Halo Bolt Portable Charger/Jump Starter Review: A Powerful Power Bank Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Best Products > Computer Components

Halo Bolt Portable Charger/Jump Starter Review

Charges gadgets, jump-starts cars, and even shines a bright light

By Andrew Hayward Andrew Hayward Writer Lewis University Andrew Hayward specializes in smartphones, wearables, smart home tech, and video games. His work has been published by TechRadar, Macworld, and others. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on February 11, 2021 Tweet Share Email We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission. 3.7

Halo Bolt Portable Charger/Jump Starter

Lifewire / Andrew Hayward What We Like Versatile portable battery It’ll jump-start a car Powerful AC port Bright LED lamp Comes with accessories What We Don't Like Limited capacity No USB-C PD port Bulky and heavy While not the best laptop battery brick around, the versatile Halo Bolt is a very handy backup for charging all sorts of devices and jump-starting vehicles. Buy on Amazon Buy on QVC Buy on Zagg.com 3.7

Halo Bolt Portable Charger/Jump Starter

Lifewire / Andrew Hayward in this article Expand Design Setup Process Charging Speed and Battery Price Competition Final Verdict Specs We purchased the Halo Bolt Portable Charger/Jump Starter so our expert reviewer could thoroughly test and assess it. Keep reading for our full product review. There are all sorts of portable laptop chargers designed for smartphones, tablets, laptops, and portable game systems, but the Halo Bolt one-ups them in one key respect: it can also jump-start your car. This heavy brick of a portable charger proves to be a very useful tool to have around, especially in the car—whether it’s for emergencies or just when you need to top up a device while you’re away from home. Granted, it doesn’t pack as much power as some dedicated laptop chargers, which may be a better option for that dedicated need, but the added versatility gives the Halo Bolt a unique edge in the market. I tested the Halo Bolt for a week with multiple devices, including laptops and smartphones.

Design The shiny brick

While certainly portable, the Halo Bolt isn’t designed to be pocket-friendly. This hefty brick of a battery pack comes in at 7.2 x 1.6 x 3.8 inches (HWD) with a weight of more than 1.5 pounds. There are smaller, cheaper battery packs available for smartphones, but this beast is made for heavier-duty needs and designed accordingly. It’s mostly heavy black plastic on the outside, including a very glossy brushed silver top layer with an imprinted Halo logo. The front face is where most of the ports sit, including two USB-A ports (5V/2.4A), a DC input for the charging adapter, and jump start inputs hidden behind a small door. The right side, meanwhile, has the 115V AC/65W max AC power plug input for laptop chargers and other plug-in devices. There are smaller, cheaper battery packs available for smartphones, but this beast is made for heavier-duty needs and designed accordingly. Each set of inputs has its own individual power button to activate the ports, and you can use the AC input and USB ports at the same time, but the Jump Starter can only function on its own. Meanwhile, the left side of the device has a very bright built-in LED flashlight with its own power button, giving you another handy tool during car emergencies. Additionally, the Halo Bolt comes with an array of accessories, including a wall charging adapter, car charging adapter, jumper cables, a USB-to-micro USB cable, and a cinching pouch for quick storage of all the above. There isn’t much else you’d need to use the device, and all of the cables and accessories are a welcome bonus. Lifewire / Andrew Hayward

Setup Process Load it up

You’ll need to charge the brick to full capacity before using it, and the four green battery lights on the right side of the front face indicate how much capacity is currently left. When all four are illuminated when pressing any of the power buttons, the battery is fully charged. Otherwise, for the AC and USB ports, the Halo Bolt is a plug-and-play charger. The full process for jump-starting a car is detailed in the included instructions, and the Halo Bolt has built-in safety features that ensure that you have correctly aligned the jumper cables before you attempt to start the connected car, boat, lawnmower, or other vehicles. Lifewire / Andrew Hayward

