The $19 Portable Essential I’ve Used Multiple Times a Day for the Past Year (You NEED One for Study Abroad!)

I’m a senior in college, which means I’ve been running around campus for the past four years, going from class, to the library, to dinner, to clubs — and some days I don’t make it back to my dorm room until late at night. These long days don’t only take a toll on my social battery, but also quickly drain my phone battery, which is why a reliable portable charger is a college essential. 

While studying abroad last year, it was even more critical to have a power bank on me at all times. With all the traveling I was doing, the last thing I wanted was a dead phone in the middle of a foreign country! I’ve gone through a couple of versions through the years, but the INIU Portable Charger has become my ride-or-die portable charger as a busy student.

I found the INIU Portable Charger on Amazon and chose it for its great reviews (a 4.5-star average from over 4,500 reviews) and reasonable price ($22 at the time of writing), and it’s turned out to be perfect for me. 

The charger is compact, about 3 by 4 inches, weighs around 6.5 ounces (less than half a pound), and comes with a USB-C cable built in as a detachable lanyard. Plus, it’s thin enough that you can hold both a phone and the charger in one hand at the same time. I have the black version, but it also comes in blue, green, or red. This charger even comes with what I find to be an unexpected but super useful feature: a flashlight. Just click the power button twice to turn on the LED light bulb right next to the USB-C port.

Not only can you use it to charge your phone (iPhone or Android), but the INIU power bank comes with both USB and USB-C charging ports, making it compatible with so many devices. 

Jumping from airport to airport while studying abroad meant that I rarely had access to a reliable outlet. Sure, most airports have power stations, but nowadays it’s critical to be aware of “juice jacking,” or getting digital information stolen through malicious USB ports or chargers. I love knowing I have a safe power source whenever I need one. 

The INIU Portable Charger typically takes around two hours to fully recharge, but it can charge my iPhone to 100% in 15 to 30 minutes, and the portable charger lasts for at least two full charges of my phone. I’ve even used it to charge my phone overnight while staying in hostels without easy access to outlets. Especially when traveling, it’s so nice not to have to worry about carrying the right outlet adapter for my phone charger, since this portable option saves me from having to plug into an outlet at all.

Of course, this portable charger is not only useful for travel; I use it daily now that I’m back on campus. It’s wild how fast that phone battery slips away, so I often plug it in while studying in the library. I’ve found putting my phone away to charge in my bag is useful for focusing on my work, too. Plus, it’s great for giving my AirPods a little extra juice when the case is running low, so I can listen to my study music. Whether I’m running between classes on campus or countries while studying abroad, I’ve found this handy little portable charger to be a total lifesaver. I’d put it up there on any list of college essentials — in fact, anyone who uses a phone will find it totally useful.