My favorite power bank for traveling just became irreplaceable with this durability upgrade

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I’ve just completed the final 75 miles of the Camino Frances in northern Spain, walking from Sarria to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela in six days. 

While the pilgrims of old didn’t have smartphones, they are a vital part of doing the Camino in modern times, partly because you need to find and book accommodation (not to mention enter your passport details and the like — there’s a lot of bureaucracy in the modern world), and not to mention that finding shops, cafes and restaurants that are open in the winter season can be tricky.

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So a smartphone is not a luxury, it’s a vital bit of safety gear. A vital bit of safety gear that keeps you connected and needs charging! And for this vital task, I chose the Nitecore NB Plus.

The battery in my iPhone 17 Pro Max is vastly better than the one in my iPhone 15 Pro Max was, and lasts significantly longer. In fact, on a normal day, I can start the day with a full charge and still have half left by the evening. 

But things are different on the trail. 

There’s navigation to consider, as well as a lot of back and forth between the Translate app (which works great for Spanish) and using WhatsApp to communicate with hostel owners and hoteliers. And there was the cold. Northern Spain is nothing like the southern part where I’m currently writing this, with temperatures in the early mornings and late afternoons dipping well into the 30s Fahrenheit. 

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Before the trip, I’d kitted myself out with Nitecore’s new NB Plus is a 10,000mAh power bank that’s built to be rugged and durable, and at the same time cram as much power into as little space as possible – it weighs 5.5 ounces and measures 4.8 x 2.3 x 0.5 inches. That thinness is a real boon, allowing the power bank to be slipped unobtrusively into a pocket or backpack. And, importantly for me, it’s double the capacity of its predecessor, the NB Air.

As power banks go, this is an awful lot of bang for your ounces. And when you’re hiking – or just carrying the power bank about during a normal day – it vanishes into your carry, and so you’re not tempted to leave it behind. And when it comes to longer distance hikes, every ounce and square inch matters, and matters more and more with every step.

But don’t let the size fool you. This power bank still rocks both a USB-C and USB-A port, both of which are capable of 22.5W output. But don’t let the size fool you. Sure, it’s not a power bank for your laptop, but it’s perfect for topping up small devices like your phone, GPS receiver, satellite messenger, or even a small drone like the DJI Neo. 

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All this talk is cheap, so it was time to get down to some testing. Before heading to northern Spain to embark on the trail, I put the NB Plus through its paces on my usual barrage of tests to verify that metrics such as power outputs and energy capacity matched the sales literature, and indeed they did. Nitecore hasn’t skimped on the build quality of this unit. It’s not only great for hikers, but also for those who work outdoors, including engineers, foresters, and emergency service personnel.

Then it was time to hit the trail, and this is where I discovered that this is a tougher bit of kit than I’d expected. 

The carbon fibre shell resists knocks and dents, the rounded corners avoid the power bank making an unexpected and expensive appearance out of the side of your backpack, and it is even rated to IPX7, so dirt and water are no match for the unit. I took this into thick fog, rain, hail, and even snow and ice, and had no problems at all with it. One night, it froze solid in a stone cottage outside of a small village called Ferreiros, and while it was too cold to hold with bare hands, it worked fine. 

While most of the time the power bank lived in my tech dry bag, when it was charging things on the move, it would be in a pocket or pouch, and the elements would get to it, but after ten days of hard use and abuse, it still works just like new.

ZDNET’s buying advice

I’ll be straight with you, Nitecore products aren’t cheap. At $65, the Nitecore NB Plus commands a premium price, and while those who just want a power bank for day-to-day use can get away with something cheaper, if you’re going to be relying on the power bank to keep you connected to the world, then this is definitely a unit worth considering. 

I’ve had a lot of Nitecore products over the years — from power banks to flashlights and head lamps to 18650 battery chargers — and I’ve never once been disappointed with a purchase. And if you pick this one for your adventures, I don’t think you will be either.