Carrying a portable power bank with you at all times is never a bad idea and i speak from experience since such devices have kept my smartphones and tablets going when there was no electrical socket in sight (hard to come across one at the beach and/or on the mountain). Unfortunately either due to high cost or available technology we've yet to see credit card sized power banks with plenty of available battery capacity (850mAh models are good for an emergency but not nearly enough for anything more) but there are many compact models in the market today which can provide your smartphone and/or tablet with several extra hours of life and can be carried around either in your backpack, purse or even your pocket. The AL450 model is the latest compact power bank from our friends over at Xtorm and we've been carrying it around with us charging our smartphones and tablets for almost three weeks now.

Xtorm is part of the Dutch company A-solar bv and was founded in 2008 with the idea that today more and more mobile devices come to the market, which requires a lot of power. To contribute to the environment we have searched for durable applications to provide a solution to this problem. Meanwhile we are the manufacturer in the field of innovative and practical solar and power solutions for everyday use. We bring a complete range of affordable and user-friendly consumer products on the market that simply charged from solar power and USB. The products with the brand Xtorm have a contemporary character and are of high quality.

Aside it's compact size and 12.000mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack the AL450 has three extra selling points an USB-C type connector which can be used to charge (fully at that) a 12 inch Apple MacBook giving it 4 additional hours of battery time, external aluminum plate and qualcomm's quick-charge 2.0 technology (automatically detects and delivers faster charging in devices featuring compatible Qualcomm Snapdragon processors). Secondary features include a 3A input charging port which can fully charge the AL450 in just under 4 hours (3A USB charger is of course required to achieve that) and two USB charging ports one featuring 5V/1A output (suitable for "generic" smartphones and small portable devices like earsets) and another with 5V/3A - 12V/1.25A output (mainly for use with large devices like tablets and the previously mentioned MacBook). So time for us to check and see whether or not the AL450 is the power bank to carry with you.