Belkin: Power Banks, Chargers and Cables for UK Households

Belkin makes the small electrical kit that keeps a phone alive when the mains goes off: power banks with built-in cables, wall and car chargers, charging cables and adapters, and surge-protected extension leads. For a household preparing for a power cut, the useful piece is a power bank that is charged before the lights go out, because official advice across the UK is to keep phones and power banks topped up so you have battery power for a short time at least¹.

Two things matter more than any specification. The first is that a power bank only helps if it is charged in advance, so it belongs in the same routine as torches and spare batteries³. The second is safety: power banks contain lithium-ion cells, the same battery type found in phones, tablets and earbuds, and fire and rescue services treat them as a fire risk if they are damaged, badly charged or badly stored⁴.

What Belkin makes for UK households

Belkin's range for the home divides into four jobs. Power banks store energy so a phone can be charged away from a socket. Wall and car chargers put power into devices and into the power banks themselves. Cables and adapters make the connection between the two. The average UK home today has a TV in most rooms and any number of computers, printers, scanners and games consoles, so there are plenty of sockets in use before a power cut adds to the demand¹¹.

The Belkin products named in this article are the UltraCharge Power Bank 10K with Integrated Cable and Display, the UltraCharge 20K Power Bank 45W with Display, and the BoostCharge Power Bank 20K with Integrated Cable. Belkin also sells the BoostCharge USB-C BPB002 and Playa USB-C PB0003 power banks, which are the subject of a current recall, and the BoostCharge Pro Fast Wireless Charger for Apple Watch + Power Bank 10K, which is the subject of a separate safety notice⁹.

For the wider question of what a household should hold, see Backup Power at Home and the Emergency Kit guide.

Power banks: keeping phones charged in a power cut

A power bank is the piece of Belkin kit that earns its place in an emergency kit. The advice from councils and resilience campaigns is consistent: keep a charged power bank, a torch and spare batteries at home, and keep important telephone numbers written down somewhere accessible³. A power pack that is charged can be very helpful in an emergency or power cut, even if it just charges a phone, because it keeps you in contact with loved ones⁵.

The timing matters more than the capacity. Charge mobile phones, power banks and any back-up batteries for medical equipment when a storm is forecast, before the power goes off⁶. Scottish resilience advice says the same: charge mobile phones and power banks in case there is a power cut, and check your emergency plan is up to date². In Northern Ireland the guidance is to keep mobile phones, laptops, tablets and power banks fully charged so you have use of battery power for a short time at least¹.

Belkin's own figures describe what you are carrying. The UltraCharge 20K Power Bank 45W with Display contains a 20,000 mAh internal battery and measures 136mm by 76mm by 30mm⁷. The UltraCharge Power Bank 10K with Integrated Cable and Display is smaller, at 111mm by 58mm by 24.7mm, and Belkin lists it at 99.99 watt hours, which it states meets watt-hour requirements for air travel¹³. The BoostCharge Power Bank 20K with Integrated Cable delivers PD 30W to fast charge smartphones and tablets⁸.

Wall and car chargers

A wall charger is how the power bank gets its energy in the first place, and how phones stay topped up in normal times so that an outage starts from a full battery. The official instruction is to keep mobile phones, laptops or tablets fully charged, so you will have use of battery power for a short time at least if there is a power cut¹⁴. That is a habit, not a purchase: the charger you already own does the job if you use it.

Belkin's power banks are built to reduce what you need to carry. The UltraCharge 20K Power Bank 45W with Display will charge up to three devices at once from its integrated USB-C cable, a USB-C port and a USB-A port⁷. The BoostCharge Power Bank 20K with Integrated Cable has PD30W output across two USB-C ports and one USB-A port, and Belkin states you can simultaneously charge three devices with 30W shared output⁸. Shared output means the total is divided between whatever is plugged in, so charging three things at once is slower per device than charging one.

The BoostCharge Power Bank 20K also offers pass-through charging, which lets you charge the power bank while charging another device⁸. That is useful on a journey or at a desk, but it does not change the basic rule for an outage: the energy has to come from the mains before the mains goes off.

