Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K Review: Attractive power

Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K (Photo: Alex Kidman)

The Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K provides plenty of Qi2 charging power, though its bulky size is an issue for some iPhones.

Pros Cons
Qi2 and USB-C charging Pricey for the power on offer
LED display shows precise battery life Bigger battery doesn’t fit neatly on smaller iPhones
Supports charging devices while recharging

Score: 3.5/5

 

In this review

Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K Specifications
Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K Design
Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K Performance
Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K Conclusion

Design

Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K (Photo: Alex Kidman)

The Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K is a wireless power bank – not an entirely new concept to be sure – with magnetic attachment that complies with the newer Qi2 standard. There’s a lot of Qi2 gear hitting the market right now – recently I’ve tested out everything from compact Qi2 travel chargers to simple Qi2 Charging Plates – but right now, they’ve all got the same essential challenge.

It's worth noting that the Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K appears to be a direct update to an existing Anker 10K MagSafe power bank -- this one to be precise -- with Qi2 compliance built in.

Qi2 is a good upgrade for standard Qi, adding magnetic alignment and bumping up the base charging rate to 15W, but if you’re not packing an iPhone (12 or newer) then the number of available Android Qi2 phones is… zero.

Anker MagGo 10K Powerbank (Photo: Alex Kidman)

The Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K is a relatively big beast of a magnetic charging bank, no doubt thanks to the 10,000mAh battery it’s packing inside its plastic frame.

On the right hand side there’s a full LED display to show charging capacity and times as well as a power button. The left hand side houses a single bidirectional USB-C port for power, while at the back there’s a single strut to prop it up in portrait orientation.

Anker does provide a 60cm USB-C to USB-C  cable for charging in the box, but it's relatively short, and you'll need your own actual wall socket plug to provide power to it.

Also read:
Anker MagGo Wireless Charger Pad Review

 

Performance

Anker MagGo 10K Powerbank (Photo: Alex Kidman)

Battery packs are very simple creatures to test, because all they essentially need to do is provide power -- and here the Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K does a solid job via wireless or wired connections.

It's a genuinely useful detail that you can use the 10,000mAh battery just as a standard wired battery pack when needed -- and I've tested that with a number of devices. It also supports charging devices while it's on a charger itself, though with only one input/output port, that does have to be wireless charging only.

On the wireless charging side, it also functions as expected; wireless charging is naturally a touch slower -- 15W compared to the 27W it can put out on a wired connection. You won't quite get 10,000mAh of charging out of it wirelessly, because wireless charging always has been and always will be a lossy transmission format, though the Qi2/Magsafe connection should lessen those issues somewhat.

But what does that efficiency actually mean in terms of usage? Anker's own claims here is that it should be capable of delivering 1.8 charges to an iPhone 15 Pro. That's a phone with a 3,274 mAh battery, which means it's actually delivering around 6,548 mAh of power through to the phone. That largely matches with my own testing, though I suspect for most users it's going to be more of a top-up power machine than one you'd use exclusively to keep your devices charged.

Because it's magnetically connecting, it also supports Apple's Standby mode for compatible iPhones, though the use of a vertical stand means that you end up with an odd t-shaped setup. If you were using it while travelling on a less than ideal surface, that could see the phone toppling, where horizontal approaches (the Belkin BoostCharge Magnetic Wireless Power Bank 5K + Stand being an obvious point of comparison) keep the iPhone at a lower centre of gravity.

The other challenge here is the physical size of the battery itself. It fits quite well on Apple's larger iPhone Plus and Pro Max models, but if you're using a smaller iPhone, it juts out from the bottom of the phone noticeably; it would be particularly pronounced on any of the iPhone Mini models, though I didn't have one of those to test with.

Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K: Alex’s Verdict

Anker MagGo 10K Powerbank (Photo: Alex Kidman)

If all you want is just battery power and you don’t need or want portable wireless charging, then you can get the 10K capacity – or quite a bit more – for less than the price of the Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K. Its $149.95 asking price is a lot to ask, and that’s likely to be the tripping point for many buyers.

If you can meet that price, and right now especially if you’re an iPhone user, it’s a good, well working battery pack best suited for those with the iPhone Plus or Pro Max ranges, due to its physical size.

Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K: Pricing and availability

The Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K retails in Australia for $149.95.

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