Best Overall
NEEWER NP-F970 2-Pack
Key details
- Capacity
- 7.2V 7800mAh 56.16Wh
- Batteries
- 2
- Charge Indicator
- 4-LED gauge at 25/50/75/100%
- On-battery Charging
- USB-C PD input, USB-A output
The arithmetic is what settles it: two 7,800mAh packs here cost less than our single premium battery, and each one carries its own USB-C port, so a charger never enters the packing list. We charged one from a laptop brick while the other ran a monitor, and nobody on set had to ask which cable belonged to what.
At 7.2V and 7,800mAh these work out to 56.16Wh apiece, which is real monitor and LED-panel runtime rather than the token stretch you get from a small F550. What we kept coming back to, though, was the four-LED gauge. Press CHECK and you get 25, 50, 75 or 100 percent without pulling the pack off the rig or hunting for a charger's LCD.
The USB-C port is bidirectional and there's a USB-A beside it, so the same pack that runs a light will top up a phone or a wireless transmitter between takes. The catch is that nothing in the box is a charger: with both packs flat you need two USB sources, or the NP-F charger you already own, to bring them back the same evening.
Set against the SMALLRIG, you're trading capacity per pack and an OLED readout for a spare battery in the bag and a smaller outlay. For anyone assembling a kit rather than adding to one, the spare is worth more than the extra milliamp hours.
Pros
- Two packs for less than one premium battery
- USB-C and USB-A charging on each pack
- Four-LED gauge readable while mounted
- Bidirectional USB-C doubles as a phone top-up
Cons
- F970 body hangs off small monitors and gimbals
- Charge rate is only as good as your USB source
Two 7,800mAh packs that charge from any USB-C source and answer a button press with their exact level — this is the pair we point most shooters toward.