The Past and Future of Portable Chargers
We looked at how portable chargers — also called battery banks or battery packs or external batteries — have changed in the last nine years. In 2013 portable chargers were bulky and heavy. By 2018 they were less bulky and lighter. Now in 2022 battery banks are even lighter and more compact.
If the battery weight and volume trend continues, a typical 10K mAh battery bank in 2025 will be about 38% lighter and take up less than 50% of the volume as a 2013 battery.
Related Post: Should You Carry a Solar Panel on Your Backpacking Trip?
We purchased all items in this post and were not paid to mention any product.

10,000 mAh Battery Banks
2013: The 10,400 mAh RAVPower external battery pack portable charger (far left) weighs 223 grams.
2018: The 10,050 mAh Anker power bank (2nd from left) weighs 191 grams.
2021: The 10,000 mAh T-CORE power bank (2nd from right) weighs 174 grams.
2022: The 10,000 mAh Nitecore NB10000 GEN 2 quick charge power bank (far right) weighs 150 grams.

Portable Charger Weight Drops Every Year
As battery bank technology continues to improve the weight of a 10K mAh battery bank drops every year. We found that a typical 10,000 mAh battery bank dropped about 8 grams a year.
If this trend continues, we expect that a typical 10K mAh battery bank will weigh about 139 grams in 2025. This is about 38% lighter than a 2013 external battery.

Portable Chargers Get More Compact Every Year
Similar to a reduction in battery bank weight, the size or volume of a 10K mAh battery bank drops every year. We found that a typical 10K mAh battery bank dropped in volume about 7 cubic centimeters (0.4 cubic inches) a year.
If this trend continues we expect that a 10K mAh battery bank will have a volume of about 72 cubic centimeters (4.4 cubic inches) in 2025. This is less than half of the volume of a 2013 external battery.