NOCO GB70 Review (Boost HD Jump Starter, 2000A)

A NOCO GB70 Review – What Are The Good Things

Quality

NOCO are the most well-known jump starter maker. Unlike many makers, which manufacture all kinds of automotive products, NOCO’s area is very much vehicle battery products. Their products are all for charging (they make the best battery charger on the market, alongside CTEK), jump starting, healing batteries. They are world-renowned experts in the field. CTEK are the only other company that come close (NOCO vs. CTEK is quite the battle).

You’ll be unsurprised to know, then, that their Boost jump starting technology is the best in the world. 

When you take it out of the packaging, you can just feel the quality of the workmanship of the unit itself, as well as the clamps, wires and everything else.

To us, this reassuring quality feels like an antidote to the many consumer-electronics-style jump starters/power banks on the market…

A Note on 12V Power Bank/Jump Starters

They have pretty red and black cases (why always red and black?!), and they’ll charge your devices and WOW MIRACLE they can even  jump start your car if it breaks down.

Yes, they can… sometimes. We’ve tried these ones out, and they do work. But you have to be aware that they’ll work in ideal conditions. That is, when your battery voltage is just a little bit low. And as long as it’s not too cold.

We find that people tend to be aware that cold weather affects how well a jump starter works. But trust us when we say it affects it a lot!

If you need a power bank and you just want something that has a chance of jump starting your car, then by all means go for these, they’re considerably cheaper.

NOCO build their products to last, it’s a tough unit. It’s been designed for harsh weather environments, and all temperatures.

Also with regards to build quality, it’s IP65. That means splash proof and dust proof. So it’s okay if it gets wet, just don’t submerge it in water.

It’s More Likely To Jump Start Your Vehicle Than Other Makes

No jump starter will ever work every single time, it’s important to be aware of that. But in our experience with normal drivers, as well as fleet companies, mechanics and so on, the NOCO Boost HD GB70 has more success stories and less hard luck stories than other jump starters.

7 of the top 10 selling jump starters on the market are NOCO Boost, in fact the top 4 are all NOCO Boost models. There’s a reason for that. They have an excellent reputation for their ability to boost vehicles.

As far as professionals are concerned, most of the mechanics we know use NOCO Boost. While we’ve found that some mechanics’ knowledge of batteries and their unique maladies (such as desulfation) and intricacies isn’t as complete as their knowledge of cars as a whole, they do have lots of experience of jump starting vehicles. 

They know what most often works and what doesn’t in terms of jump starting vehicles – it’s something they have to do a lot.

A Note on Jump Starters “Peak Amps”

The Car Battery Geek team has tested all the top jump starters with an Ammeter to see if their claims for Peak Amps stacks up.

Not one has ever matched their stated Peak Amps in our experience.

Presumably there’s some nuance of their Peak Amp measurement that allows this result to be recorded? They’re obviously capable of this kind of amperage, just don’t expect this as standard.

Since this is true for all jump starters on the market, feel free to use the Peak Amps as a relative guide to compare. 

Longest-lasting On The Market (Slowest Discharge)

We’ve heard stories of NOCO Boosts lasting a long time in people’s boots, and people being shocked that it still works even when they’d thought it surely must be discharged…

… and we’ve heard stories where people complain that they’ve broken down and their NOCO Boost is dead to the world.

If you want a jump starter that will stay charged for a few years and await the day you need it… sorry, but that does not exist. You’ll just have to build a time machine to 20 years in the future, when maybe, maybe, that will be possible!

Otherwise, be sensible and give it a top-up charge every 4-6 months. Then you’ll be golden.

Either way, NOCO Boost models keep a good charge for a quite a long time. They say it’ll retain 70% charge after one year. 

That applies to absolutely ideal conditions and temperature, don’t rely on that being the case – you’re playing with fire if you think it’ll be perfectly able to perform jump starts after an entire year of discharge. 

The above applies to all jump starters, since they all use lithium batteries. But the NOCO Boost GB70 is the best we know of for retaining charge for a long time; there are some you wouldn’t want to go even 3 months without charging. 

Quickest charging (via cigarette lighter socket!)

Yes, you can charge it with the cigarette lighter socket (also known as the 12V auxiliary power outlet). Sometimes, people are surprised by this.

Get ready for even more surprise – it’s actually the best and fastest way to charge it.

It’s a 12V/3A/36W input. 

It’ll fully charge in 3 hours. Check out the charging times of some other jump starters, particularly the  big carry-handle models (12 hours, anyone?) and you’ll see why.

Using this charging method, a fully discharged GB70 can get enough charge within 15 minutes to boost a car.

Most other jump starters can’t be charged this way. 

Ultra-safe

No jump starter review would be complete without considering safety and our NOCO GB70 review is no different.

As they’re by some distance the Big Daddy of the 12V jump starter, NOCO also invested the most into their safety features. While they can’t guarantee absolutely nothing can ever go wrong (no-one can, with any product), this is without question the safest on the market.

Spark-proof protection and reverse polarity protection are state of the art. Just as importantly, the components NOCO use are the best quality (which means they’re less likely to cause a problem than others). 

A Note on “Big” Jump Starters

You could be forgiven for thinking the “big” jump starters like the one in the picture above are the “proper” tough, heavy duty ones. And we’re not saying they’re not powerful. But check out the joules of energy they can produce and you’ll see the NOCO Boost wins out over them.

NOCO claims to have 2x the power at a fraction of their size and weight, as well as holding their charge 4x longer.

Why do these big ones lose their charge so much faster?

