How Reliable Are Portable Batteries For Road Trips? One Of My Faves Is 44% Off Right Now

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The EcoFlow Trail 300 DC retails for $249 but is connected waste for $139.
• This compact portable artillery tin powerfulness physics devices specified arsenic laptops, smartphones, tablets, and more.
• It doesn't person immoderate other features (there's nary light), and location are only 5 DC ports.

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My kids ooh and ahh complete portable batteries. They're young, ranging from 4 to nine, truthful they're not EcoFlow's aliases Anker Solix's target audience, yet their eyes ray up whenever I unbox a caller portable artillery to trial for work. Why? They emotion to usage them to complaint their tablets wherever they are. 

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Thus far, they've loved nan EcoFlow Trail 300 DC truthful overmuch that they've been fighting maine complete it. This artillery is ray capable for moreover my younger kids to transportation everyplace without fearfulness of dropping it aliases bumping it against their legs, yet it tin complaint each 3 of their tablets respective times connected a azygous charge.

And I get it: I've utilized nan EcoFlow Trail 300 DC to recharge my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook doubly connected a azygous charge, and still had astir 17% of nan artillery left. 

My favourite point astir nan Trail 300 DC is its compact and lightweight design. EcoFlow achieved this by bypassing nan battery's AC system and making it a DC-only option. 

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AC batteries person agelong been my preferred action to transportation along, truthful nan EcoFlow River 3 has been my go-to since its motorboat past year. I've tried different DC-only portable batteries, for illustration nan Anker Solix C300X, but nan Trail 300 won maine complete by being lighter and much compact than nan Anker Solix option.

Also: Best Amazon Prime Day EcoFlow deals successful October 2025: I recovered discounts up to 51% off 

I've utilized this small artillery astir my location and outside. I emotion that I tin transportation it around, return it to nan car, and backmost without emotion for illustration I'm lugging astir a portable battery. 

Due to its lightness, nan Trail 300 DC makes an perfect recreation companion. At nether six pounds, it is easy to return connected your carry-on aliases moreover successful a backpack. If you bask progressive camping trips, this portable artillery tin spell successful your backpack to support your devices charged without weighing you down aliases taking up excessively overmuch space.

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This 90,000mAh artillery tin present up to 140W per port, pinch a full output of 300W, making it sufficiently powerful to complaint laptops and different ample devices, specified arsenic electrical coolers aliases projectors. 

It recharges beautiful quickly, too, truthful you tin spell from 0 to 100% successful conscionable astir 2 hours. If you return it retired pinch you, you tin recharge it done USB, star panels, aliases a car. 

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ZDNET's buying advice

The EcoFlow Trail 300 DC is 1 of nan champion value-for-money options disposable successful a portable battery. It's cleanable for camping and mini capable to gaffe into a backpack erstwhile you time off your tent. It tin besides quickly recharge devices during agelong car rides, successful emergency situations, or, arsenic my kids would say, erstwhile you're connected nan sofa pinch a dormant tablet and are excessively acold from an outlet.

One of nan champion features of this portable artillery is its affordable value of $160 (at nan clip of writing). Such a bully value gives competitors a tally for their money, though you whitethorn person to discuss connected immoderate features to get specified a bully price.

While nan EcoFlow Trail 300 DC is lightweight and compact, it lacks other features, specified arsenic a light, and has only 5 DC ports: 2 USB-C, 2 USB-A, and 1 12V car port. The Anker Solix C300X, for example, has doubly arsenic galore USB-C ports.