Do you consider yourself to be a Good Samaritan? If the answer is yes, then we assume you would like to be able to help people who can’t start their car due to a faulty battery. You will be able to do this if you buy the best jump starter! But, what does a jump starter need to have in order to be considered the best? Well, probably the most important thing to pay attention to is whether it can jump-start different types of vehicles. After all, you never know who is going to need your help on the road.
And if you buy such a device, you will be able to use it for a long time, even if you decide to buy a new car. A good jump starter is definitely something you need to keep in your car all the time. You never know when a problem can occur.
Surely, you may argue, with a bit of skill and a set of jumper cables you will be able to jump-start any vehicle. The problem is that this method is outdated, meaning that it is pretty difficult, time-consuming, and above all, dangerous.
Those things aren’t a big concern for those who own a good jump starter. Luckily, these days, jump starters aren’t too expensive. It costs just a little over the best jumper cables. In fact, you can find hundreds of different products on Amazon, some of which come at very cheap prices. The problem is that not all of them are actually good. At least not good enough to be called the best.
To help you understand why you need to buy the very best jump starter in today’s market, first you need to learn more about these devices. We’re going to help you with that, starting by explaining everything about different types of jump starters.
When shopping for a jump starter you need to make sure you get the one that’s compatible with your vehicle. These days, most of them can be used for all kinds of vehicles, although there are some exceptions. For example, there are some that are designed for diesel cars only. So, if you need a jump starter only for these types of engines, make sure to buy jump starter for diesel.
You also need to check whether the jump starter has enough Amps to be actually capable of jump-starting your car. Depending on the engine volume, you might need to get a jump starter that has more than a thousand Amps.
And once you get that out of the way, it’s time to decide what kind of jump starter you wish to get – trickle charger, portable jump starter, or the old-fashioned jumper cables. Each of these has its own advantages. To help you out with making the right decision, let’s discuss each of these three types of car battery chargers!
Trickle charger – How this device works is that you plug it into a wall outlet and connect to your car battery. It will act like any other battery charger. Unfortunately, trickle chargers usually take quite a lot of time before charging the battery enough for it to be able to get the car going.
Jumper cable set – The set is made of two cables with clamps on both ends, so that you can connect it to a charged battery and use its energy to jump-start the car. Obviously, this will not solve the problem of the dead battery, not to mention that jump-starting a car with a set of jumper cables is not an easy task.
Portable jump starter – Now this is the device we are talking about! How it works is that it gives a boost of electricity to your car’s battery, which in turn helps it start the car. Even if the battery is dead, a quality jump starter can boost it enough for the engine to get going. And if your portable jump starter has a large capacity, you can even use it to recharge your car battery.
Obviously, your best option is a portable jump starter that can be used for all kinds of vehicles. Not only will it do the job it’s intended for – jump-starting a car, but you can also use some of them to recharge other devices like smartphones, for instance.
Now that you know how amazing portable jump starters actually are, you’re probably wondering which one you should get. Well, the answer is not that simple, but we’ll do our best to help you out. The fact is that there are several products that deserve the title of the best jump starter and we’re now going to examine five of them.
Here are five jump starters we believe are worthy of your attention. If you buy one of these, you won’t get disappointed. So, with no further ado, here they are!
There are so many great things about this jump starter, including the fact that it’s small and compact, easy to handle, and that it can be used to jump-start all kinds of vehicles. To properly understand why we heartily recommend buying NOCO Genius Boost Plus GB40, make sure to check out its features below!
Features of NOCO Genius Boost Plus GB40
One charge equals 20 jump starts – When fully charged, this jump starter can be used to jump-start a car up to 20 times. What this means is that with such a device in your car, even a dead battery can’t stop you from reaching your destination.
Jump-starts both diesel and gas engines – The fact is that most cars you see on roads have engines that run either on diesel or gas and NOCO Genius Boost Plus GB40 can jump start both of those! The bad news is that you won’t be able to use it on large vehicles, as the maximum engine volume it works with is 6 liters (for gas engines) or 3 liters (for diesel).
Probably the best mini jump starter – Its size is only 8.3 x 4.1 x 4.6 inches, which makes it several times smaller than most other jump starters. Actually, the manufacturer claims that NOCO Genius Boost Plus GB40 is eight times smaller than an average jump-starting device.
1000 Amps power – Its peak power is 1000 Amps, which makes it one of the most powerful portable jump starters you can find today.
Features a USB port – The fact that this device has a USB port means that you can use it to recharge all kinds of different devices, including your smartphone, tablet, and so on.
Pros
Cons
If a jump starter is small and lightweight, the chance is that it doesn’t have enough power to jump-start vehicles with larger engines. In fact, most of the portable jump starters can’t even be used for V8 engines.
So, if you’re in need of more power, Clore Automotive Jump-N-Carry JNC660 seems like the perfect choice for you. Don’t trust us? Take a look at the main features.
Features
1700 Amps peak power – You won’t be able to find many other jump starters that pack so much power. In fact, most of them have the peak amperage well below 1000 Amps.
