Choosing the Best Mini Jump Starters : You Should Know

I had the misfortune of needing a jumpstart because my car’s battery froze so it wouldn’t start. At that time, I was at a relative’s house, so I didn’t have my tools available. Good thing somebody had a jumper cable and I was able to give my car’s battery a boost.

So, it got me thinking, what if I was in a parking lot or somewhere else and there were no other people who can help me jumpstart my car? I made a mental note of purchasing a mini jump starter for emergency cases.

A mini jump starter is a very helpful emergency tool for drivers. There are certain situations wherein a car’s battery gets discharged for a number of reasons. Some of the reasons are when you start your car, and you forgot to turn on the air conditioner, radio, and lights. It could be due to extremely cold weather and your battery drained (like in my case).

The Best Mini Jump Starter

Via amazon.com

What I did was to research about 20 mini jump starters and tested 10 of them in order to find the best mini jump starter. Along with my team of mechanics, we recommend the NOCO Genius Boost Pro GB150 4000 Amp 12V UltraSafe Lithium Jump Starter because it has the highest starting current, highest battery capacity, warranty, safety features, and better quality of materials.

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Another Picks

My team and I also got a chance to test about 10 products in search for the best mini jump starter. Here are the top 5 recommendations for alternatives to the above product:​

Via Amazon.com

Its accessories include needle-nose battery clamps, USB charging cable, and a microfiber storage bag. It also comes with a one year warranty.

  • It has all the safety features such as mistake-proof, spark-proof, and reverse polarity protection. Also, since it’s portable, you can always bring it with you or keep it in the glove compartment- just make sure that it is always fully charged.
  • Another benefit is that it has other functions such as seven light modes including emergency or SOS lighting signal, 500-lumen flashlight, and 2 USB ports that you can use for charging smartphones and other gadgets. With its actual power of 22500 joules, it can jumpstart both gas and diesel engines up to 10 liters.
  • The unique feature about this product is that it has a built-in voltmeter that gives you accurate car battery reading. Its start current is at 400 amps and a peak current of 4000 amps.
  • What more, you only need to charge it for about 3 hours.
  • The only downside is that it does not come with a car charger, so you have to purchase one from a store, which is acceptable since we are looking towards its reliability as a jump starter.

Via Amazon.com

The Beatit 800A Peak 18000mAh Portable Car Jump Starter has the same safety features such as over current protection, short circuit protection, overload protection, overvoltage protection, and over-charge protection. At a peak current of 800 amp it can jumpstart gas engines up to 6 liters and diesel engines up to 5 liters.

  • Its battery capacity of 18000mah with 2 USB ports can be used to charge a variety of smartphones and tablets.
  • It charges for about 5.5 hours and comes with complete accessories such as a jump cable clamp, 12v wall charger, 12v car charger, usb cable, and portable compressive case.
  • You can also use it as a flashlight and to send out emergency or SOS signals. It is also CE / FCC / RoHs Certified and has a three-year warranty.
  • Its unique feature is that it has a LED screen that shows remaining power.
  • However, the drawbacks to this product are there are no contact details in case you need customer support and that it was unable to jump start a larger vehicle such as an ATV, contrary to what it claims.

Via Amazon.com

The next product we recommend is the GOOLOO 1000A Car Jump Starter which can power a 7-liter gas engine or a 5.5-liter diesel engine with its 1000 amps of peak current. Its intelligent clamp provides safety features such as over-current protection, short-circuit protection, overload protection, over-voltage protection, and over-charge protection.

Accessories include 12v battery clamp, wall charger with UL certification, car charger, 3-in-1 USB cable, storage case, and 12DC car cigarette lighter adaptor.

