Anker Prime Power Bank: My Everyday Charger

Let me start with the headline brands don’t come up with. The packaging claims to have a 26,250mAh, but that is not what you receive. The real-world usage is reduced by a much greater percentage due to power conversion losses, which brings you to a much closer figure of 15,000mAh. There is no deception here, it is how the power banks operate.

When you charge a phone every now and then, close this tab. It is done at a cheaper price by Anker Prime 20K (220W). This review is for people who carry a laptop, and dislike power strips.

What Made Me Buy It?:

I had no plan to spend $229 that night when I watched a review from Matthias Dangl. The video broke down what 300W is real to the real world, and showed how a MacBook Pro could charge at full speed with something that can fit in your jacket pocket and raised one question that I could not resolve: why do you still carry four chargers when you can do it with one?

After two days I got my package delivered. I challenged myself to try this device for two weeks. So, I left my MacBook brick, USB hub, and backup phone charger at home. In case power failed, i would have to request the airport staff to provide a socket for charging it but luckily it didn’t fail. 

First impression:

Take it out of the box and you are not going to think of a portable charger. It looks like a pocket amplifier. Geometric edges, dark-metallic finish, glossy OLED display on the front. I wiped this glossy display in the first two days for around six times. It is a gadget, rather than a vanity mirror. Always have a microfiber towel in your bag. Non-negotiable. The same thing was noted on several Prime models by Digital Camera World and they warned that without a case, it will soon get scratches as well.

As I plugged in my MacBook and iPhone at once, the display showed exactly the amount of watts each device was consuming. Those are the features that I did not know that I needed, before receiving it. All other power banks that I have had are black boxes. This one informs you of what it is doing.

AnkerSense app is interlinked via Bluetooth. Real-time power use per port, software upgrade, customized screensaver. I named it “Power Beast”. It charged in 40 seconds with the update of firmware. Nothing interrupted. The app also displays battery health and charge cycles.

The number that changed my mind: 13 minutes

This is where the numbers start to lie: 300W is a total at all ports. The maximum current that you can push through one port is 140W. You require two USB-C ports to plug in at the same time to reach the full 300W. It is not a mistake, that is a strategy. However, it was the recharging story that literally amazed me.

From zero to 50% in just 13 minutes, using both USB-C ports, with 5A cables and 140W chargers, can be used to charge 250W in this bank. I experienced that speed during a stopover in Dubai. While charging my MacBook pro and two phones, charging ran down to 12%. And I was boarding with 55% on my bank in just thirteen minutes.

Pricing: 

At Anker Store, it costs $229.99 but you might find it at a bit lower price on Amazon. The package included the power bank, a 3.3ft braided USB-C to USB-C cable with a rate of 240W, a traveling pouch and a 2-year warranty card. It does not include a wall charger. One thing worth noticing is that Anker is having a promotional discount these days.

Features:

Before you hit “Buy” there are three things worth knowing.

• The loss in conversion of mAh that I had mentioned at the top. 26,250mAh rated, 15,200mAh delivered. This is the case with all lithium banks. Marketing by Anker does not exactly scream it as well. The independent capacity measurement of Trusted Reviews on an older Prime model revealed that the actual output followed the real Wh figure almost perfectly. Therefore, Anker is not deceiving, the physics is just costing you. Know it going in.
• With a 300W constant load, you would theoretically be able to empty this bank in less than 20 minutes. In practice, you would require two overloaded laptops at full load to even come anywhere close to that. My lowest day in two weeks, was with a MacBook and two iPhones over a complete business day, ended at 18%. But if that’s your real-life scenario, then have a wall charger close by.
• Still no standard magnetic charging in the latest model. I have a magnetic car mount which perfectly fits with the old iPhone’s accessories and it has been gathering dust since I switched. Not only Anker, Android has also not figured this out yet. But Anker is large enough to drive the industry forward without having done so. 

The USB-A connector provides 22.5W max. Headphones, older devices, Galaxy Watch top-ups off the back of the bank at 4.5W reverse wireless. XDA Developers noted that phantom drain, power banks losing charge when not in use, is actually non-existent here. It is killed by the active display and intelligent standby management. The cheaper banks bleed to death. This one doesn’t.

Performance:

Two weeks of experience let you know how good something is but not how long it can be. Gadgetoid tested the older Anker Prime 27K with approximately 18 months of daily usage, 67 charge cycles and almost 6,000Wh of in and out. Battery health at the end is 98%. That’s quite impressive. So it proves that Anker don’t perform well at the start, but they last for years. There is one power bank that you can have in your collection, and it is the Prime (9to5Toys).

Quick Scorecard

Conclusion:

A high-powered power bank is useful if you have to carry a laptop with you all day. It charges much faster, so you don’t have to carry multiple chargers which makes life more convenient. Based on the older Anker Prime 27K: you only need the 250W two-port input speed. The performance in terms of the output is the same. The rate of recharge is greatly increased. That’s the actual upgrade.

It is an ideal device for Videographers, Photographers and for digital and tech people who have a fear of battery end during their peak hours. But if you have to charge a phone or occasionally an iPad, it would be very expensive for you.