Goal Zero Sherpa 100 PD Qi review: An expensive yet powerful 100W battery pack

One of the best things about so many modern electronics using USB-C for power is that I can pack a single cable and charger in my bag and charge all the tech I need throughout the day. Despite this, it’s not always easy to find a vacant outlet in the local coffee shop, making something like the fourth-generation Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD seem like an excellent addition to your daily carry. This battery pack contains a 94.72Wh (watt hours) Lithium Ion NMC battery that’s just small enough to bring on a plane, but capable enough to charge your phone at its full speed or a laptop at up to 100W (watts), in theory.

The Sherpa 100PD can also be charged at up to 60W, meaning you won’t be waiting all night for it to top up as long as you have a capable charging brick. This quick charging time is great for those moments when you need as much backup power as possible in a short amount of time. Whether you’re topping up between flights on an international trip or just want as much backup as possible between the tornado sirens going off and the power going out, the Sherpa 100PD has plenty of capacity.

Price and availability

The Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD is fairly expensive at $199.95. It’s available from several retailers including Amazon and Best Buy as well as on Goal Zero’s own web store. You can also find a number of compatible accessories like USB-C chargers, solar panels, a carrying case, and cables. The unit tested was provided by Goal Zero in retail packaging for the purpose of this review.

What you'll like

There’s a lot to love about the Sherpa 100PD, starting with build quality. The power bank uses aluminum for the majority of its outer housing with plastic on the front and back. There are also grippy plastic bumpers on the long sides, making it easy to hold in one hand and keeping it from sliding about on a smooth table. Overall, the materials feel high-quality, and the construction is excellent, with no gaps or obvious production marks.

Smack in the middle of the top of the Sherpa 100PD is a Qi wireless charging pad that Goal Zero says will charge at speeds up to 15W of power. The fastest I ever got out of it was 10W with an iPhone 11 Pro and a Galaxy S20+, which is right around what I expected. There are two USB-A ports on the right side with up to 12W of combined power output.

Keep these speeds in mind because if you want to use passthrough charging, these will be your top speeds. Passthrough charging allows you to top up your Sherpa 100PD while also charging your devices connected to it. Since the USB-C port is used to charge the Sherpa itself, it will be occupied any time you need to charge it.

When it comes to high-speed charging, the USB-C port on the left side of the unit can deliver up to 100W of power and charge the Sherpa at up to 60W. Charging the unit with a wide variety of power bricks I had lying around the house, the Sherpa was able to maximize all of them with my MacBook Pro charger delivering the full 60W. You can also choose from just about any of the best 60W USB-C chargers as well. 

For output, most of the phones I had available charged at their full speeds including a Galaxy S20+, Zenfone 8, and iPhone 11 Pro. The Nintendo Switch settled in at around 20W without the dock. My M1 Pro MacBook Pro pulled over 80W with ease using the Apple USB-C to MagSafe cable and the older Apple USB-C to USB-C cable. Your charging speeds will often be limited by the cable, so you’ll need to make sure your cable supports 100W charging before being able to take advantage of it. The USB-C cable Goal Zero included, for example, can deliver a maximum of 60W.

You’re kept informed of all these speeds with the built-in LCD display. This display shows the input power, output power, battery charge percentage, estimated time to empty or charge, and temperature warnings. The display is an excellent addition that helps you know that your device is charging at the proper speeds. 

What you won't like

The Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD’s biggest miss by far is that it only has a single USB-C port. This battery bank can only be charged with this USB-C port and, therefore, does not support passthrough charging over USB-C. I’ve also transitioned most of my tech to USB-C for charging to simplify my daily carry, and the Sherpa 100PD forced me to dig through my cable box for a couple of old USB-A to USB-C cables.

It’s nice to have some USB-A ports available if you’re charging up some micro-USB devices like video cameras, but for most newer tech, a second USB-C port would have been way more useful, even if it’s not full power. 

One thing that rubs me the wrong way is the included USB-C cable. This 39-inch cable feels nice and confidently locks into the USB-C port, but it’s compromised in other ways. As mentioned previously, it only supports up to 60W charging. That means you can top off the Sherpa 100PD at its full speed, but plugging it into a laptop, you’ll only see 60W. This is not mentioned on the product page, Amazon page, or even the outside of the box. In fact, the first mention of this limitation I found was in the user manual. It also only supports USB 2.0 data speeds, so don't even bother plugging it into a portable hard drive.

I know that a better cable would be more expensive and many people don’t actually need the full 100W or USB 3.0 speeds, but when the device so heavily advertises 100W charging, even putting it in the name of the product, I fully expected 100W-capability out of the box. I had been hoping I could leave my Apple USB-C cables at home since they’re quite long, but it seems I’ll need to pack them with me if I want to make the most of this battery pack. With my high-speed USB-C cable for my Samsung T5 SSD also packed away, I’ve completely stopped using the included cable.

On the Sherpa 100PD’s display above the battery percentage, you’ll sometimes see a small thermometer icon. It comes on when the battery pack itself is hot and may be followed by slower charging. I first noticed it attempting to fully charge my MacBook Pro from the battery pack at full speed. I’m not surprised that it needs to manage heat with such high output, but it's still something to keep in mind if you’re thinking about using this for a quick laptop top-up. 

Even so, the charging speed only dropped to around 45W at its worst, which is enough to keep even an Intel Mac running outside of heavy rendering tasks. Even considering these problems, I’m generally impressed by the battery pack’s ability to keep my laptop charging quickly as I continue to use it. If you’re a video editor, for example, you can keep working all day whilst juggling multiple demanding applications.

One last thing is the switch on the back of the battery pack. You can set it to input, output, or auto. For the most part, auto mode worked great, but I did encounter one issue charging my MacBook Pro. Once the Sherpa 100PD was empty, it switched to input and charged back to 7% from my MacBook before I noticed. This is more of a problem with USB-C itself, but you can avoid the issue by using the output mode while charging laptops. It’s also worth noting that the battery pack can get hot if you leave a cable plugged in, even when it’s not charging. My USB-C to Lightning cable, for example, causes this, so be sure to unplug it after use.

Should you buy it?

The Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD is a nice power bank with a lot of potential, but it’s let down by the decision to only have a single USB-C port. Beyond that, the included USB-C cable is a letdown, with only 60W charging support and USB 2.0 speeds. Even so, the Sherpa 100PD delivered plenty of power to my device and worked flawlessly for the week I’ve been testing it. The USB-C port wasn’t the most secure I’ve used, but held my cables well enough.

There’s plenty of competition when it comes to battery packs, such as the UGREEN 145W, that offer high-speed charging, but the Sherpa stands out thanks to its build quality. If you’re looking for a high-power battery pack with sturdy construction, the Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD could be exactly what you’ve been waiting for.