There’s a particular quiet panic every traveller knows. You’re somewhere beautiful and far from a socket, the light is doing something extraordinary, a voice you love is halfway through a story in your ears, and your phone slips below ten per cent.
This winter, between January and February, I travelled slowly through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. It’s a journey I’ll be writing about properly soon, but one small object earned its place in every story along the way, so it gets to go first: the power bank that never left my bag.
On the river, and on the road
Picture a long wooden boat sliding down the Mekong, hour after hour of green banks and water buffalo and not a plug in sight. On days like that, when the next charger is a bus ride and a border away, a phone is your camera, your map, your music and your notebook all at once. Running out isn’t an inconvenience; it’s the end of the record.
The same was true on the long bus legs between one stop and the next, the kind that swallow a whole day and leave you watching a country scroll past the window. Somewhere over the years, I’ve made my peace with those endless transfers, even grown fond of them, but only because I know I can keep the camera fed and the podcast playing the whole way.
The thing that kept the lights on, quietly, was a little RORRY CharmGo D4.
Why this one
The CharmGo D4 is a 10,000 mAh charger shrunk into something close to a piece of jewellery: a charm on a keychain you clip to your bag and forget about until you need it. That sounds like a gimmick until you realise it’s exactly why it’s always there, and never the thing left charging on a hotel bedside table two countries ago.
For something so small, it’s seriously quick. It pushes up to 45W, enough to take a phone from nearly flat to most of the way in about half an hour, and it refills itself in roughly 2 hours. Ten thousand milliamp-hours is around two full phone charges, which on a boat or a bus is the difference between arriving with your photos and your podcast intact, or not. It will charge more than one thing at a time, and it will even top up an Apple Watch with a magnetic snap, no cable needed.
One honest note, because honesty is rather the point of this blog. The magnetic wireless charging is built around the Apple Watch and recent iPhones; for everything else, you charge over USB-C, which covers virtually any modern phone, tablet or pair of earbuds. And, like any power bank, it flies in your hand luggage and never in the hold, which is the rule on every airline anyway.
Good to know
- Capacity: 10,000 mAh, around two full phone charges
- Fast charging: up to 45W, roughly a phone to 70 per cent in half an hour
- Recharges itself: about two hours
- Extras: magnetic wireless charging for Apple Watch, and pass-through charging
- Design: a keychain charm that clips straight to your bag
- Flights: carry-on only, and well under the 100Wh airline limit
It never makes it back to the drawer
It would be easy to think of this as a travel-only thing, packed before a trip and forgotten after it. Mine never goes back in the drawer. I’m a hopeless podcast addict, the kind who queues up three episodes for a single walk, and there’s no quicker way to drain a phone than a long listen with the screen waking to check the map. On the beach with a book and a voice in my ear, or up on the trails above the Cinque Terre, where the next café is an hour of switchbacks away, the little RORRY rides on my bag just in case. It has rescued more afternoons than I can count.
I liked it enough that I now own two, the Rose Quartz and the Moonstone, a soft pink and a pearl white. Partly vanity, I’ll admit, and partly logic: one clipped to my travel bag, one to my everyday one, and that way I’m never caught out.
If you fancy one
You’ll find the RORRY CharmGo D4 here on RORRY’s site. If you’re tempted by two, a gift and a keeper, or a his-and-hers, RORRY runs a multi-buy discount that grows with the quantity, so it’s worth checking the current codes on their site before you order.
For transparency, I use both of mine. As ever here, I only write about the things I’d genuinely pack.
More from that long, slow loop through Southeast Asia is coming to the blog soon, the Mekong included. When it arrives, you’ll know what was quietly keeping the lights on.
Further reading
- My full list of essential travel gear, the ten things I never travel without
- RORRY’s power bank collection, if you want to compare sizes and styles
FAQ
Is the RORRY CharmGo D4 good for travel? Yes, the RORRY CharmGo D4 suits travel well because it is tiny enough to clip to your bag like a charm, so it is always there. It holds 10,000 mAh, around two full phone charges, and offers fast 45W charging, so you can top up quickly between buses, boats and flights without carrying a bulky brick.
Can you take a power bank on a plane? Yes, but a power bank must travel in your hand luggage, never in checked baggage, on every airline. The RORRY CharmGo D4 sits well below the 100Wh limit for lithium batteries, so it is flight-compliant. Always check your specific airline’s rules before you fly.
How fast is the RORRY CharmGo D4? The RORRY CharmGo D4 charges at up to 45W, fast enough to take a typical phone to about 70 per cent in half an hour. It also recharges itself in roughly two hours, which means little downtime between a long travel day and the next.
Can the RORRY CharmGo D4 charge an Apple Watch? Yes, the RORRY CharmGo D4 has built-in magnetic wireless charging for the Apple Watch, so it tops up your watch with a snap and no cable. For phones, tablets and earbuds, you charge over USB-C, and it works with both iOS and Android devices.
How many charges does a 10,000 mAh power bank give? A 10,000 mAh power bank like the RORRY CharmGo D4 gives roughly two full charges for a typical smartphone, depending on your phone’s battery size. That is usually enough for a long travel day, or a few days of lighter use, between recharges.
