All posts

Apple MagSafe Battery Pack VS Anker PowerCore Magnetic! Twice as Good?

8:43 video

Apple finally released a MagSafe battery pack for the iPhone 12, about nine months after the phone, for $99. The Anker PowerCore Magnetic 5K wireless charger costs half as much. They each have features the other lacks, so should you pay twice as much?

In the box and design

The Apple box has nothing but the battery. The Anker includes a USB-C cable. They’re nearly the same size, hard plastic and well made, but the Anker is a little thicker and heavier: about 130 g vs. 113 g for Apple’s. Both have a charging port and status lights on the bottom, but the Anker also has a power switch.

Status lights

Apple’s LED only lights momentarily when you connect or disconnect a cable or the phone: green if charged, amber if low, with no indicator while in use. The Anker has four LEDs (25, 50, 75 and 100%) plus a blue light indicating charging or discharging, so you get more visual feedback.

Attaching

Both have magnets that align with the iPhone and snap on, and both feel equally sturdy. One interesting thing with Apple’s: as it approaches the phone, you feel and hear a click, as if something moves forward inside. Maybe that tells the iPhone it’s a MagSafe-compatible battery and enables 15 W charging; I’m curious about the teardown.

Capacity and ports

  • Apple: two 1,460 mAh cells, just under 3,000 mAh total, with Lightning for charging.
  • Anker: 5,000 mAh, with USB-C.

So you get more juice from the Anker.

Apple’s advantages

  • iOS integration after updating to iOS 14.7: you can see the battery pack’s charge percentage on the iPhone.
  • Pass-through and reverse charging with Lightning: plug a cable into the battery pack and it charges and charges the iPhone wirelessly at the same time; plug a cable into the iPhone, and it charges the battery pack.
  • Speed: charging wirelessly with no cable, Apple’s pack charges the iPhone at about 5 W. With an iPhone 12, 12 Pro or 12 Pro Max and a 20 W adapter plugged into the pack, you get up to 15 W MagSafe charging.

Anker’s advantages

  • It charges the iPhone at up to 5 W wirelessly, whether or not it’s plugged in (you can charge the pack and the phone at the same time).
  • You can charge any device by wire: connect an iPhone with a cable for 10 W, and charge an Apple Watch, iPad or anything else that charges at 10 W. With USB-C, if you have a MacBook Pro and an iPad Pro or Air, you can carry one cable.

Other devices

Both charge other devices with standard Qi charging: AirPods charge on both, and an iPhone 11 charges wirelessly from either if you line up the coils just right (the tricky part).

Charging tests

On my iPhone 12 Pro (sitting unused, so your mileage will vary with heavy use or a 12 mini or Pro Max):

  • Apple: 5% to about 66% in just over two hours.
  • Anker: 5% to 99% before dying at around three and a half hours.

Recharging the packs with a 20 W Apple adapter: Apple’s took one hour to reach 100%, Anker’s about three hours.

Warranty

Apple’s comes with a 12-month warranty; Anker’s 18 months.

Verdict

For $99, Apple’s pack gives iOS integration, battery indications on the phone, and the option to plug in a Lightning cable to wirelessly charge the phone at up to 15 W. The Anker charges at 5 W wirelessly, but gives a bigger battery and more charge, and USB-C lets you charge wired devices. Which features do you want?

In this video

  • 0:00 intro
  • 0:35 inside the boxes
  • 0:46 design, size and weight
  • 1:25 led status lights
  • 2:10 connecting to iPhone
  • 3:22 battery sizes
  • 3:52 apple features
  • 5:11 Anker features
  • 5:47 charging other devices
  • 6:32 iPhone charge speed
  • 7:08 battery pack charge speed
  • 7:27 which one is better?

Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive a small commission. See my ethics statement.

Watch on YouTube

Keep reading

Related posts