Lion Energy Cub and Eclipse Power Banks Hands-on Review: Portable Power for EDC and Travel

I’ve been testing two power banks from Lion Energy. Namely, the Eclipse and Cub, that are intended for everything from EDC to travel and are even rugged enough for camping. Using them to keep my devices powered up is a good alternative to carrying a knotted collection of chargers and cables I normally need away from home. 

I’ve been using backup batteries for nearly as long as smartphones have existed. I’ve gone through guilt-ridden piles of these things, some lasting a couple of years. Others didn’t make it through press trips, which started with a one-day auto show and then led into a two or three-day press drive. I refuse to plug my devices into public USB chargers, and some USB power blocks are nearly as big as the Cub. Don’t get me started on traveling internationally and needing converters.

The Bottom Line

Let’s start with the simpler, and more portable, everyday carry-focused Cub. It isn’t much larger than my iPhone 15 ProMax. As I write this, it’s selling for $29.00 on Amazon. Lion Energy rates it at 10,000 mAh, in actual testing, I got about 6,000 mAh of real-world performance. That capacity will charge my iPhone or my Macbook Air M2, from 20% to 80% about twice. The Cub has a single USB-C and two USB-A ports. The USB-C is input/output, and the USB-A is output only. The built-in flood light seems more useful than the spot/flashlights other devices use. It also has a carabiner-style clip on the top end, which is less useful. It does include an actual mini-carabiner in the box.

The $149.00 Lion Energy Eclipse is meant for travel and outdoor use. Its battery capacity is rated at 27,000 mAh and I measured the usable capacity between 18,000 to 19,000 mAh. That’s enough to charge my Macbook almost four times from 10% to 100%.

It also has a single USB-C and two USB-A ports, but what separates it from most other power banks is the addition of wireless chargers for your iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch—or Android or Windows devices that use the same wireless charging technology. This may not seem like a big deal, but that’s three different chargers/cables you can leave at home when traveling. And, when you’re at home, you can set this on your nightstand or wherever you keep your devices, and use it as a charger. Remember, the Apple Watch is the only device that includes a wireless charger from Apple, and you have to buy the other two. So it might help justify spending the money on the Eclipse.

I immediately noticed that both of these power banks from Lion Energy feel like high-quality devices. I’ve had too many that felt like they were going to fall apart right out of the box. Neither of them squeaks or crunches when you squeeze them, they’re both grippy with rubber details to make them easier to hold with wet or cold hands, and both have “weatherproof” plugs covering the ports.

The Cub has an external power button, while the Eclipse’s power button is under the rubber plug, which is a slight annoyance. Another peeve is that if you do use this on your nightstand, the battery capacity lights are on the whole time if you’re using it as a pass-through charger. A little tape goes a long way. The Qi1 iPhone charging pad has a strong MagSafe-style magnet underneath that makes it easy to line up, even with a silicon case. Overall, both are a good value, both have 5-year warranties and are airline-approved.

Power Banks For Traveling

As a reminder, you can’t put lithium batteries in your checked bags when you travel. So power banks need to go in your carry-on. The Cub is pocket-size, at 6.5 x 3.4 x 0.8 inches and it only weighs 10 ounces. FYI, it will also fit in most of those weird storage cubbies in your car you’re currently using for napkins and hot sauce packets. The Eclipse on the other hand is fairly bulky at 8.5 x 3.5 x 1.3 inches and weighs 25 ounces. Either will still easily fit in a laptop bag, backpack, or rollaboard. If I’m picking one for EDC, it’s definitely the Cub. If I’m taking a trip, whether for work or vacation, I’m probably taking both.

I like the idea of having the Eclipse sitting on my nightstand at the hotel so I don’t need to bring separate chargers for all my devices. And if I do end up waiting in an airport, it’ll run everything including my laptop for a long period. The Cub is what I’ll stick in my jacket pocket or laptop bag to keep everything powered while I’m out using my phone and action cameras.

For EDC, I like the fact that I can use the Cub as a lantern. It’s 50 lumens. It won’t light up a whole room or let you look 100 feet down a trail. But if you’re in a power outage in a hotel, like I’ve been a few times, it’ll let you see well enough to either get out of the hotel if need be or at least read a book. It has a spring-loaded hook on top, I assume for fastening to bags, but it was clearly an afterthought and doesn’t work particularly well.

The Verdict

I know that things like these Lion Energy power banks aren’t the most exciting products I review. They are, however, some of the most useful for the largest amount of people. These will charge just about every device on the market; wireless charging standards are becoming more uniform across manufacturers. I can charge everything from laptops and headphones to camera batteries and even EDC flashlights. I even tried running a dashcam off of a power bank when it kept killing my car battery when parked.

Again, I’ll start with the Cub. This is just 30 bucks. If we look at competitors, there’s a huge number of other power banks with 10,000 mAh capacities, but very few are ruggedized. The Cub’s weatherproofing is rare in this price range, and the lantern is almost unheard of. I like the way it feels. It probably doesn’t provide the same wattage(charging speed) as some others. But as any IT guy will tell you, it’s pretty easy to cook an expensive phone with a cheap charger.

For the Lion Energy Eclipse, again I’ll say that I like the form factor and the weatherproofing. It’s harder for me to say that it’s a great value at $150. Yes, if you were to buy wireless chargers for a phone, headphones, and a smartwatch to plug into a power bank you’re going to knock at least 50 bucks off the price. However, you have to need the rugged design to justify the cost. If you’re using it for camping or hiking, that makes sense.

If it’s going to sit in a hotel room, you may not need something as tough. It’s still a good product and the fact that it, and the Cub, carry a 5-year warranty gives me confidence that these are going to hold up better than all the disposable power banks out there. Both of these keep you from having to plug into USB ports of unknown intentions in public places like airports, coffee shops, and hotel rooms. Removing that stress while traveling is worth the investment in a power bank. You also may as well spend the money and buy a unit that’s going to last longer than one trip.

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