Which jump starter

It's never pleasant to walk outside and realize that your car's battery is dead -- especially if you're in a remote area or can't find someone to give you a jump. Fortunately, with a portable jump starter, being stranded by a dead battery will be a thing of the past. Unlike traditional jumper cables, portable jump starters come with a built-in battery to give your car a boost without connecting to another power source. Even better? Most jump starters come with a few extra features, including flashlights, phone charging ports, and even air compressors.

When you purchase a portable jump starter, you're really investing in your safety and comfort while you're on the road. Keep reading to learn more about the best portable jump starters to keep in your car, including how much they cost, how much power they produce, and where to buy them. Amps: Capacity: 19 mAh Weight: 20lbs. With an impressive starting amps and peak amps, this portable jump starter can start trucks and other large vehicles.

The most notable one is the built-in air compressor, which can be used to pump air into your tires, bicycle, or other sports equipment. There's also a backlight gauge and pivoting LED flashlight, which is great for jumping your car in the dark, as well as charging ports USB and volt DC to keep your devices charged on the go. Amps: Capacity: 18 mAh Weight: 18lbs. You'll get cranking amps and peak amps, which is plenty of power to jump your passenger or light commercial vehicle.

The JNC comes with an easy-to-read voltmeter, so you can quickly understand how much battery life you have left. The internal battery is removable, so if you start to notice that it isn't holding a charge as well as it used to, you can order a replacement from the manufacturer.

It's a great perk to help you get more long-term value from your jump starter. On the back of the jump starter, you'll find a volt DC power outlet to charge your smartphone or other devices. Other than that, the JNC doesn't include as many bonus features as its competitors -- but it's not much of an issue.

Simply put, this product is designed for jumping dead car batteries, and it excels in that regard. Amps: Capacity: mAh Weight: 2. We'll cut to the chase here: the NOCO Boost Plus GB40 is a fantastic option if you're looking for a portable jump starter to use on rare occasions when your battery dies.

It's small enough to hide in your glove compartment or trunk, but it has enough power for 20 jump starts on one charge. This particular model can generate peak amps, but NOCO also sells several other versions with higher outputs.

If you've never used a portable jump starter before, this device could be a smart choice. That's because it comes with NOCO's UltraSafe technology, which will alert you if the clamps aren't connected correctly. That limits the amount of sulfur in the cells and ensures both the maximum capacity and the longest life. Whatever the chemistry, it's virtually impossible to overcharge a jump-start battery.

That means you can plug it in and forget it for days at a time. Yet Portwood doesn't recommend charging all the time. That keeps the charge block consistently warm whether the block is external or built into the battery case , and can shorten its useful life.

The lithium-polymer cells in more compact car jump starters and chargers hold more energy for the relative size. They also hold a charge longer than sealed lead acid when they're idle, but they can be a bit more finicky.

To maximize performance over the long haul and ensure maximum life, a more active approach might be in order. Treat it like a cell phone and exercise the cells. Use it every couple of months. Drain it a bit in some fashion, and then put it on the charger. Climb in the driver's seat for the latest car news and reviews, delivered to your inbox twice weekly. When choosing a portable battery jump starter, the first thing you'll want to consider is what you're planning on using it for.

Most car battery jump starters and battery chargers offer some flexibility, but some portable car jump starter options are more limited in what you can do with them. If you're not worried about running a small television when the power fails, you probably shouldn't worry about getting a portable car battery with a built-in AC inverter, so make sure the battery pack features have enough power and are right for your needs.

Many portable jump starters indicate the starting amps. This is particularly important if you plan to use your portable battery primarily for its original purpose: jump starting engines. A big V8 engine -- particularly a diesel engine -- could require upwards of ampere current to turnover a dead battery on a cold day. If that's what you need to do, you'll have a harder time doing it with a battery jump starter intended for a four-cylinder. Most manufacturers rate their portable car starters and motorcycle jump starter batteries for types of engines, so read the fine print for your jump starter battery.

Look for starting or cranking amps, and don't worry much about the peak amp figures. Usually measured in amp hours or milliamp hours 1, mAh equals 1 Ah , total storage capacity matters more if you plan to use your portable jump starter battery and portable car battery charger as a backup or mobile power source. A higher number means more electrical storage capacity. Typical portable batteries are rated from five to 22 amp hours.

The chemistry composition of portable car batteries can run the gamut, from sealed lead acid battery options to absorbent glass mat to lithium jump battery starter and, recently, ultracapacitors. The chemistry matters less for ultimate utility and more for weight, size and, to a lesser extent, cost. If you want something you can keep in your glove box, it's probably not going to be a sealed lead-acid battery booster.

Many portable jump starters come with additional features, but the issue is size and weight. Add all of the features in one unit and the jump starter gets much bulkier, with weight exceeding 30 pounds. For some purposes -- camping trips for example -- that may not matter much. On the other hand, you may not want to be carrying one of the bigger portable car batteries around in your Mazda Miata. Some manufacturers, including the highly rated Antigravity brand, are starting to offer separate accessories like a small, powerful air compressor that work with their paperback-size lithium-polymer jump starter batteries, but this approach tends to add to the cost.

Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy , which we encourage you to read. Battery jump starters are nothing new, but until now, ones that worked well in our tests were sized like a hardcover dictionary powered by heavy lead-acid batteries. While great for car dealers and auto recovery services, these traditional booster packs are too bulky to carry as part of a car emergency kit.

But the new generation of mini jump starters tested here use compact lithium-ion batteries. Most weigh around a pound and are roughly the size of a paperback novel. In addition to jump-starting, these units can also be used to recharge portable devices, such as mobile phones and tablets—a function that makes them a useful part of a home emergency kit, as well.

All of the units we tested had at least one built-in USB port, as well as a flashlight, and some had connectors to charge certain types of laptops.

Shop Jump Starters on Amazon. In the first and second test, both the battery and the jumper packs were at room temperature. For the third test, we chilled both the weak batteries and the booster packs down to 0-degrees Fahrenheit. The fourth test had the batteries cooled to 0 degrees with the jump starters at room temperature.

We also tested the units to see how long they could provide power to smaller devices such as tablets and mobile phones. When it came to jump-starting vehicles, performance between the units was nearly identical. Among our observations:. It was when the temps dropped below freezing that the differences appeared. Built-in circuitry should turn off charging automatically once the battery is fully charged. We discharged, recharged, severely discharged, and recharged our test jump starter lineup several times without a problem.

Depends on the battery capacity. Probably not.