  • With its 20800mah capacity and dual USB port you can also charge smartphones and tablets.
  • It also functions as a flashlight with 3 lighting modes including an SOS lightning signal.
  • It comes with a 12-month plus 6-month extended warranty, 30-day money back guarantee, plus an LCD screen that shows remaining power.
  • It is also certified according to safety standards by CE,FCC, and RoHs.
  • Although this product does not have a problem starting engines, even V8 engines, the drawbacks are that the jumper cables are weak and the plastic cables are not that durable.
  • We also noticed that it couldn’t hold a charge and you have to charge it every week. The battery also drains after a few uses as a powerbank.

Via amazon.com

The third product we recommend as alternative is the PowerAll PBJS12000R Rosso Red/Black Portable Power Bank and Car Jump Starter. With the same safety features as the above products, it has a peak current of 600 amperes that can power smaller car engines.

Its accessories include a wall charger, car charger, and 3-in-1 USB cable.

  • Its 16000 mah battery capacity and dual USB port allows you to use it as a charger for your gadgets.
  • It can also function is a flashlight and emergency light signal.
  • The main drawback to this product is that it doesn’t last long and cannot hold a charge. In fact, it only lasted for 9 months and yet the warranty is only good for 30 days.
  • Another downside is that the battery swelled after a few uses.

Via amazon.com

The last product that we recommend as alternative is Aickar 800A Peak 19800mAh Car Jump Starter. With its peak current of 800 amperes, it can jump start all gas engines and diesel engines up to 4.5 liters.

It comes with complete accessories such as jumper cables plus strong jump pack zipper case, car charger adaptor, laptop power cable with connector tip set, round tip AC adapter and car charger, micro usb cable, and 12v wall charger.

  • Its intelligent clamp has safety features such as reverse polarity protection, over-current protection, overload protection, over-voltage protection, and over-charge protection.
  • Although the manual does not say anything about warranty, we noticed that it is FCC, CE, RoHs certified, so it has passed safety standards.
  • Its battery capacity is at 19800 mah which is good for a portable charger for smartphones and gadgets.
  • The only drawback to this product is that the spring connector for the battery terminal was not durable enough and is easily broken.

Why You Should Trust Us?

My Team carunderstanding

Me and my team of mechanic friends have been researching and testing car products ever since I can remember. We normally research what products are trending and what issues that most car owners face. After that, we carefully test the products ourselves and brainstorm so that we can come to a consensus and provide you the best product recommendations.

Whenever we face a situation that we feel that most motorists and car owners would benefit from, we come up with some solutions that we know would benefit many. In my case, I thought of looking for mini jump starters because I know that if faced with the same situation, where help would not be immediately available, a jump starter would be a big help.

What’s In It For You?

All vehicle owners, even mechanics, should own a mini jump starter. Since it is a portable device, you can bring it anywhere in a small bag. You may not need it all the time but you can help other people who may need to jump start their vehicles. You never know when someone else might need help.

Other Benefits

Not only that, it also acts as emergency lighting. For example, you’re on the road and you experience some kind of road trouble not necessarily related to battery problems, then you can use it as a flashlight to look around or check your vehicle. You can also use it to signal for help if there is no way to communicate with others.

You can also charge your cellphone when you are outdoors should you need to be reached immediately or call out for an emergency. When travelling, you could also use it to recharge other gadgets such as laptops and tablets. It is not just a portable jump starter but it also has many uses that you can carry everywhere you go.

Overall, it is a very handy tool to have with multiple uses so you should get one that gives you the best value for your money and should be durable enough to last a long time.

What to Look for in a Mini Jump Starter

When looking for the best mini jump starter, here are some specifications that you should look for in order to get the best mini jump starter suited for your needs:

High MAH

 The higher the mah or milliampere hour, the better. MAH is the measure of a battery’s storage capacity. Keep in mind that this is only for charging devices and not for the actual jump starting.

Jump Starter Cables and Clamps

Jump cables

 should not be made of cheap plastic because it might overheat or not provide enough power to jumpstart your vehicle. The clamps should also be sturdy enough.

