NOCO Boost Plus GB40 Review: What 1000A Really Starts
The GB40 is the jump pack most people end up with: small enough for the glovebox, hard to wire up wrongly, and sold almost everywhere. The 1000-amp headline matters less than you think. What decides whether it is enough for your car is engine size, fuel, and how far the clamps have to reach — and one lab found the battery inside holds noticeably less than the box says.
Where the reviews line up
Our evidence comes from three places: a timed, measured test by TechGearLab, owners comparing jump packs on the Motorhome Fun forum, and 37 buyer reviews at the UK battery retailer Tayna, checked against PriceSpy. They agree on more than they disagree.
It starts ordinary cars, reliably. TechGearLab got a drained 4.0-litre V6 to fire three times in a row in cold weather. A Tayna buyer reports a 3-litre diesel starting first time. On Motorhome Fun, an owner who bought one in 2017 says it has never failed to start the vans and cars it has been used on. It is built well and hard to misuse: the clamps, the IP65 case and the spark-proof, reverse-polarity protection get praise from the tester and from owners.
The weak points are just as consistent. The battery is smaller than the label suggests: TechGearLab measured 15.57 Wh against NOCO’s claimed 24 Wh. The leads are short, and that is the most common complaint at Tayna, especially for vans and cars with remote jump points under the bonnet. As a power bank it is slow and small.
The buying decision: for a petrol car up to about 2.0–3.0 litres or a small diesel, kept charged every few months, the GB40 is a sensible, safe pack. If you drive a large diesel, an older car that cranks slowly or a van, look at a bigger NOCO such as the GB70 instead. And check the charging port on what you buy — current stock charges by USB-C, older stock by micro-USB.
The three reviews this summary is built from
- TechGearLabEditorial test with a measured battery capacity and a three-start cold test. Scored 64/100, 7th of 13.
- Motorhome FunAbout 20 replies in a UK owners’ thread; around seven name NOCO packs. Long-term owner experience.
- Tayna4.7/5 from 37 buyer reviews at a UK battery retailer, 12 Oct 2026. PriceSpy adds 4.3/5 from 7.
Before the review: which GB40 is in the box?
NOCO has changed the GB40’s charging port without changing its name. NOCO’s own support page describes a micro-USB input with a 1 m cable; Currys’ current listing and the 2026 tests by TechGearLab and Pro Tool Reviews describe a USB-C input, and Currys lists a USB-C to USB-C cable in the box. Both are the same 1000A pack. If you want USB-C, check the listing — older stock is still about.
Specification at a glance
| Spec | Figure | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Peak current | 1,000 A peak (not cranking amps) | NOCO support page; Currys |
| Engine size | Petrol up to 6.0 L · diesel up to 3.0 L | NOCO’s claim; TechGearLab would not rely on it for older, hard-cranking cars |
| Jumps per charge | Up to 20, from full | NOCO’s claim. Manual: no more than 5 attempts in 15 minutes |
| Battery capacity | 24 Wh claimed · 15.57 Wh measured | NOCO and Currys claim 24 Wh; TechGearLab measured 15.57 Wh |
| Holding charge | Keeps 70% for up to a year; recharge every 4–6 months | NOCO support page; TechGearLab says check every six months |
| Recharge time | 3 h at 2 A · 6 h at 1 A · 12 h at 0.5 A | NOCO user guide (July 2025) |
| Charging port | Micro-USB (NOCO support page) or USB-C (Currys, TechGearLab, Pro Tool Reviews) | Revision change — check the listing |
| USB output | USB-A, 5 V 2.1 A — about two phone charges | NOCO; TechGearLab calls it slow |
| Safety | Spark-proof, reverse-polarity, thermal and overcharge protection; manual override for batteries under 2 V | NOCO support page. Override disables the protection |
| Torch | 100-lumen LED, 7 modes including SOS and strobe | NOCO; Currys |
| Battery type | 12 V lead-acid vehicle batteries only | NOCO user guide |
| Weight | 1.11 kg (NOCO support) · 2.4 lb / about 1.09 kg (NOCO guide) · 1,100 g (Currys) | All within 20 g |
| Dimensions | 167–196 × 80.3 × 43.5 mm | Tayna gives 167 mm long, Currys 196 mm wide — see the facts below |
| Weatherproofing | IP65 with port covers closed; not submersible | NOCO |
| Working temperature | −20°C to 50°C; recharge between 0°C and 40°C | NOCO support page |
| Warranty | 1-year limited warranty; NOCO’s guide says UK buyers may get at least two years | NOCO user guide; Currys and Tayna say 1 year |
| Typical UK price | £92.99–£115; Currys £97.99, Tayna £103.07, Argos £115 | Checked 12 October 2026; no UK RRP published that we could find |
TechGearLab
Who they are: Chris Maxcer is a Review Editor at GearLab whose profile lists outdoor gear and tech such as solar chargers, and a background writing for enterprise computing magazines; it does not mention cars, so we weight his measured figures over his opinions. TechGearLab is the tech arm of the US GearLab group, whose staff buy and test products side by side on repeatable rigs, though it tests US-spec models.
