If you’re buying a battery pack in 2019, you’re probably looking at packs that support USB-C Power Delivery, the fast-charging spec that can quickly recharge modern laptops, the Nintendo Switch, and the latest phones. The problem is that most of those batteries are big, honking things designed to last you for a flight across the ocean. But USB-C PD has benefits in smaller form factors too, and Elecjet wants to prove it with the new Apollo Traveler.
At roughly the size of an iPhone X, the 5,000mAh Apollo Traveler only has enough juice for a single phone charge, or a few extra hours of Breath of the Wild (side note, it’s the only USB-C PD battery I’ve found that can easily fit in a Switch case). But it transfers that charge from itself to your gadgets extremely quickly thanks to a Quick Charge USB port and 45W USB-C PD output. Just as importantly, it can completely recharge itself in an astonishing 18 minutes with a compatible 60W USB-C wall charger.
That means if you ran through your battery during the day on vacation, you could fully recharge it in the time it takes you to get ready for dinner. Whether that’s a meaningful feature for you probably depends on how often you use portable batteries, but there’s nothing else like it on the market.
The Apollo Traveler is already fully funded on Kickstarter, and earlybirds start at $59. That’s awfully steep for a 5,000mAh battery pack, but it fills a very particular gap in the portable battery ecosystem that nothing else has, to this point.