CE / FCC / RoHs Certified

 This means that the product has been tested and certified by experts and has passed the safety standards.

Start and Peak current

 The higher the peak current, the better it is for jump starting your vehicle. Peak current is the maximum current that can be sourced from an output.

Take note that you need to know the actual amperage needed to start your engine so you can choose the correct jump starter. The start current is the actual amount of power needed to jumpstart your car but without the accessories turned on such as lights, radio, etc.

Long-lasting and Durable

 The product should be durable enough to be used over and over again, so you don’t always have to purchase a new one.

Capacity (A)

The higher the amperage the better suited for more engines. Look for products that have about 800A or above. Also, the product should be compatible for both diesel and gas engines.

Emergency lighting

The jump starter should also come with a high-powered flashlight and SOS/ emergency signal lightning for emergency cases.

Warranty

 Go for a product that has at least one year of warranty period in case it doesn’t perform as advertised.

How We Picked and Tested

Now, here is where the hard work comes in. Me and my team of mechanics picked out 5 out of the many mini jump starters that we researched about.

Step 1

Our first test was how long we needed to charge the mini jump starters.We charged them all at the same time and then took note of the start and completion times. So far, all of them charged at the promised time.

Tested Jump Starters

​Step 2

The next step was to check the safety of the clamps. We practiced safety precautions such as not connecting the battery to the car, made sure that there were no flammable or combustible materials nearby, and wore protective gear. The battery is drained down to 10V and tested the products one at a time.

We incorrectly connected the cables and got the safety warnings that we expected such as audible sounds and visual warnings, although some were not that noticeable. But, all of the products stopped the connection once it detected that the connections were wrong. None of them emitted sparks, which is a good sign.

Step 3

The third step was to test the actual jump starting. For this round, we drained two car batteries down to 9V. We took turns using each product then measuring the battery with a voltmeter to check if they have “charged.” After jump starting each battery with a mini jump starter, we had to test it on an actual vehicle and see if it would start.

how to tested Jump Starters

We had a V8 engine and a 4-cylinder engine for testing. So far, only the Noco GB150 and Gooloo 1000A were able to successfully start the V8 engine. The rest, we just heard short clicks and nothing else.

We also tested the durability of each product. We all squeezed, dropped, and tugged at each clamp and jumper cable to test their strength.

And Finish

The last step was to test if they could hold a charger. So, after testing them on the engines, we kept them in a safe place and went back to them after a week. Since most of the products had LED displays on how much power it has left, it was easy to take note of them.

Our Pick

Via amazon.com

After doing all the testing, we all came down to one conclusion - Noco Genius Boost Pro GB150 was the best mini jump starter for us. The only drawback to this product is that it does not come with an adapter for charging, which was acceptable because we can just purchase it in the market.

The overall build quality shows that the clamps and jumper cables are durable, which also showed in our testing.

Another reason why we chose this is that it can jumpstart even a V8 engine with no problem. It also charges pretty fast and holds its charge, so you don’t have to worry about being stranded without help should your battery fail.

We also love the LED flashlight’s powerful beam and the visibility of the SOS signal lighting. Another good thing about this product is that it didn’t overheat even when we charged it multiple times. Furthermore, it is CE / FCC / RoHs Certified so it passed high quality certification standards.

Conclusion

Now that you have learned about mini jump starters, the different types, benefits and different product recommendations, I hope that you will seriously consider purchasing one.

This is a very handy emergency tool that all vehicle owners and motorists should have. You never know when you or someone else might need help. It is portable enough to carry in a bag or purse so you don’t have to worry.

What are your thoughts about this article? Don’t hesitate to share your feedback, comments, and suggestions with us. We’d also love to hear your experiences.

2 thoughts on “Choosing the Best Mini Jump Starters : You Should Know

  1. Pingback: How to jump start a car? Here are a few tips for you!

  2. Pingback: How to Save Money on Gas During a Road Trip - Big World Small Pockets

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