Lithium battery technology (and  Lithium charging) is an area with billions of dollars of investment every year. So they’re able to pack more power into smaller size with each year that passes. A 10-15 year old product can have much less power than a far smaller one, if its technology is new. And the ability to retain charge is another area which massively improves each year.

We’d say size isn’t everything here, but that’s a bit cliche, let’s leave it there!

The NOCO Boost HD Weaknesses

It’s Small But Not As Small As Some

It needs a near-empty glove compartment, to be able to fit. You might need to store it in the boot. But try to find somewhere in the car, since it’ll be warmer.

Since the Car Battery Geek team knows how important the temperature of your jump starter is, we recommend prioritising storage of the jump starter within your car. Anything non-essential in the glove compartment can go elsewhere.

-30°C, They Say. Hmmm

NOCO say the GB70 works down to -30°C. They’ll certainly have tested and successfully started vehicles in this temperature.

All we’ll say is that in our experience, if you’re broken down in -30°C temperatures and there’s a nice bloke in a nearby log cabin who can bring you a good quality jump starter from within his warm abode… it may well work, even though your car battery will be super cold.

But if the jump starter has been in your car and it’s similarly icy cold… well, good luck to you, that’s all we’ll say! 

Charging Electronics Devices Drains It Quickly

Surprisingly, for such a powerful beast (and it really is – a 2000A jump starter), it won’t charge your little electronics devices as long as you might think.

It’ll do the job of charging your phone when you need it, absolutely. But if you have an expectation of it filling up device after device and the Boost GB70 hardly even registering the difference then think again – it will drain.

Charge your devices, by all means. But know that you’ll have to make sure to recharge the GB70 more often.

For some reason, this reminds us of a mighty elephant being flummoxed by a tiny mouse.

40 Starts? Don’t Bank On It

NOCO say up to 40 starts on a full charge. We’re sure the NOCO GB70 is capable of that but that is an ideal scenario. 

Actually, you’ll want to charge the unit occasionally no matter how many jump starts it’s performed. More charge equals greater power in the next jump start.

Do I Need The NOCO Boost GB70?

The HD GB70 is the one we recommend for people who have a medium or large sized car and are risk averse; and will pay a little more than for the NOCO GB40. That’s because the GB40 will do a great job most of the time, but if your battery is not new and it’s cold, we like the extra security, and frankly the extra power of the GB70. 

It’s like an insurance policy, a comfort blanket of security. It’s utterly impossible to put an accurate percentage on it, but if you put a gun to our heads, we fancy the GB70 to work 90-95% of the time for medium and large vehicles, compared to 80-85% of the time for the GB40. We’ll say it again, those numbers are created from our head based on our experience, far from scientifically valid/verified. 

The times that a jump starter may not work are often with the cold involved. When it gets really cold, you need that extra power, that security blanket. And you also want additional power in your jump starter if the car battery is not as young as it used to be, and voltage is dropping down quite low.

Who Doesn’t Need the GB70?

Small engine car? You may go for the GB40 but it depends on your relationship with risk. The NOCO GB40 will do you just fine most of the year and most of the time. If you really want to minimise risk, then the GB70’s extra power really comes into play in the cold. 

A Note on “Jump Starts up to xL”

Don’t believe that just because it says on the box it’ll jump start vehicles up to 6L and your car is only 4L, that it’s guaranteed to work.

They say 8L petrol engines, 6L diesel engines – but it’s important for you to know that this depends on a multitude of variables, including temperature, condition of the car, condition of the battery. If you take nothing else away from this NOCO GB70 review, then take this.

Jump starter makers have to give a guideline for how many litres engine size for each model and they do so based on their recorded data for successful jump starts for cars of a certain engine size. 

Just be aware that just because your car is less than 8L, it doesn’t mean it will DEFINITELY successfully jump start every single time, and in every single situation.

Anything else we need to know about the NOCO Boost HD GB70 ?

12V Power Mode

The NOCO Boost GB70 provides a 12V (15A) power supply.

A handy advantage this, albeit not super important to most people. You can charge 12V devices like  tyre inflators and power inverters.

NOCO’s smaller models don’t have this function.

One Year Warranty

Standard for Jump Starters.

Stop-start Battery?

Yes, can do.

All Kinds of Lead-acid Battery?

Check. Including gel, wet, flooded, Calcium, and AGM batteries.

Truck, Boat, Powersport, Campervan, Lawnmower Friendly? 

Yes, it’s got enough power for the very big vehicles, not just cars. 

How Long To Charge?

USB (2.1A) charging takes 6-7 hours. As mentioned earlier, the cigarette lighter (12V auxiliary outlet) will do it in 3 hours or less. 

Powerful Light

There’s a 400 lumens light on the unit itself. Useful, and potentially crucial if you ever break down in the dark.

Portable Power Bank

It’ll charge your consumer electronics devices, like smartphones, tablets etc. 

This is standard fare on jump starters these days, but a handy feature nonetheless.

In case it’s not clear already, there are plenty of lower cost Power Banks that have the bonus of being able to jump start your car (in ideal conditions). 

The GB70 is for people who want a powerful jump starter that will reliably start their car even in the cold and with a highly discharged battery… the Power Bank feature is a bonus only!

Summing Up Our NOCO GB70 Review

Every single review of a jump starter in the world should say the following but almost none of them do – this jump starter is not 100% guaranteed to work in every single situation.

That said, NOCO’s technology is very comfortably the best on the market. Their components are excellent quality. The build is hard-wearing. So we do believe the GB70 model is your best way to minimise the risk of a jump start not working.

If the NOCO Boost HD GB70 is for you…

Here’s where you can get it on Amazon.