This is the test to read first, because it measured something the others only repeat. TechGearLab drained the battery of a 2010 Ford Explorer with a 4.0-litre V6 and got it to start three times in a row in cold weather — a pass on its rapid-start test. It also measured the pack’s usable capacity at 15.57 Wh against the 24 Wh NOCO claims, and that is why the GB40 scored only 5 out of 10 for battery and finished mid-table.
The praise is specific: a rugged IP65 case that “evokes confidence”, and clamps that open wide and grip tight terminals — “the easiest, most secure clamps we tested.” The criticism is too. It found the 1,000-amp rating modest and said it would be less likely to rely on the GB40 for older vehicles that need extra cranking, which is worth more than NOCO’s 6.0-litre headline. It also found the USB-C input slow at 10 W and the USB-A output weak, and it prefers rivals with an LCD to the GB40’s buttons and lights. The recharge took about three hours.
Watch: NOCO Boost Plus GB40 Review: Is This the Best Portable Jump Starter?
A hands-on review of the same GB40. Not made by TechGearLab; it is here as the closest video match to a tester’s walk-through of the clamps, buttons and torch.
Watch on YouTube ↗ Independent YouTube video — not made by or for Shopbam.Motorhome Fun
Who they are: Motorhome Fun is a UK motorhome owners’ forum where members share touring, kit and fault experiences; posts are unverified owner experience, so the value lies in patterns across many owners’ reports rather than any single post.
Lab tests show one day in a pack’s life; forums show the following years. In this UK thread, a member asking which pack to buy for a 2.8-litre diesel motorhome was pointed at the GB40 on the strength of its 3.0-litre diesel rating — note that is the rating being repeated, not anyone’s test. The useful posts are the long-term ones. One owner bought a GB40 in 2017 and says it has “never failed to start the vans / cars on which it’s been used”, including other people’s. Another, with NOCO 40 and 70 packs, reports seven years of trouble-free use and says that while some recovery drivers “love or hate them”, “on balance they are very reliable.”
Two practical points come out of the thread. Owners distinguish the GB range from NOCO’s bigger GBX packs, and a GBX owner notes the one-year warranty. And nobody reports a GB40 failing. What the thread does not give you is any measured evidence on how well a GB40 holds its charge over a winter, or results on a diesel near the 3.0-litre limit. The thread carries no dates, so we cannot say how recent each post is.
Watch: 6 Years Later: Testing NOCO GB40 Battery Booster Jump Starter Review
An owner testing a GB40 after six years — the video version of what the forum regulars describe. An older unit, so it may have the micro-USB port.
Watch on YouTube ↗ Independent YouTube video — not made by or for Shopbam.Tayna
Who they are: Tayna Batteries is a battery retailer with a trade counter in Abergele, North Wales, selling batteries for most uses; its page does not say how reviews are collected or whether buyers are verified, so read its 37 reviews as customer experience and weigh the pattern rather than the score.
Tayna is a battery specialist, so its buyers are people who went looking for a jump pack rather than grabbing one at a till. The headline result is the one that matters to most buyers: one reviewer says it “started a 3 litre diesel engine first time”, and another says it got them home on the first night they owned it. These are owner reports, not tests.
The criticism is more useful than the praise, and it points at the same thing. The most common complaint is lead length: buyers in Hull and Workington found the leads too short to reach the terminals or jump points on their car and van, and a five-star reviewer in Leicestershire says they suit a battery but not cars with remote jump points, asking NOCO to offer longer leads. One three-star buyer found the pack barely turned a flat battery over when connected directly, and only started the car using the boost function — the manual override that switches off the safety protection. Only 17 of the 37 reviews show text, and none is dated.
