t do any more work, less so with my Steam Deck, which I absolutely do not want to shut down while I am in the middle of a game.
Step forward Cuktech (I am old enough not to make jokes here thank you) and its P20 power bank. Not only does this tick the box of keeping me gaming longer than I need due to its stupidly large 25,000MaH Lithium Ion battery pack that will give me about an extra one and a half full charges of my gaming handheld (or four times my iPhone), it is probably the coolest looking portable charger I have come across to date.
Now, does that matter? Yes, it has a nice LED animation up the side as it charges (via USB-C) but it also has a color screen at the top, which not only shows you how much charge is in the cells, but how quickly it is charging, how long it will take to reach capacity, what is charging from it and basically everything apart from playing Doom.
The P20 also performs admirably when charging multiple devices at the same time. It has two USB C ports and a USB A and whereas many charges charge two devices much slower than they do one, this is not the case with the P20, which is very nice. I charged my Quest 3 and Steam Deck up at the same time and was impressed.
Ultimately the Cuktech 20 is a massive battery with some cool tech to add the screen which is genuinely useful. Just being able to see the difference in the time it takes to fully charge it between a USB-C cable from my PC to a fast phone charger is interesting enough. And if you think the screen is going to drain the battery you need anyway making it purely fluff, it turns itself off after a few seconds and can be shown again with a press of the single button on the unit.
If there is an elephant in the room it is about the weight of said elephant, the P20 is not a light device coming in at 0.63kg. You have to need to carry this around with you rather than wanting to, but if you have that need, and I often do, this is now my go-to device without question.
Then there is the price. It’s selling at around £90 on Amazon / Aliexpress right now so is an investment rather than an impulse buy. But what you are getting is a reliable piece of kit that will keep you going on the move. It’s certified airline safe too, so even though it packs a punch it shouldn’t cause you any problems when they are scanning all your stuff and stopping you from taking a bottle of water on board.
Overall then if you have a need for a power bank with a high-capacity and feature set there is no real need to look any further. What you get here will see you right for the foreseeable future while keeping all your devices at 100% longer than you will likely need them to be.
Cuktech 20 Features:
- USB-C1 Fast Charging Output: Supports 140W PD 3.1 for laptops (120W for Xiaomi phones). In 30 minutes, it can charge a MacBook Pro 16″ to 59%, SteamDeck to 57%, iPhone 15 Pro Max to 71%, and Samsung S23 Ultra to 75%. Xiaomi phones get 120W Max, and Samsung devices with Super Fast Charging 2.0 reach full battery in under 60 minutes (5A charging cable included).
- Mega Battery Life: Featuring an auto-grade battery with over 1000 charge cycles—three times the lifespan of ordinary power banks. The 25000mAh battery can charge a MacBook Pro 1.2 times or an iPhone 14 up to 4 times.
- Smart TFT Display: An intuitive TFT display shows real-time battery level, power, voltage, and current. The graphical display makes understanding its status easy.
- Modern Aesthetics & Compact: About the size of a can of cola, it features a classic gray matte design with a futuristic blue light strip, combining fashion and high technology. Perfect for travel or daily use.
- Lightning-Fast Self-Charging: Supports 110W input, achieving a 40% boost in 19 minutes and a full charge in around 2 hours.
- Xiaomi Proprietary Fast Charge Supported: USB-C1 port provides up to 120W for Xiaomi phones and tablets, and up to 100W for Xiaomi notebooks.
- 1-Port Fast Charging: Type-C1: 140W for laptops (120W for Xiaomi phones); Type-C2: 45W for laptops (60W for Xiaomi phones); Type-A1: 30W.