Noco Boost Plus GB40 Jump Starter: powerful and portable but practical too

There are lots of essential auto accessories worth having in your home, shed or place of work. However, there's nothing better than owning the best jump starter your finances can stretch to. It may well get you, or someone else, out of a whole heap of trouble.

A flat battery can happen anytime, and anywhere, which is why the Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter is perfect for keeping close at hand. It’s compact enough to keep in your vehicle too, which makes it even more useful. The Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter is a US-designed jump starter that is capable of jump-starting engines up to 6 litres for petrol and 3 liters for diesel.

While it’s got a beefy capacity, the Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter has also been designed with safety and ease of operation firmly in mind. It’s additionally super useful because it’s got multi-function capabilities. You can even use it as a power bank and USB flashlight.

Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter: Price and availability

The Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter is available to buy right now at auto accessories outlet Halfords in the UK and can be found on Amazon farther afield, along with the rest of the Noco product range. The GB40 model is ideally suited to everyday engines based on its capabilities, though you should check compatibility with your engine size to be sure you’re getting the right model to suit your requirements.

Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter: Design

One of the big benefits of the Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter is its rugged design. These things tend to get thrown around quite a bit, tossed into the trunk of a car or left on a workbench in your garage. The Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter comes designed with that tough environment in mind, although it’s still only roughly the size of a larger model smartphone. Yup, under seven inches long and 3 inches wide, which makes it undeniably compact.

However, this being a powerful piece of kit there is the weight to consider as it’s 2.4 pounds or 1.08kg, but that’s not going to be an issue if you’re storing it at home or even in your vehicle. In fact, the Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter feel like it’ll stand the test of time in that respect. Better still, the unit it nicely designed and has to be one of the easiest models on the market to operate as a result.

The casing features a simple but effective construction, with clear graphics and lighting that shows exactly which bit does what, and why. There are also clear indicators that display the USB out and in ports. Crucially, the crocodile-clip connectors, one black and one red, are ergonomically-friendly, robust and feel great in your hands. It’s reassuring when you’re clamping clips onto a battery that they come across as more than up for the job in hand.

Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter: Features

The Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter has been cleverly designed in the US so it boasts plenty of clever features that help to add value. You can recharge smartphones, tablets and, indeed, any other device with a USB port, which makes it doubly useful. Equally, the Noco Boost can be recharged via USB too, thanks to a combination of ports on the body of the unit.

You also get a built-in 100 lumens LED flashlight, which is an integral part of the jump starter body. That’s going to be a real bonus if you’re ever stuck by the edge of the highway in an emergency situation. You’re even able to set it to strobe or flash in an SOS manner if need be. A really nice touch. 

There’s a Noco one year warranty with this model too. Given the robust reputation of the Noco brand you should not have to use it, but it’s good to know it’s part of the package. The casing is water-resistant and IP65 rated by the way.

In terms of what’s inside the box, you get everything needed for jump starting duties. There’s the GB40 lithium starter, those heavy-duty battery clamps, a 100cm micro USB cable and a microfiber storage bag. The latter is really useful for keeping everything together along with dust and dirt free. A user guide tells you everything you need to know and there’s the warranty leaflet too.

Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter: Performance

Having the best jump starter in your charging arsenal is all about its power capabilities. You’ll always need to check if something like the Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter is going to be man enough for your vehicle, although it can handle vehicles with engines up to 6 liters for gasoline-powered models and 3 liters for diesel variants.

The Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter GB40 model features 1000 Amps and can deliver up to 20 jumps per charge. Given that many models of car and truck feature smaller engines these days the GB40 could therefore be ideally suited to many people. However, it’s worth noting that Noco has other models in its portfolio that can take on even bigger engines. The Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter GB150 for example, can handle 9 liter petrol and 7 liter diesels, as an example.

I tried it out on a Toyota owned by an elderly relative who’d had their car on the drive for some time, not having used it much. If you’re not a regular user of jump starters the process can be a little bit intimidating, especially when it comes to clamping on those heavy duty clips. However, read the manual carefully if you’re not well-versed in what to do. The process is straightforward enough and the Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter was hooked up in seconds.

Best of all, it got the asthmatic Toyota up and running after just a couple of tries. It’s a car with a 2 liter petrol engine, so wasn’t a massive challenge for the Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter. Nevertheless, I loved the ease and simplicity of the operation. I also found the LED flashlight useful as I was working on the car at dusk. Getting the Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter charged ready for use again also proved to be a very simple task.

Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter: Verdict

The Noco Boost Plus Jump Starter GB40 model is a great option if you’ve got an everyday car or truck that doesn’t need a ridiculous amount of muscle in order to restart in a flat battery crisis. If you’ve got a bigger capacity engine then head further on up the Noco range for a model that will meet your needs. 

For me though, this is an impressive bit of kit, which is easy to use, robustly made and packs in the likes of the torch and USB ports that add value. It’s also a well-known and respected brand, which makes it additionally appealing.