Compatible with both gas and diesel engines – Regardless of whether your car runs on petrol or diesel, you will be able to use this jump starter when your battery dies.
Charge control – This jump starter has a feature that prevents battery overcharge, which could damage it. Basically, what it does is that it stops supplying the battery with energy once it’s fully charged.
Built-in AC charger – In order to recharge this jump starter, you just need to plug it into a wall outlet.
#2 AWG cables – This jump starter comes with heavy-duty copper insulated cables that perform excellent both in cold and hot weather.
Pros
Cons
The main reason why we included this jump starter on our list is its price/quality ration. For a fairly reasonable price, you will get a top-quality jump starter that’s going to serve you for a long time even if you use it on a regular basis. Speaking of usage, Nekteck Car Jump Starter is there to help you recharge your car’s battery, but also your phone, speakers, tablet, and so on.
Features
500 Amps maximum – This might not be enough of amperage if you need to jump-start a powerful engine, but it should be sufficient for most kinds of city cars, motorcycles, small boats, and so on.
Multiple functions – This jump starter has a USB port, meaning that you can use it to charge all kinds of devices, from your smartphone to speakers, tablets, and whatnot.
LED flashlight – There’s a built-in flashlight with a lot of power which can come very convenient if you need to jump-start an engine at night.
Safety features – Nekteck Car Jump Starter comes with built-in features that prevent battery overcharging, short-circuits, overvoltage, and overcurrent.
Pros
Cons
The fact that it doesn’t cost too much means that you should definitely give it a chance. And the fact that its specs are pretty impressive means that JACO BoostPro might be the best choice for you. Let’s see whether that really is the case by examining its features!
Features
30-40 jump starts per charge – According to the manufacturer, this jump starter has an amazing battery that can provide you with up to 40 engine jump starts per each charge.
600 Amps max power – To be completely fair, the peak amperage of this jump starter isn’t too impressive, but 600 Amps is enough for jump-starting regular-size cars, motorcycles, boats, and so on.
Two USB ports – There are two USB ports, meaning that you can use it to charge several devices at once.
LED safety flashlight – This is just one of many useful features that come with this jump starter.
Pros
Cons
This is one of the best-selling jump starters in the world and there is a reason for that – Beatit BT-D11 is really an excellent device. Its battery is great, its power is decent, it’s small and compact, you can use it for different purposes, and it’s even pretty affordable. Not sold yet? Then you need to take a look at its main features!
Features
Up to 30 jump starts per charge – The battery of this jump starter has a large capacity and according to the manufacturer, it can provide enough energy for you to jump-start an engine up to 30 times.
800 Amps peak amperage – With 800 Amps of peak current, you will be able to use this device to jump-start all kinds of vehicles, including cars, motorcycles and boats. In fact, this jump starter can be used to jump-start gas engines of up to 7 liters and diesel engines of up to 5.5 liters.
Two USB ports – Apart from using it to jump-start a car, you can use this device to recharge your mobile phone, speakers, tablets, and so on. All you got to do is plug it into jump starter’s USB port.
Built-in flashlight – When it’s dark, this feature will help you out get around. This can be very useful when jump-starting an engine at night.
Pros
Cons
Here are some of the most common questions people have regarding jump starters.
Can a jump starter damage your car?
There is a possibility of causing big damage to your car if you mix up positive and negative terminals, but if you follow the guidelines and use the jump starter proper, everything should be okay.
How long does it take to jump-start a car?
You can jump-start a car in a matter of seconds, but if the battery of your car was dead, you need to recharge it a bit by letting the engine run for a couple of minutes. Otherwise, you will have to use the jump starter each time you want to get the car going.
How many amps is enough?
How many Amps you need is something that depends on how large the engine of your car is. If you read our reviews carefully, you now that we picked out only jump starters that have at least 500 Amps peak power. This amperage should be enough to let you jump start most types of road vehicles.
However, truth be told, if you’re looking to jump-start a car with a larger engine, such as a V8 engine, for example, you will need a jump starter with at least 1000 Amps.
How much money should you spend on a jump starter?
Jumpstarter is not a device you are supposed to use on a regular basis, but it’s definitely good to have it in your car, just in case. That said, spending too much money on it seems pointless unless you’re a professional. But, for regular car owners, a jump starter that costs about 100 bucks should be more than enough.
Buying the best jump starter means saying goodbye to the problems with your car battery. With such a device in your car, you’re never again going to lose your precious time if the battery dies. On top of that, you will be able to use this device to charge many other things, like your smartphone for example.
All of this, of course, is only true if you get yourself jump starter. The good news is that finding such a product isn’t that hard if you follow our instructions. In fact, all you’re required to do is go through our reviews and pick one you like the most.
We guarantee that whichever you choose, you’re not going to regret the decision. Each of these jump starters deserves to be called the best, you just need to pick the one that perfectly suits your needs. Speaking of your needs, the most important thing to pay attention to is the amperage of the jump starter. If it’s powerful enough to jump start your car’s engine, you have no reason not to buy it ASAP!
Still not feeling ready for winter and cold weather? Check our guide on how to select proper car tires.
Last update on 2024-11-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API