For the household view of what to charge and in what order, see Staying Informed and in Touch.

Charging cables and adapters

Belkin builds the cable into several of its power banks, which removes the commonest reason a power bank is useless in a crisis: the cable is lost, or it is the wrong connector. The UltraCharge 20K Power Bank 45W with Display has a 14.2in/36cm braided integrated USB-C cable⁷. The BoostCharge Power Bank 20K with Integrated Cable has a shorter 4.7in/12cm integrated USB-C cable⁸. The UltraCharge Power Bank 10K with Integrated Cable and Display is listed with an 11.5in/29.3cm cable¹³.

A short integrated cable is convenient for carrying but limits how far the phone can sit from the power bank. A longer braided cable gives more reach. If your household has a mix of older USB-A devices and newer USB-C ones, a power bank with both port types covers both without an adapter.

Surge protectors and extension leads

A surge protector safeguards your devices from voltage spikes or power surges¹¹. In a household context that means the equipment you would least like to replace, such as a computer or a television, plugged in through a protector rather than straight into the wall. An extension lead does a different job: it gives you more sockets, which matters when several devices need charging at once before a storm arrives.

Neither device generates power, and neither will keep anything running during a cut. Their value is in protecting equipment from the kind of spike that can accompany a fault or a restoration of supply, and in making it easier to charge everything in one place while the power is still on.

Safe charging and storage

Lithium-ion batteries are in mobile phones, vaping devices, e-bikes and scooters, vacuum cleaners, tablets, iPads and earbuds, and fire and rescue services across the UK give consistent advice about charging them⁴. Charge on a hard, flat surface where you can see the device, not on a bed, sofa or carpet, and not under a pillow. Do not leave a device charging unattended for long periods or overnight in a room where you are asleep. Stop charging if the device becomes very hot, swells, smells strange or the cable is damaged.

Belkin states that its power banks use fire-resistant materials and that each product is tested to protect against over-current, over-temperature, over-voltage, short circuit and overload, under the name Belkin SmartProtect⁸. The UltraCharge models list Belkin Smart Protect as helping safeguard devices during charging¹³. Those are the maker's own statements about its own products; they do not remove the need for the charging habits above.

Belkin safety notices and recalls

Two official product safety notices concern Belkin products, and both are published by the Office for Product Safety and Standards.

The first covers the Belkin BoostCharge USB-C BPB002 and Playa USB-C PB0003 power banks, portable power banks with lithium-ion battery cells⁹. Affected products have been sold by Belkin or by other retailers, including TK Maxx⁹. The instruction to consumers is direct: stop using the product immediately and complete the recall form on the Belkin website to receive a full refund or replacement⁹. The model number can be located on the back or side of the Belkin device⁹.

The second covers the Belkin BoostCharge Pro Fast Wireless Charger for Apple Watch + Power Bank 10K, described as a black rectangular wireless charger with a white circular pad for Apple Watch charging¹². Affected consumers are advised to disconnect the product from any power supply or other products and contact Belkin for further instructions¹². Belkin's notice directs owners to its support article and recall form to request a refund¹².

Checking is straightforward. The Office for Product Safety and Standards issues recalls and alert notices on its website, and the government's list of product safety alerts, reports and recalls is the place to search¹⁶. Fire and rescue services also point households to the Electrical Safety First website for recalls and safety notices¹⁸.

Support and warranty

Belkin backs the BoostCharge Power Bank 20K with Integrated Cable with a 2-year warranty⁸. Registering a product is what connects that warranty and any future safety notice to you: fire and rescue services advise registering your electrical items with the manufacturer so you can be informed of any safety recalls¹⁰. Registering also helps validate any warranty, and registering makes it easier for manufacturers to contact you in the event of safety or recall information²⁰.

To register, you will typically need the brand name, model, serial number and purchase date²⁰. The Register My Appliance website is one route for registering electrical products²⁰. Belkin's own support pages carry the recall forms for the two notices above⁹.

If a product is faulty or subject to a notice, contact Belkin through its support pages, or the retailer you bought it from. For the recall, the route set out by the Office for Product Safety and Standards is the recall form on the Belkin website⁹.