SHARGE Shargeek 170 Power Bank review: The ultimate see-through power bank

SHARGE carved out a niche by rolling out gorgeous see-through charging accessories, and its latest product may just be its best yet. The Shargeek 170 Power Bank builds on the design of the Shargeek Storm 2 and Storm 2 Slim, and it uses a similar see-through aesthetic that lets you view the charging hardware and the batteries, but you get a larger screen with more details.

Oh, and it now has a triangular design. SHARGE says the Shargeek 170 is based on the prism in Pink Floyd's seminal Dark Side of the Moon cover, and it wanted to recreate a design that pays homage to it. The design is pretty unique, and the Shargeek 170 stands out against the Storm 2 and Storm 2 Slim; SHARGE had two years to refine the design language, and it used that time well.

The Shargeek 170 is on Indiegogo at the moment, and you can get your hands on it for just $119, which is a 40% discount from its retail price of $199. The power bank is available in white and grey options, and SHARGE notes that deliveries will kick off starting February 2024. SHARGE bundles a cloth carrying cover with the power bank, and you get a USB-C to USB-C PD cable that goes up to 240W.

Even though the Shargeek 170 has a marginally smaller battery than the Strom 2 — 24,000mAh versus 25,600mAh — it is noticeably larger and heavier. It comes in at 680g, nearly 90g heavier than the Storm 2, and while it still has a portable design, the added heft is clearly evident when using both power banks next to one another.

Of course, the new design undoubtedly played a role in that, and another factor is ingress protection. The Shargeek 170 comes with IP66 dust and water resistance, and reinforcing the design to prevent water or dust from entering the chassis would have contributed to the weight. To that effect, the entire screen assembly now sits underneath the glass housing.

The IP66 rating makes the Shargeek 170 that much more versatile, and I don't think I've used a power bank that could withstand water ingress — not that I was willing to test that out here. The triangular design means you can easily hold and use the power bank, and the see-through aesthetic looks very cool; SHARGE continues to do a brilliant job in this area.

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You get to see the internal circuitry in all of its glory — including the ICs, capacitors, and controllers — and the design is certainly futuristic. You get the details of the power bank on one side; it has a 24,000mAh battery, and that translates to 86.4Wh — making it safe to take on a plane. I didn't travel with the Shargeek 170, but I took the Storm 2 on a flight, and had no issues with security.

I will note that traveling with see-through power banks draws a lot of attention; nobody understands what these things are, so you'll get a lot of curious glances your way. On that note, a big novelty with SHARGE's power banks is the LCD screen, and the brand outdid itself with the Shargeek 170; you get a significantly larger LCD panel that shows battery level, time to charge a device, and input/output wattages.

There's a button on the side that lets you switch the power bank on or off, and double pressing the button toggles low current mode, making it ideal to charge accessories like earbuds and smartwatches. One end of the Shargeek 170 houses the ports, with the other end listing the power budget. There are two USB-C ports along with a USB-A port, and unlike the Storm 2, you don't get a DC port here.

As the name suggests, you can get a total of 170W of power out of the Shargeek 170, and that's when you use either of the USB-C ports and the USB-A simultaneously. The power bank uses the USB PD 3.1 protocol, and is able to deliver 140W of power out of the USB-C port. What's particularly interesting is that both USB-C ports go up to 140W, and that's great to see. The USB-A port hits 30W in total, and even with all three ports in use, you get a total power budget of 163W.

Here's the rundown of the power profiles:

• USB-C1 (140W Max): 5V/3A (15W), 9V/3A (27W), 12V/3A (36W), 15V/3A (45W), 20V/5A (100W), 28V/5A (140W)
• USB-C2 (140W Max): 5V/3A (15W), 9V/3A (27W), 12V/3A (36W), 15V/3A (45W), 20V/5A (100W), 28V/5A (140W)
• USB-A (30W Max): 5V/3A (15W), 9V/3A (27W), 12V/2.25A (30W)
• USB-C1 + USB-C2 (165W Max): 100W + 65W
• USB-C1/C2 + USB-A (170W Max): 140W + 30W
• USB-C1 + USB-C2 + USB-A (163W Max): 100W + 45W + 18W
• USB-C1/C2 Input (140W Max): 5V/3A (15W), 9V/3A (27W), 12V/3A (36W), 15V/3A (45W), 20V/5A (100W), 28V/5A (140W)

In real-world testing, the Shargeek 170 managed to deliver 140W of power consistently over the USB-C1 and C2 ports without any hassle. But its biggest differentiator is the ability to deliver much more power when charging two or three devices at once, and in this area, it does a better job than any other power bank I used.

Even the UGREEN 145W power bank only goes up to 115W when all three ports are in use, but with the Shargeek 170, you get 100W over USB-C1, 45W out of USB-C2, and 18W from USB-A at the same time, and that makes a huge difference. I used the Shargeek 170 with the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, Xiaomi Notebook 120G Pro, Vivo X100 Pro, Steam Deck, iPad Pro, and a whole lot of accessories over the course of the last month, and it is one of the best portable power banks you can get at the moment. 

I have two dozen power banks in the house, but the Shargeek 170 has emerged as the clear favorite. I like the design a lot, and the overall aesthetic looks much more elegant than the Storm 2. The combination of a 24,000mAh battery, three charging ports, and large screen with real-time stats makes this the ideal power bank, and it is great for travel as well.

Basically, the Shargeek 170 is the ultimate power bank. And if you act fast, you can get it at just $119 — that's a downright steal.