PriceSpy’s 4.3 from 7 is too small a sample to lean on, but it does not contradict Tayna.
Watch: Noco Boost Plus GB40 unboxing
An unboxing: useful for seeing exactly how short the clamp leads are before you buy, which is the main buyer complaint.
Watch on YouTube ↗ Independent YouTube video — not made by or for Shopbam.Strengths and weak points
What holds up
- Starts ordinary petrol cars and small diesels reliably — a 4.0 V6 three times in a row in TechGearLab’s cold test.
- Very hard to wire up wrongly: spark-proof, reverse-polarity, thermal and overcharge protection.
- Clamps that grip tight terminals, praised by the lab as the best it tested.
- Rugged IP65 case and long service records from forum owners (2017 and seven-year reports).
- Small, about 1.1 kg, with a useful 100-lumen torch with SOS mode.
- Holds a usable charge for months — NOCO says 70% after a year.
What people complain about
- Measured capacity of 15.57 Wh against a 24 Wh claim.
- Short clamp leads — the most common buyer complaint, especially on vans.
- 1,000 A peak is modest for big diesels and older, hard-cranking engines.
- Slow USB charging both ways, and weak as a phone power bank.
- Two charging-port versions sold under one name.
- One-year limited warranty from NOCO, though UK law gives you more.
Who it actually suits
Buy it if you drive a petrol car or a small diesel, want something that lives in the boot and that anyone in the house can connect safely, and you will remember to top it up every few months. If you also want a proper phone power bank for trips, carry a separate one — our Anker Nano 10,000mAh review covers a good one, and any USB plug that supplies 2 A or more, such as the Anker Nano 45W, gets you NOCO’s quoted three-hour recharge — the GB40 only takes about 10 W, so a bigger charger will not make it faster.
Look elsewhere if you drive a large diesel, a van or an older car that cranks slowly, or if the battery or jump points are a long way from where the pack can sit — the leads are short. A bigger NOCO such as the GB70 is the obvious step up. And if your battery keeps going flat, a jump pack only treats the symptom: get the battery tested, and have a decent socket set to hand for the terminals.
What we could not check
- NOCO’s own GB40 product page would not load for us. We confirmed the GB40 is current from NOCO’s live support page and its July 2025 user guide, plus in-stock UK listings at Tayna and PriceSpy.
- A UK RRP. We found no NOCO UK list price, so we give live prices instead.
- Halfords’ price and ratings. Its GB40 pages render in the browser and showed us nothing; Halfords is not listed on PriceSpy for this product.
- Amazon UK’s price and rating count. Amazon blocks us. Undated deal posts on Latest Deals show the GB40 at Amazon between £66.49 and £78.99 in the past; we do not treat those as today’s price.
- Who sells the Argos listing. The £115 Argos price comes from PriceSpy; Argos is now a marketplace and we could not read whether the seller is Argos or a third party. Currys’ page did not show a “sold by” line either.
- Fakes on marketplaces. We searched and found no NOCO UK statement, retailer warning or documented case of counterfeit GB40s. NOCO points shoppers to authorised resellers. Our advice: buy from a named UK retailer and register the serial number with NOCO to activate the warranty.
- Dimensions. Tayna lists the length as 167 mm and Currys as 196 mm; NOCO’s guide gives 6.7 in (170 mm). We could not settle it.
- Diesel near 3.0 litres in winter. No source measured it; one Tayna buyer’s 3-litre start is a single report.
- Whether the measured 15.57 Wh applies to UK stock. TechGearLab tests US-spec models.
- A US class action (Kawai v. The NOCO Co., filed April 2024) alleges NOCO Boost packs do not deliver multiple jumps per charge as advertised. It does not name models and is listed as pending; nothing has been proved.
- The videos were confirmed by their titles and links appearing in two separate search listings, not by opening them, and none of the listings named the channel.
- Review dates. Neither the Tayna reviews nor the Motorhome Fun posts carry dates.
Sources last checked 12 October 2026. Prices change daily — check them against the listing in front of you, and check which charging port you are getting.