After testing many Qi2 power banks for my Pixel 10, there’s only one I want to carry

Over the past month or so, I’ve been stuck in power bank land, testing several different designs, capacities, and form factors. Most of these have been Qi2 and Qi2.2 power banks, with magnets that align perfectly well with my Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL, and a supposedly fast — on paper at least — charging speed.

I also realized, with every passing week, that there was one power bank I kept gravitating back to, picking it up among all others when I was heading out the door, it’s the sexily-named Baseus PicoGo AM31 5,000mAh ($35.99 at Amazon). Here’s why this has been my favorite.

The photo above should be enough to showcase what makes this tiny power bank special. The PicoGo AM31 is more compact than any other Qi2 portable battery I’ve seen, measuring a measly 0.45 inches (around 1.1cm) in thickness, with a footprint of 2.3 x 3.4 inches (5.8 x 8.6 cm) that only covers a fraction of my Pixel 10 Pro XL. It’s very light, too, weighing only 0.29 pounds, or 131 grams, which is around half the weight of my phone with the case on.

When I first held it, it almost felt like a toy, despite its solid build quality. I’ve been using nothing but 10,000mAh+ bricks for the past eight years, so I wasn’t excited about the prospect of “downgrading” to a 5,000mAh power bank, even though I liked the portability… on paper. Based on experience, though, I knew not to expect more than 3,000-3,500mAh of actual charging capacity, due to the loss in voltage conversion and heat generated by the charging process.

My first tests with the Baseus PicoGo 5,000mAh solidified my fears: Over Qi2 (15W), it took a whopping 140 minutes to charge my completely idle Pixel 10 Pro from 20% to 71% before it died, and 120 minutes to charge my completely idle Pixel 10 Pro XL from 20% to 69% before it died. Not ideal, not at all, especially if I’m out and about and need a quick top-up on my phone. Waiting more than two hours for half a charge feels like a total waste.

When used over 20W USB-C, the Baseus PicoGo was much faster and a little more efficient. 52 minutes to get the Pixel 10 Pro from 20% to 85%, and 54 minutes for the Pixel 10 Pro XL from 20% to 80%.

It’s such a dramatic difference in charging speed between the theoretical 15W over Qi2 and 20W over USB-C, and this isn’t the only power bank or charger I noticed this on. Truth is, the Pixel 10 phones seem to use around 8-9W of the available 15W on a Qi2 charger, regardless of the brand you use (and only 12W or so on Qi2 25W chargers). I don’t know if Google is limiting the power to avoid overheating or if there’s something in the phones’ circuitry and battery conversion that makes them so inefficient at Qi2 charging.

After all that theoretical testing, my expectations for daily use of the Baseus PicoGo power bank were very low. I thought I’d only really use it over USB-C because of how impractically slow it is over Qi2. But my opinion about it completely changed the first time I carried it on a long day of sightseeing. I think it was about 5 PM, my Pixel 10 Pro XL’s battery was down to 35%, and I asked my husband to hand me the power bank I’d slipped in his backpack. He said, “It’s with you, you brought the small one this morning.” And that’s when I realized that the PicoGo AM31 had been in my jeans pocket all day long, and I hadn’t even noticed it.

This was the turning point for me. I have literally never carried a power bank all day in my pocket, or when I did, I was always annoyed by its bulk and weight. I usually slip power banks in my pocket for an hour or so while they charge my phone, but I have to immediately take them out and throw them back in a sling or backpack because they’re too thick and too heavy to lug around all day long. Not this one, though.

It’s so compact, so light, and so thin that I don’t even notice it when it’s with me. The closest comparison I can give you is that it almost feels like carrying a case of true wireless earbuds. That’s how “invisible” this one feels in my pockets. And because I always slip it in my pocket instead of in my backpack, I don’t have to fuss around to find it and charge my phone, so it’s always there and always ready. The fact that it attaches magnetically to the back of my Pixel and doesn’t require a wire makes the process even more seamless.

It’s also more practical because I can still hold and use my phone while it’s attached to it without any weight or grip discomfort. One of the reasons I use larger 10,000mAh power banks only over USB-C and not Qi2 is that they make my phone heavy and unwieldy when they attach magnetically. With a short USB-C cable, I get to keep those chargers in my pocket and only take out the phone when I need to take a photo, check Maps, do a quick search, or reply to a message. With how light this one is, though, keeping it magnetically attached is a no-brainer.

Look, I know I’m being enthusiastic about a power bank just because it’s small and has magnets, but it really removed all the barriers I didn’t realize I had: It’s faster to access because it’s always in my pocket, easy to use because it attracts my phone magnetically, and comfortable to carry and use because it doesn’t make my phone too heavy or thick to hold. Because of this, I found that it changed the way I use a power bank on busy days.

Previously, I waited until my phone was down to around 30% and quickly rummaged for my power bank in my backpack, plugged it in for an hour or so to bring the phone up to 70-80%, then unplugged and returned the battery to my backpack. But because this Baseus PicoGo is so small, I’ve been keeping it and my phone in two separate pockets and joining them together multiple times throughout the day, and for shorter charges.

Often, when I notice my Pixel is down to 65% or so, I’ll move it into the same pocket as my Baseus power bank, snap it on the charger without even looking — the simplicity of magnets! — wait for the vibration that confirms it started charging, and leave it there for 20 minutes or so. Then, I take it off and slip it into the other pocket. This keeps my phone at a decent charge level over the entire day, and doesn’t heat it up when charging wirelessly because it doesn’t stay on the power bank for too long.

I spent a weekend sightseeing in Athens with no other power bank to carry me through the day, and I didn’t regret my choice. Of course, the Baseus PicoGo AM31 was slower and less efficient than the bigger and bulkier options I left at home, and I had to charge it every night in my hotel room, but the usability improvement alone made it worth it for me. Plus, it has that super useful built-in kickstand for watching videos on the plane or in cafés.

It’s easy to get lost in the specs and the features, but my time with all these power banks has proven to me that picking the right accessory isn’t just about choosing the most powerful one, but also finding something that works for me (or you).

I have several Qi2.2 power banks that can go up to 25W in power and pack a larger 10,000mAh battery with a built-in USB-C cable — i.e. all the extras I could dream of — yet I’m picking a more basic Qi2 power bank at 15W, with a small 5,000mAh battery, and no built-in cable to carry around with me every day. I started by disliking its performance on paper, and ended up loving its day-to-day perks.

I recommend you think about your purchase more thoroughly, too. Do you need the larger capacity and faster speeds? If so, go for something else. But if you just need a few quick top-ups during busy days, then maybe something smaller, lighter, and more practical like the Baseus PicoGo AM31 will do the trick for you.