When Uncle Ben told Peter Parker that with great power comes great responsibility, he might well have been talking not just about superheroes but also about power banks. Yes, we mean it. These power-giving accessories have become a part of many of our daily lives, but with great power banks inevitably come great responsibilities – the responsibility to carry something hefty (which generally does not fit into a jacket or a trouser pocket), the responsibility to shell out a fair deal of money for both power and Charging speeds, the responsibility to ensure it can charge your gadgets and of course, the responsibility to keep this power giver empowered (read “charged”) itself.

It is small wonder that many of us consider power banks to be minor headaches instead of pain relievers! They are another device to keep charged and carry. It is almost impossible to find a power bank that is easy to carry, which charges fast and gets charged fast itself and yet does not cost a fair amount of money.

This is why we are extremely impressed by the Stuffcool Mega 10000mAh 30W PD PPS Power Bank (henceforth referred to as the ‘Stuffcool Mega’ for the sake of simplicity). It is pretty much everything most general users want from a power bank.

Stuffcool Mega: A 10,000 mAh power bank that you can carry in your pocket!

One of the biggest drawbacks of power banks has been their portability. You do get power banks that are compact and lightweight, but they, more often than not, tend to be low on capacity. If you want a lot of mAh, you have to put up with a lot of gms.

The Mega is a very pleasant surprise in this regard. At first glance, it seems too small to be a 10,000 mAh power bank, but that is exactly what it is. It is a mere 8 cm long and 6 cm wide, and the only place where it gets a trifle bulky is its close to 4 cm thickness. It also weighs 180 grams, which is less than most smartphones these days. In short (pun wholly intended), it is small enough to slip into your coat or trouser pocket, something which is rare for a 10,000 mAh power bank.

Stuffcool Mega: A solid design and some speedy charging

That compact frame packs in quite a number of features. The Mega is well-designed with a textured top and base that shines when light falls on it. It comes with two charging options, with a USB Type-A port on one side and a Type-C port on the other. One of the other sides also has a button to switch the power bank on and off, right next to which comes one of our favorite power bank features – a display panel that shows the amount of charge left in the bank in numerical terms. Looking at the power bank, pressing a button, and knowing exactly how much charge is left in it is infinitely more convenient than counting blinking lights and wondering whether four out of five lights means 70 percent or 80 percent. It makes both charging devices as well as charging the power bank itself much easier.

Stuffcool has bundled a short Type C to Type C cable with the power bank – it might strike some as being too short to be used to charge the power bank from a power outlet at floor level (where so many are), but it adds to the portability of the package and also means that there are no dangling cables when you are charging a device.

As impressive as the pocketable size of the Stuffcool Mega are its charging speeds. The USB Type C port supports 30W PD charging and, more interestingly, also supports 25W PPS charging for Samsung devices with “super fast charging.” The USB Type C port supports 30W charging and the Type A 18W. The Mega can at any time deliver a maximum of 30W of power, so do not expect to get fast charging speeds if you charge devices from both ports of the power bank simultaneously. Those charging speeds mean that not only can the Mega charge most smartphones at a very brisk speed, but it can also charge notebooks and tablets that support 30W charging – it can charge a M1/M2 MacBook Air, for instance (although not a MacBook Pro!). The power bank itself can be charged at 30W!

Stuffcool Mega: It actually works…and even charges a MacBook Air

Not only does all that sound super on paper, but it actually works in real life as well. The Stuffcool Mega was able to charge our totally discharged iPhone 14, Pixel 7, and Galaxy S23 to almost half capacity in about 30-40 minutes, which is extremely impressive. It could charge our iPhone 14 Pro Max about one and a half times and the Pixel 7 close to twice. However, what really stood out was its ability to charge our MacBook Air to close to 35 percent from zero before running out. It also got our iPad Air (2022) to 30 percent in half an hour. Yes, the power bank does get a little warm while charging, but it never reaches uncomfortable levels. Stuffcool is also an established accessory brand with a good safety record and says that the power bank is BIS-approved and comes with “5 intelligent safety protocols.”

The charging levels shown on the display seem real, with no dramatic fluctuations as seen in some other power banks, which sometimes go directly from 90 percent to 50 percent. Best of all, the power bank itself charged quickly – a 33W charger got it from 0 to 100 in about three hours.

Stuffcool Mega Review Verdict: Does portable power get better than this?

The Stuffcool Mega is officially priced at Rs 2,999 but is often available at Rs 1,999 (at the time of writing as well). Some might think that is a little on the expensive side for a 10000 mAh power bank, and they would be right – you can get power banks of the same capacity at half the price. However, as we have been pointing out, the Stuffcool Mega is not just about capacity but also about the speed of charging and sheer portability. For comparison, Stuffcool’s own Palm 10000 mAh compact power bank comes for Rs 2399 and charges devices at 20W, and Xiaomi’s Pocket Pro Power Bank comes with 10,000 mAh capacity and more charging options for Rs 1,699 but charges devices at 22.5 W. Another compact option is the 10000 mAh Ambrane Compact Power Bank, which is available at Rs 1599 but again charges 22.5 W.

There are actually very few power banks of the Stuffcool Mega’s size with its capacity and charging speed, not to mention display. Many of us move around with a notebook, a mobile phone (or two), wireless earphones, and perhaps a tablet and/or e-book reader. To have a power bank that can charge all of them and yet fits into a jacket pocket is kind of, well, empowering. You can carry it on a flight as well as a Metro ride without worrying about weight or charging speeds. This is why we think the Stuffcool Mega is perhaps the perfect portable charger.

Buy Stuffcool Mega