BioLite Charge 100 Max Power Bank Review

2024.08.07

Just this morning, BioLite unveiled a new flagship model for their series of high-performance power banks. This latest addition is their most powerful yet: the BioLite Charge 100 Max. It can deliver enough power for most USB devices and boasts a huge charging capacity.

The BioLite Charge 100 Max can deliver 120W of power, with up to 100W to a single USB-C device. It sports two extra USB-C ports and a USB-A port. These last two can provide 20W, up to 15W per device. The second PD port shares 100W with the primary USB-C connector which accepts a 65W USB-C charger. Additionally, there is a Magnetic Wireless Charging pad on the unit.

This power banks stores up to 25,000mAh (25Ah) which is plenty to charge multiple devices, some more than once without recharging the power-bank. A typical phone can be charged 8X and most premium cellphones can be charged 4 or 5X, assuming no other device is also charged. There is enough power in this battery to recharge an ultrabook fully once or some mid-range laptops, depending on the model. When travelling with a laptop, cellphone and wireless earphones, this should extend the life of all these devices for one extra day.

With such a high capacity, it is expected that the Charge 100 Max be large and heavy. In fact, it weighs 575g and measures 5½ x 4¼ x 1¼". One can place that in a carry-on as it falls within the maximum allowance for a lithium battery but it does take a significant portion of the weight allowance accepted by the majority of airlines. The unit itself accepts a 65W USB-C power source that makes it possible to fully recharge in less than 90 minutes.

BioLite is making the Charge 100 Max available immediately for $149 USD, It can be bought directly from the company website and at retail partners.

DISCLAIMER Neocamera has been using a production BioLite Charge 100 Max power bank for several weeks, kindly provided by BioLite, to be able to give a fair review of this device. At no point Neocamera was paid for the review and the company does not have any input on the contents below.

Review

The new BioLite Charge 100 Max continues with the same style as other BioLite power banks. It is made of rigid rubber which feels much more sturdy than its predecessor. There is only one place that shows a tiny amount of flex near the wireless charging pad. The device has been drop-tested from 1m and feels like it would withstand such a fall. Its rubber surface has a matte finish which gives this power bank an unassuming appearance.

The thicker size of this power-bank allows for a button and large charge level indicator. To save power, these lights are off most of the time. By pressing the button once, up to 10 bars light up orange to indicate charge level. This is a really simple way to check the status of the device. Lights are bright with good visibility. They turn off automatically a few seconds later.

USB-C is now the most common charging port and so one of the connectors on the Charge 100 Max serves to charge both ways. When a USB-C device is attached to both ends, it is sometimes unclear which one is charging and which one is getting charged. To avoid this power-bank discharging when it should charge, the USB-C port switches between input and outputs by double-pressing the button. When the connector is plugged to a power source, the BioLite Charge 100 Max always charges itself. That is great and avoids the potential pitfall of it being set to charge-out instead of charge-in.

With 25,000mAh is charge, this is one of the most powerful portable power-banks available. This is over 4X more than the capacity of virtually all flagship cellphones. Tablets have a comparable battery, so expect to be able to charge them 5X times. Testing with a mid-range phone, have a 4500mAh battery, we can confirm that it can be completely recharged four times. The best ultrabook on the market can be charged fully once but no more. The Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Nano reports charging current and confirms that the BioLite Charge 100 Max is supplying 100W of power.

When multiple ports are used to charge devices of different capacities simultaneously, two USB-C ports split 100W. There are defined steps and so the output does not always add to 100W. Splitting between a laptop and cellphone resulted in both receiving 45W. The output does not take into account charge level, so even when one of the devices reaches 100% capacity, the second still receives 45W.

Two extra ports are powered independently, sharing 20W between them. These ports are limited to 15W which suitable for small devices such as truly wireless headphones. So when one port provides 15W, the other outputs 5W. In this setup, the smallest device and middle one end up fully charged, while the laptop can reach 60-80% capacity, depending on the model.

The most impressive part of the Charge 100 Max performance is its speed. During testing, this power-bank was able to charge devices faster than other power-banks by a good margin. In fact, it does not take much longer than a dedicated AC charger. This goes both ways. The power-bank can be recharged within 90 minutes.

This is impressive battery-pack that is launched at a good price-point. The Charge 100 Max definitely performs in line with its specifications and large number of ports make it quite versatile. For someone that travels with a lof of gear, the this power bank could replace multiple smaller ones. On the downside, this is a hefty unit and probably too much for those who do not need its high capacity.

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