Charging Speed and Battery Not so long-lasting

The Halo Bolt has 58,830mWh of battery power within, and the official description suggests that it can provide up to several hours of additional usage for a MacBook Pro or iPad Air. In my own testing, the results didn’t quite match those targets. Plugging in a mid-2019 MacBook Pro (13-inch) with its own AC adapter, the Halo Bolt charged it quickly, but ran out of juice before the battery could fully recharge. It went from 0 percent to 88 percent in 1 hour, 30 minutes, at a maximum recorded charging rate of 58.29W (20.1V/1.9A). In a separate test, I played a locally-downloaded movie on loop at 100 percent brightness on the laptop, with the Halo Bolt plugged in to sustain the laptop’s own fully-charged battery. The Halo Bolt provided power to the laptop for 5 hours, 14 minutes before running out of battery, but that’s a fair bit less than the Mophie Powerstation AC (6 hours, 22 minutes) and ZMI PowerPort 20000 (8 hours, 4 minutes) in the same test. Plugging in a mid-2019 MacBook Pro (13-inch) with its own AC adapter, the Halo Bolt charged it quickly but ran out of juice before the battery could fully recharge. Not having a USB-C Power Delivery port on the Halo Bolt itself is disappointing, as many modern devices rely on the standard for speedy charging. Given that, you’ll need to bring along your own AC adapters to plug into the AC port to get maximum speeds. For example, charging a Samsung Galaxy S10 smartphone using one of the Halo Bolt’s USB-A ports took 2 hours, 56 minutes to complete at a paltry 5.19W (4.76V x 1.09A), starting from 0 percent. However, when I repeated the test using Samsung’s own charger via the AC port, it finished in 1 hour, 34 minutes thanks to fast charging—nearly half the total time. Lifewire / Andrew Hayward

Price It s priced right

For a jack-of-all-trades power brick like this that can jump-start your car and charge its battery, serve as a bright flashlight for roadside emergencies, and charge a wide array of portable devices, the $100 price seen on Amazon seems very reasonable. However, given that it couldn’t charge my laptop to full capacity and that it lacks a USB-C port, there are handier, higher-capacity charging bricks available specifically for laptop and smartphone-charging needs.

Halo Bolt ACDC 58830 vs ZMI PowerPack 20000

Here’s a prime example. The ZMI PowerPack 20000 (see on Amazon) doesn’t have an AC port, however, it’s pocket-friendly, packs a lot of capacity (20,000mAh), and can quickly recharge laptops with its included USB-C port. It also has two USB-A ports alongside and has more than enough juice to fully recharge the same MacBook Pro from empty. Best of all, it only costs $70. But that smaller, cheaper power brick is only meant for portable devices such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and handheld game systems. It has no jump-start capabilities, nor does it have an AC port to accommodate a wider array of devices. Final Verdict Final Verdict: A very handy backup battery and jump starter. The Halo Bolt isn’t the best option for charging laptops, but it is a strong all-around device for providing backup power to a wider array of gadgets, not to mention jump-starting a car. This kind of versatile device is a smart one to have around if you drive a car and are frequently mobile with your portable gadgets. I wouldn’t bring it with me on vacation, but as a backup device to keep handy, it could prove plenty useful before long.

Specs

Product Name Bolt ACDC 58830 mWh Portable Charger/Jump Starter Product Brand Halo SKU 811279030120 Price $100.00 Product Dimensions 7.2 x 3.8 x 1.5 in. Warranty 90 Days Ports 2x USB-A. 1x AC, 1x Jump Start Waterproof N/A Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire The 5 Best Portable Laptop Battery Chargers of 2022 M MOOCK 1000A Peak 18000mAh Car Jump Starter Review: Top Choice Mophie Powerstation AC Review: A Costly, But Convenient Charger DBPOWER 600A Peak 18000mAh Review: Dependable Jump Starter Omnicharge Omni 20+ Power Bank Review: One Brick to Charge Them All How to Charge a Lenovo Laptop Without its Charger ZMI PowerPack 20000 Review: A Portable Powerhouse How to Fix a Broken Charger POWERADD Pilot Pro2 Review: Plenty of Power to Charge Your Laptop and Other Devices Jackery PowerBar Battery Pack Review: Built-in AC Outlet NOCO Genius Boost Pro GB150 Review: Costly but Dependable How to Pick a Portable USB Charger and Battery Pack How to Charge Your Phone or Laptop on a Plane Expert Tested: The 3 Best Portable Chargers and Power Banks in 2022 How to Charge Your GoPro Camera and Batteries Do Cigarette Lighter Jump Starters Work? Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies